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In 2004 Gordon Bryan and Nick Towndrow recognised that there was a shortage of qualified watchmakers to service the growing number of fine and complicated mechanical watches in the UK. This led to the foundation of The British School of Watchmaking.
2004
Located in Manchester, the third largest city in the United Kingdom, the school opened its doors to its first six WOSTEP 3000 Hour Course students on 4th September 2006.
2006
With all graduates from 2006 to 2011 having secured employment and a still growing demand for UK watchmakers the school expanded, now taking eight students every year for the WOSTEP 3000 Hour Course.
2011
Following a decade of service to the UK watch industry the school celebrates an important milestone, inviting all supporters of the school and all past graduates to the September 2016 Graduation Ceremony.
2016
Following the successes of the WOSTEP 3000 Hour Course, the WOSTEP 1800 Hour Course is introduced in January 2018. The British School of Watchmaking is the first school in Europe to offer this new industry recognised training programme.
2018
The Charities Commission grants the British School of Watchmaking charity status, Reg No: 1186365. Along with many other benefits to the school, this charity status also means that any supporters financial donation can be claimed 100% as an allowable deduction against corporation tax each year.
2019
The school moves to a new home in the Stockport area of Greater Manchester and doubles in size. This move gives the school the much needed space to continue its future growth and evolution.
2020
The school passed another milestone, 100 students had successfully passed a course and graduated by December 2021. These graduates came both from our original WOSTEP 3000 Hour Course and the WOSTEP 1800 Hour Course which was added in 2018. Most importantly, all of these graduates were retained in the watch industry on completion of the course.
2021