Our Background

The Register of Professional Turners has roots dating back to the ancient Guild of Turners, which was first established between 1295-1310, receiving its first Royal Charter in 1604 from King James I (thus becoming the Worshipful Company of Turners).

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Almost 300 years later, the Worshipful Company of Turners (WCT) established the Register of Professional Turners (RPT) in order to represent the professional arm of woodturning throughout the UK. Since then, we have opened up to allow international candidates to apply and become non-voting members of the Register. 

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Though we have become an organisation in our own right, we still have very close ties to the Worshipful Company of Turners, often working together at various events, and regularly meet at the WCT Craft Committee.

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Since becoming independent from the Company, the RPT launched their own 'Emerging Turners Programme' in 2022 whilst under the leadership of Jay Heryet. The programme was founded to help young, enthusiastic woodturners gain access to mentorship from professional, well established woodturners to both improve their skills and business understanding. Thus far the Programme has been successful, seeing some of the attendees flourish in their businesses and themselves become enrolled on the Register.