For more than a decade chimney sweep Stafford Turnidge has been helping thousands of Elgin and Moray homes roll out the welcome mat for Santa from cottages to castles. The dad-of-two, who is better known as Staffy, was previously an offshore oil and gas engineer. But having a young family led him to swap life in Brazil for brushing and hoovering soot.
Today he sweeps about 2,000 chimneys a year with his business A Clean Lum while travelling from his home in Elgin across the region. Winter, and the run-up to Christmas in particular, is Staffy’s “silly season” with slots currently booked out until February. However, the in-demand Elgin chimney sweep still finds time to make the festive season special for young families awaiting Santa’s arrival.
From offshore energy in Brazil to cleaning chimneys in Elgin Staffy is a joiner to trade but moved into the offshore energy sector, working 10 years in the North Sea before landing a job in Brazil. However, with a young family he only lasted three weeks in South America before the call of home became too strong. He initially considered jobs at the forefront of the renewables sector in solar panels, wind turbines and geothermic energy.
But eventually, he settled on an industry centuries old and steeped in tradition. He said: “It was a friend of mine who said ‘Why am I trying to reinvent the wheel? Pick something in the Yellow Pages and be better than everyone else.’ “I was having a bad experience with chimney sweeps at the.
