I recently attended the HQR Ball, which for those who don’t know is the social event of the year for all those working in the high-end residential building and design industry. As well as being a good night out, it raises significant amounts of cash for worthy causes. A couple of days afterwards, I played…
Our first foray into working abroad was with Gabhan O’Keeffe in New York, and was a suite of furniture for a bedroom. A four-poster bed with rock crystal blocks in the posts, a circular upholstered seat with a hidden tv, in the days when televisions where big boxes, and dado panelling with new shutters for…
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I have found myself saying it quite a bit lately and I’m not the only one. So, it got me thinking, is it such a bad thing to make mistakes? If we consider the process that scientists go through before making a break through, they spend hours of their time…
As with anything that’s really important quite a lot of comment is ill informed and lovingly sprinkled with a particular prejudice or political viewpoint; the truth being different things to different people and although the internet is a wonderful thing, it also allows any viewpoint to be widely expressed without any regard for accuracy. Global…
As soon as contemporary or modern design is mentioned there are immediate concerns that it will be inappropriate to a historic building, but why? Perhaps this is often because what is classed as ‘modern’ is merely poorly designed, but the best of modern design can hold its head up amongst the finest of historical pieces….
In the time I have been doing woodwork, which stretches from my first introduction at senior school through college to employment and then self-employment, my personal experience has been that government policy has done very little to help encourage people into the design and manufacturing world, unless what you’re manufacturing has wheels. This only covers…
Working in manufacturing I often hear the following remarks “It’s a shame that machines are taking over” or “how do people feel about their jobs with the increased usage of machinery?” when I speak about our new CNC machine. Initially, CNC machines were expensive and only large companies were able to afford them. They were…
When I started my business in 1984, the idea that I was entrepreneurial never occurred to me and I am pretty confident that it didn’t occur to anyone who knew me either. I certainly did not feel creative, passionate or adventurous, words often used to describe entrepreneurs. How did I feel? Poor for a start,…
In today’s prime residential market, owning a bespoke piece of furniture is increasingly in demand from discerning buyers and collectors. Mass production of furniture feels at saturation point, so many buyers are looking for something more meaningful and simpler in origin than a bulk produced item from a factory production line. Clients want something that…
