The Furniture Magazine, Issue 002

Three public furniture contracts are open now

Public sector furniture is bought through frameworks: a buyer appoints a panel of suppliers for several years, then orders through it. Getting on at the start matters, because the next chance can be years away. Three are open or about to open.

Staffordshire County Council: A £9 million framework for office, educational and library furniture, in three lots; the library lot includes a full design service. Any UK public body may use it. Tenders by noon on 29 October, reference IA3675.

Scottish Police Authority: One supplier to supply, deliver and install office furniture across the whole of Scotland, including the Highlands and Islands, estimated at £6 million. Tenders by noon on 2 November.

Northern Housing Consortium: A furniture and flooring framework estimated at £60.7 million for 2027 to 2031, with repair named in its scope. Not yet a tender: supplier sessions run from 16 to 20 November, first come, first served.

Sources: Find a Tender notices 093089-2026, 093513-2026 and 091471-2026. Notice data used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Design protection in the age of AI: a Q and A with Dids Macdonald

Dids Macdonald OBE is Chairman and Co-Founder of ACID (Anti Copying in Design) and a Past Master of the Furniture Makers' Company. She spoke on AI and intellectual property at the British Furniture Association's AI Summit in September 2026. Three of her six answers; the full piece is on our website.

What does design protection actually cover, and what is the biggest misunderstanding? The biggest myth is that if you change an original design by a percentage or a number of changes it becomes a new design. It doesn't. It is about whether another design creates the same overall impression.

What should a workshop do first when it finds a copy? Stay calm; it can be a very stressful time. First, gather evidence: your original sketches, CAD files, photographs, invoices, any design registrations and dated development records. Establish exactly what is being copied and what rights you may have. Never sue on principle; always evaluate a quantifiable loss. It is also advisable not to accuse another of copying before taking legal advice.

What can be done cheaply? Ensure that all your agreements with third parties have a clause that states your intellectual property ownership. If you don't want to be copied, say so. Include a simple statement on your website running through each page. Include clear IP ownership and non-copying provisions in supplier and customer agreements.

ACID invites designers and makers to sign its IP and AI Charter, which calls for IP respect, compliance and ethics.

Dids Macdonald answered our questions in writing. Introduction arranged by Maya Ings, Shepherd PR, for the British Furniture Association.

Production software in the small workshop: a Q and A with Andrea Gnoato of Cyncly

Andrea Gnoato is General Manager, Kitchen, Bathroom and Furniture solutions, at Cyncly, whose software runs from two-person joinery workshops to industrial furniture producers. Two of his seven answers; the full piece, including what moving to CAD/CAM costs and the five mistakes he sees most, is on our website.

For a workshop of two to ten people, where does production software pay for itself first? Cutting. More specifically, the point where the design becomes the cut list. Workshops lose money when a cut list is wrong, when a job gets redrawn between the person who designed it and the person at the bench, or when a detail changes and the change does not carry all the way through. One remake can take the profit out of a whole job, and on a small job book you feel that immediately.

What separates the small workshops that grow from the ones that stay the same size? The biggest characteristic we see in thriving workshops is that they write things down. In a workshop that stays the same size, the standard is in the owner's head. In a workshop that grows, the standard is in the system: the construction method, the hardware, the pricing, the way a drawer box is made.

Contributed. Andrea Gnoato answered our questions in writing; text approved by Cyncly through Shelan Communications. Nothing was paid for this piece.

Your hand is a ruler

Most upholsterers measure part of every job by hand without thinking about it. In Chair Upholstery, Franco Marinelli sets that habit down as a system, so a beginner can learn it on purpose and an experienced hand can check theirs against his.

Two fingers held together: about 3.5cm, the spacing for tacks.

Three fingers: 5cm, the height of a first stuffing on a dining chair.

The little finger: about 1.5cm, the gap between rows of blind stitching.

A closed fist, thumb included: 10cm, the size of a bridle loop.

Index and middle fingers opened fully: 45 degrees, the angle for the needle when stitching an edge.

Index finger to thumb: 90 degrees.

From page 52 of Chair Upholstery by Franco Marinelli, published by The Crowood Press on 27 October, £24. Described here with the permission of the author and the publisher.

Making a sanding block for the bench

Matt Estlea trained at Rycotewood Furniture Centre in Oxford and taught furniture making there before going full time on his own business. In this twelve-minute video he makes a sanding block for the bench: one of the cheapest tools in the workshop and one of the most used, from levelling a glue line to breaking an edge before finishing.

Restoring a 200-year-old oak corner cabinet

Mayfield Restorations

Restoring and re-leathering a Gillows writing desk

Priory Polishes

Reupholstering a dining chair, start to finish

FaceLift Interiors

Seating refurbished, not replaced

Craftwood UK says more hospitality operators want existing banquette and booth seating taken out, refurbished and refitted rather than replaced. Also in our trade notes: Paul Hodgkiss Designs at forty years in Glasgow, EGGER's stake in an edge banding maker, and a new Approved Code register for fitted interiors installers.

Houghtons of York shortlisted twice at the BWF Awards

The British Woodworking Federation's shortlist names Houghtons of York for Salford Cathedral's rood and crucifix and the wider restoration, and three apprentices for Apprentice of the Year. Winners are announced on 20 November.

Carpenters' Craft Competition opens

The Institute of Carpenters' national competition for students of carpentry, joinery and shopfitting has prizes of up to £500. Colleges can enter students and students can register themselves. Entries close on 31 March 2027.

BFA Future of Furniture Awards 2027 open for entries

Four categories for BFA members: Education, Sustainability, ESG Reporting and Sustainability Champion. Entries close on 22 January 2027; the awards are presented at the Furniture Component Expo in Telford in March.

From the archive: the Walpole chair

A side chair of about 1715 from the suite Sir Robert Walpole ordered for Houghton Hall, and what its worn velvet shows about where a tall upholstered back takes its wear.

Reader offer: 15% off at Gilboys

Gilboys, in Dartington near Totnes, makes beeswax furniture polishes and a beeswax leather balsam, and films restoration videos in its own YouTube studio.

Readers of The Furniture Magazine get 15% off with the code FURNITUREMAG15.

Terms and products as shown at gilboys.co.uk.

Images: Gilboys.

Senior Cabinet Maker / Workshop Foreman, bespoke kitchens and fitted furniture

Essendine, near Stamford. £40,000 to £45,000.

Soft Furnishings Project Manager, luxury curtains and upholstery

Battersea, London. £40,000 to £45,000.

Cabinet Maker / Bench Joiner, bespoke furniture and mirrors

Ongar, Essex. £32,000 to £35,000.

Decorex 2026

11 to 14 October. Olympia London.

FHS Annual Lecture: the interiors of John Vanbrugh's houses

20 October. Society of Antiquaries, London. Furniture History Society members only, by ticket.

Staffordshire furniture framework: tenders close

29 October. Proactis eTendering, reference IA3675.

Uncommon Ground: Society of Designer Craftsmen

4 to 15 November. Oxo Gallery, London.

Harrogate Woodworking Show

13 to 15 November. Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate.

BWF Awards 2026

20 November. Kimpton Fitzroy, London.