“ There really is no better place in Britain than Long Eaton for furniture-making ”
02 created . “ There really is no better place in Britain for furniture-making ,” insists Paul , who works alongside his wife and two sons . “ In some instances the trade has been passed down from father to son for three generations .”
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS Owning a factory comes with a big responsibility . “ Beyond the people we employ there are their families , and the sandwich shops and pubs that they eat and drink at . We look after everyone as well as we can .”
Then there ’ s the environment , too . “ We have a biomass wood burner that collects and burns the sawdust from the wood mill . It heats the whole factory in winter so we are 100 % gas free . We are also looking at ways to recycle old furniture to save it going to landfill .” Despite the speed of the work , there ‘ s a family atmosphere here .
“ There ’ s lots of people who are friends who ’ ve become family ,” says Paul . “ For example I was Ash ’ s best man at his wedding in 1976 . We met on our apprenticeship . We ’ ve been on holiday together , our kids grew up together .”
The youngest person who works at the factory is 18 . The oldest employee is Roy , one of the cutters , who is 84 . “ And we ’ re just about to take on 10 apprentices ,”
FAMILY AFFAIR Co-owner Andrew ; co-owner Paul with his sons , Dale and Adam ; employees Matt and his dad Ash , both upholsterers
says Andrew . “ The apprenticeships last two to three years . Uniquely , our apprentices work on every station . We like people to gain an understanding of the complete makings of a sofa . That way , if someone is sick another person can fill in for them , rather than relying on contract workers .”
It ‘ s clear that quality can never be taken for granted . Rather than use MDF and staples to construct frames , the Cotswold Company always makes sure solid wood frames are used for its sofas and armchairs .
“ Here we put our names to our products with pride ,” concludes Matt – and that ‘ s a philosophy we can certainly get behind .
Explore our full range of sofas at cotswoldco . com
HOMELIFE