Business opportunities
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Post 5 December 2023 from the European Spallation Source (ESS)
The European Spallation Source is looking for British office and conference room furniture manufacturers who may be interested in their tender. Deadline for bid submission: 20th December 2023 22:59:59 GMT. Download the tender document ESS Call for Tender [450] Framework Agreement for Office Furniture and Complements (€200k). For any questions please email Carol Watts at STFC.
Carol works for STFC’s Business Opportunities Team whose role is to engage industry in the tenders from the eight international science facilities that STFC funds on behalf of the UK government. The aim is to increase return on investment via contracts won by UK industry. More information about their free service at UK Research & Innovation.
Posted 9 June 2023 from Andy Mast
Established in 1988, Woodbender is a wooden furniture manufacturer specialising in the traditional art of steam bending. Having established a strong market for our product in the UK, we are looking to begin manufacturing within the UK for our UK, European and US markets (we currently manufacture in South Africa). We are looking for partners who are interested in helping us get started.
If you are interested in discussing the opportunity further, please email Andy Mast
Posted 31 March 2023 from Alison Stewart
My name is Alison Stewart and I am the inventor of a totally new and unique furniture product that could be the next “must have” item on the market, especially for people with leg problems. However, it can also be used for comfort in our own homes.
I’ve called it the remote controlled rise and fall footstool as it will rise up and down with the touch of a button on a handset and is totally wireless when in use for safety. People with leg problems will benefit from the footstool as it will take their legs up to the preferred height, especially those who have had knee replacements, varicose veins or broken bones etc. I have included in the patent that heat and massage can be added to the top for people who would benefit from treatment, plus the option of a cold pack for people who have burns, or just need their legs to be cooled. If the stool is bought just for comfort, a memory foam top can be used instead.
Washable fabrics can be used if in hospitals, homes for the elderly or for medical purposes at home, or covered in matching fabrics for three piece suites or home decor.
If the stool is made to the right measurements it can be stored underneath high backed chairs as not everywhere can accommodate a reclining chair, which takes up quite a lot of space. As it is a small item it can be transported to any location if the owner needs to take it with them.
I am currently looking for a furniture manufacturer that has the capability to make and market the stool as I have now done as much as I possibly can to get it to the stage where it is now. I have had three different prototypes made and one mechanism made in Germany, but I feel it still needs very slight alteration to make it into the perfect product.
If there is a manufacturer who thinks they would be able to produce this and is interested in taking it further please contact me by email or on:- 07751017174 or 01366 385421.
Posted 3 March 2023 from Johnny Grey
I’m looking for UK companies to make batch production kitchen furniture for a new venture that I hope will change the way we design, make and buy kitchens. As an idea this has had a long gestation. Its origin dates back to 1986 when I licensed my idea of the Unfitted Kitchen to Smallbone of Devizes, then a leading fitted kitchen company. Even though it was very different from their core product, my concept quickly became popular with the public and sold well. Journalists gave it enthusiastic coverage. Unfitted kitchens satisfy people’s instinctive pleasure in furnishing their home. For customers, choices from the extensive range of pieces brought homeliness to the kitchen for the first time in living memory. I both created and tapped into the zeitgeist and the Unfitted Kitchen became established as a new design genre.
I moved on from Smallbone in 1989 to set up a custom design kitchen studio, installing hand-built kitchens and interiors at home and internationally. Smallbone underwent changes in the 1990s and the Unfitted Kitchen was no longer sold. Design copyright reverted to me and I am now looking to revive and renew it, believing the market is ready to embrace the idea. Younger generations as well as established homeowners like to express themselves and make their spaces characterful rather than live in a standardised fitted environment. My Unfitted Kitchen can be bought piecemeal, allowing customers to build it up over time and take it with them when they move home.
The new Unfitted Kitchen I am designing has a contemporary design edge but is also rooted in the Arts and Crafts tradition and its values (photo attached showing both 1986 and 2023 designs). With each item supporting its own dedicated kitchen activity, the customer has a wide range of opportunities through which to express their personality, as one does when furnishing a room. There are many choices of style, colour, wood types and ambience. The furniture titles reflect this richness, for example Perching Cupboard, Corner Pantry, Frigidarium.
For this project we have designed approximately 30 pieces of furniture so far. Our new website will go live in June. Retailers in the UK, Ireland, USA, Australia and Switzerland are already keen to display and sell the concept. We will also be running an online sales operation from my Sussex headquarters. I am inviting furniture makers with CNC capability to get in touch with me and come on board this exciting commercial opportunity.