Best of British Craftspeople and Artisans - Bill Cleyndert & Company
IN ADVANCE OF THE U.K. LEAVING THE E.U. THE LUXURY PROPERTY FORUM (IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HILLHOUSE INTERIORS) SPOKE TO EXPERT CRAFTSPEOPLE AND ARTISANS WORKING IN THE LUXURY PROPERTY SECTOR.
WE ASKED THEM WHAT MEANT TO BE BRITISH AND WHAT IMPACT BREXIT WOULD HAVE ON THEIR BUSINESS.
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS WE WILL BE SHOWCASING THEIR WORK, EXPERTISE AND UNIQUE INSIGHTS
Bill Cleyndert & Company
From simple beginnings in a North Norfolk Barn, Bill Cleyndert has been working in the world of ultra-bespoke furniture and specialist joinery for nearly 40 years. Today the Company, run by Bill and his daughter Mandi, employs over 120 people in two large purpose-built workshops. Bill and the team are very proud to be considered part of a long-held tradition of furniture making in the East of England and take pride in supporting small local businesses and artisans such as upholsterers, metalworkers and local artists.
As an established British Company, they consider it their duty to be proactive in preserving traditional hand skills and techniques and developing the next generation of Craftsman. Availability and investment in the education of technical skills is quite frankly lacklustre at best in the UK right now. It is really up to individual companies to keep flying the flag for training and development in practical skills and crafts. We are very fortunate to partner with Rycotewood College for our inhouse Apprenticeship Program, but we shouldn’t have to go look as far away as Oxford to find a good college to provide the right quality of training for young team members. Future Craftsman need to understand not just the traditional techniques, but also understand and embrace modern design and manufacturing methods.
Whilst most of their work remains in London, Bill Cleyndert & Company are increasingly asked to undertake projects abroad. Recent destinations have included New York, Kuwait, Singapore and Jakarta, and much of the work made for superyachts is exported to Germany and Holland. But whilst installing joinery and exporting work abroad has its challenges, the company were more concerned with potential shortages in materials coming in from other European countries as a result of Brexit. We planned for shortages in the usual basic materials but there are somethings you can’t necessarily anticipate. We found supplies of foam for upholstery work, drawer runners from Denmark and specialist glass were a problem – and Covid disruption didn’t help. And we work with many European specialist subcontractors which interface closely with our works such as specialist plasterwork or hand decoration which makes sequencing more complicated. Given that most of our work is bespoke, we consider ourselves lucky to have such a good network of local suppliers in place so are largely unaffected.
get in touch
Bill Cleyndert & Company
Flag Street, Tattersett Business Park
Fakenham, Norfolk, NR21 7RN
Norwich Workshop
40-42 Vulcan Road North
Norwich, NR6 6AQ