An enjoyable place to learn & grow in the field of product and furniture development.
Pros
A well run business with transparent operating procedures and a focus on quality. Well staffed by a group of experienced, likeable and relatable peers who are accepting and enjoyable to work alongside. The company is relatively small and that is to its benefit in my opinion. There is a consistency to the internal decision making which I found very helpful. Key members of the company have served many years between them and there is a huge amount of loyalty and commitment to sustaining and growing the brand both in terms of reputation and financially. I felt they looked after their staff well on the whole. You will get to travel to many factories throughout Europe and work with some good designers working in this role over a period of time and learn a lot about the ins and outs of furniture construction and production.
Cons
Overall it's a good place to work as a product developer, but as with most small/medium size businesses there are shortcomings. During my time at the company things greatly improved in terms of day to day running of the office. My biggest issue would be with the cramped working environment and lack of flexibility with regard to working from home (this may have changed post covid) however the business was not forward thinking enough in my opinion. London rents are high and retail office space is expensive so i can understand that space is at a premium, but this in a reason to be more flexible with remote working (i found it to be a loud office and it was quite often hard to concentrate but that is a personal preference). The pay in this area of work is relatively low and therefore it would be hard to remain in London and make progress if for example you were looking to buy a house. I felt it was more of a role for junior / mid level designers and there was not really an option to progress further than that without investing 10's of years at the business.
