Notts furniture-maker opens £700,000 design and development centre
Furniture manufacturer Whitemeadow has opened a £700,000 design and development centre.
The Nottinghamshire has invested the money in a 13,750 sq ft facility at its base in Sutton-in-Ashfield.
It will house Whitemeadow’s full design team, along with a development team of upholsterers, machinists and CAD operators, who will be responsible for creating production-ready prototypes of the firm’s latest sofas and furniture products.
The centre also houses a new 3,750 sq ft customer showroom which will display its latest products.
The facility took seven months to construct and fit -out.
Ian Oscroft, Whitemeadow’s managing director, said: “To be successful in our industry, you have to be able to design ‘wow’ products that excite the public. We’ve invested heavily in the design and development side of our business, because that’s what excites our customers and consumers.
“We’ve been at the cutting edge of furniture design for more than a decade and have always been proactive and prolific at bringing our latest products to market. Our new Design and Development Centre is all about offering people a glimpse into the creative process here at Whitemeadow and showcasing our latest designs and products.
“Our success of the past few years has been down to the fact that we’ve got a real flair for design and have been able to put some fantastic products, that consumers want to buy, into the marketplace at the right time. We drive the market, rather than respond to it.
“Our new Design and Development Centre is the best facility of its type in the UK furniture-making industry and will keep us at the forefront of furniture design. It will enable us to continue to shape consumer tastes by designing and manufacturing trend-setting classic British furniture with a contemporary twist. It’s the Whitemeadow way.”
Founded in 1990, Whitemeadow employs around 500 people across six sites in the Ashfield area.
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