Meet the family firm bringing European furniture to Surrey
Jonathan Stewart, owner of Wharfside Furniture
- Q What do you do?
A) I am the third generation of Wharfside Furniture, offering luxury bespoke and made-to-measure furniture design, as well sourcing high-end solid wood craftsmanship from Scandinavia and Europe.
- Q Tell us about Wharfside’s history?
A) My grandfather was an apprentice cabinet maker in Hackney in London’s East End in the early 1900s. He taught my father what he knew and then my father was himself apprenticed as an upholsterer in Shoreditch in the 1930s. He then started his own upholstery company after he was demobbed from World War II in 1946, and then started Wharfside Furniture importing Danish Furniture in 1962. I am proud to continue in so fine a tradition.
- Q What do you love about the family business?
A) I have so many customers come into our stores now to tell me about the furniture they bought from my father back in the 1960s, which is still in daily use. They tell me it looks just as good as when they took delivery 50 years ago! For customers buying furniture from us now, I hope they will be able to say the same to my grandchildren in 50 years’ time.
- Q And your staff?
A) I teach my staff the same skills such as polishing, cabinet making and upholstery that I learnt from my father, and they are delighted to know them.
- Q What is your USP?
A) Our furniture is made to the highest standards. The factories we work with in Scandinavia, Holland, Germany and Austria still exercise the same, time-honoured craft skills that they used back in the 1960s. The result is furniture you can be just as proud to own, made just for you.
- Q Tell us about the wood that you use?
A) We work particularly closely with Austrian craftsmen Team 7 who work with many different types of wood including alder, beech, beech heartwood, oak, wild oak, maple, cherry, walnut and wild walnut. Team 7 craft European hardwood from sustainably managed forests to create unique pieces of luxury furniture. Their craftsmen work in harmony with the natural character of the wood, an ethos that is grounded in authentic values and craftsmanship. Plus, their use of natural materials allows people to breathe and relax.
Visit Wharfside Furniture at 11-15 North Street, Leatherhead or visit wharfside.co.uk
