46 | Customer Report: Furniture
SUMMARY
■ Luke Hughes specialises in furniture for public architectural spaces
■ Furniture is designed for a 50-100 year life expectancy
■ Oak is the favoured species ■ Recent work has included 400 stacking pews at a London church
BACK TO BUSINESS
Some of Luke Hughes Furniture’s projects have been on hold during the pandemic, but commissions are flowing again. Sally Spencer reports
Luke Hughes Furniture is a specialist in designing and manufacturing furniture for public architectural spaces, with a particular focus on the academic sector and buildings of worship. So, when the pandemic hit, forcing students and worshippers alike to continue their learning and praying at home, there was a level of consternation. Thankfully, the abandonment of those temples of learning and worship has been temporary and, as the world slowly grinds back to some kind of normality, the orders have been reinstated.
“The worst thing [about the lockdowns] was the uncertainty,” said Luke Hughes, founder of the eponymous company. “We had a huge number of projects deferred, but what is interesting is that not many of them have been cancelled. “A lot have come back, albeit a year later. The way our market sectors work, our clients have to go ahead with their projects sooner or later. It’s not a caprice, it’s part of their long- term strategy.”
The much-reported demand for office furniture for the thousands of home-workers during the pandemic has not tempted the company to switch its focus. “We don’t specialise in the home- working sector anymore,” said Mr Hughes. “I understand the sentiment and we have thought about it, but actually it is a very niche area and you never get the volumes, which is why we tend to avoid it. We also don’t have the distribution to be able to service it.” And, he maintains, once students and worshippers “get out of Zoomland”, the relevant institutions will have to get on with
TTJ | September/October 2021 |
www.ttjonline.com
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