SittingFirm.co.uk - NEWS

Windsor Chairs still Popular with Americans

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:15:42 GMT

The traditionally made Windsor Chair from Sitting Firm is still very popular with our transatlantic cousins as orders from the USA continue to flow in.

Sitting Firm has been making Windsor Chairs following the traditional chair making techniques for over 20 years and in spite of global economic turmoil is continuing to receive enquiries from retailers in the States who want to bring a touch of period English living to their home.

Sitting Firm Director explains: “We have supplied some very large US retailers over the years with our hand-crafted and finished Windsor Chairs. With our new website we are now attracting even more interest.

“I suppose it’s no different in America than it is over here. With the current state of the housing market and scare headlines about recession and global melt down people are tending not to move house – but they are still spending money to make their house a nice place to be.

“Since our new furniture showroom opened back in March we’ve had many people visit who have explained that they have decided to stay put in their current house – but do feel they want a change. They are either extending and therefore wanting a whole new set of dining furniture or redecorating and wanting to adorn their room with a special piece from our bespoke furniture collection.

“Either way of course we are happy to help.”

Sitting Firm offer a wide range of solid oak and solid hardwood dining furniture hand made and finished in their UK workshops.

Sitting Firm export furniture to the USA, Japan and mainland Europe where it is sold through retail outlets in each country.

Visit the Sitting Firm furniture showroom to see our current collections or order online at www.sittingfirm.co.uk.

Overseas retailers wanting to stock Sitting Firm furniture can email us here.

Personalised Chairs Prove Especially Popular

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:03:18 GMT

Personalised children's chairs are proving especially popular in the run up to Christmas.

Sitting Firm make a range of children's chairs based on the ever popular Windsor Chair design. Each child's chair is a perfect minature of the adult version. Chairs can be finished in a natural wood stain or painted to match other furniture.

Our children's chairs are made in solid ash and each one is lovingly hand crafted and finished in our furniture workshops in Coventry.

Sitting Firm Director Stephanise Green explains a recent trent: "This year we've received more requests than every before to personalise the chair with the child's name or a message to commemorate a special occassion.

" Recently we were asked to make a chair for a children's pre-school nursery, as a thank you from a parent who had seen two children through the nursery. I'm told the chair takes pride of place, being used as the unique 'birthday chair' - with children allowed to sit in it on their special day."

"We are expecting a bit if a rush on children's chairs and our ever popular rocking chairs, in the run up to Christmas. These little luxuries are a perfect gift for those difficult to buy for friends and relatives."

Sitting Firm makes it's collection of children's chairs in Coventry, in the West Midlands. All are hand crafted and finished in our workshops. A selection of chairs is on display in our furniture showrooms.

View our Children's Chair collection or, if you don't see the exact chair you want why not consider our beautifully bespoke tailor made furniture service.

Enquire about children's chairs here.

Oak plasma TV unit launched

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:38:14 GMT

Warwickshire furniture manufacturer Sitting Firm have launched a stylish unit designed specifically for plasma and flat screen LCD televisions.

The Sitting Firm Hide-Away plasma TV unit is made from solid wood and finished with a clear lacquer to enhance the natural wood colour. Designed to accommodate plasma or LCD TVs the unit includes an infra-red activated rise and fall mechanism which sees your TV rise effortlessly out of the closed unit in a matter of seconds.

Once closed the unit is a beautiful piece of solid wood furniture that graces any room.

The range of TV cabinets include ample storage space for DVD player, VCR and DVDs.

The TV cabinet is available to buy in oak and walnut and can be created via the Sitting Firm beautifully bespoke service to meet specific design requirements.

The plasma TV unit SF303 is currently on special offer - search for this product above.

Retail success bolsters furniture manufacturer

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:32:25 GMT

The launch of a direct-to-public retail showroom has seen sales figures soar for a Warwickshire manufacturer of hard wood furniture.

Sitting Firm, based in Harvest Hill Lane, Allesley, has built a reputation over nearly 20 years for creating quality, bespoke furniture for trade customers and high street stores, like John Lewis.

In the last week of April, it opened its own showroom for the first time in a bid to broaden its market – and has seen sales flourish at a time when many businesses are feeling the pinch.

Director Stephanie Green, whose husband David founded the firm in 1989, said: “The response has been incredible. We have had people visiting the showroom from all over the country and the feedback has all been very positive on the quality, design and presentation.

“I have a background in retail and when I joined the firm in 2001, I told David we should have a showroom and selling to the general public. Looks like I was right!

“Until we launched the showroom, which is within the workshops, we didn’t really have a direct retail presence though we have a strong reputation in the industry for quality products, which are all crafted here on site from sustainable European timber.

“It is particularly pleasing that an English manufacturer is flourishing in the current climate. We have ridden the ups and downs over the years but the quality of our products, strong after-sales service and lifetime guarantee have ensured we are now going from strength to strength.

“And though we have a of range designs for people to look at, because we do everything here we can still tailor a design to a person’s needs. So if a back needs to be higher on a chair or a table needs to be slightly longer, we can be flexible. In particular, bespoke media units seem to be the biggest trend at the moment.”

People have travelled from as far afield as Essex, Windsor and Chesterfield to view and buy products from a range of more than 500 items, some of which are displayed in the luxury showroom.

Among the more unusual customers in the first few weeks were a couple who wanted a special chair made for their pet, toy monkey Tol – and they even had his name engraved on the seat back!

Sitting Firm has also recently supplied furniture for The Aruba Bar on Bournemouth Pier, a National Trust venue in Wales and even a school in Japan.

Sitting Firm stretches its legs

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:04:28 GMT

A leading manufacturer of bespoke solid hardwood furniture is to open a dedicated showroom at its West Midlands base for the first time – nearly 20 years after it was founded.

Sitting Firm makes more than 500 different hand-made wooden products at its base in Harvest Hill Lane, Allesley, and yet remains one of the best kept secrets in English furniture.

It has survived the ups and downs of UK manufacturing, supplying to an impressive range of established retailers like John Lewis, but on April 26 will finally emerge as a brand in its own right with the launch of its own public showroom next to its workshops on the edge of Coventry.

“Over the years, we have produced bespoke and volume pieces for household brands, but because we have sold mainly to the trade, we have not had our own brand presence,” said Stephanie Green, of Leamington Spa, whose husband David founded the company in Balsall Common in 1989.

“Up to now, the work we have had has come through trade reputation. With this new showroom, we want the public to come along and see exactly what Sitting Firm does and why we have such a strong reputation for quality and individuality.

“We are proud to still be making our collection of solid, hand-crafted furniture in the UK. The whole ethos of the business is based around quality and looking after people and I believe that is why we have such a highly skilled and loyal group of people working with us.

“They help us do everything on site. After buying in seasoned timber from sustainable forests, we do all the processes here, from steam bending and turning the wood, to crafting the pieces and finishing them.

“More so now than ever, customers know exactly what they want. They want to buy from a UK manufacturer. They demand professional after sales service, and the reassurance of our lifetime guarantee gives peace of mind.

“And, remaining a family-run business, we will still go that extra mile so customers can personalise whatever piece they buy, whether it is making chair backs that bit taller, or shaving a few inches off the length of a table so it fits in the dining room.”

Sitting Firm has a range of traditional and contemporary furniture which will be on display in the new showroom and will be adding a range of garden furniture soon.