Glorious end to show season

Hello friends and supporters

Prue and I hope this newsletter finds you well and in good spirits! We have come to the end of our
showseason and thought we should mark the occasion wit another of our occasional newsletters…

So below you will find

• a personal look at highlights from our summer shows,
• a special end of season offer,
• news on where else you can see us, and
• a hot link to our Sale Corner which has some interesting bargains awaiting your attention…

So please read on…

Show highlights

In no particular order… Chatsworth Country Fair was new to us, and we thoroughly enjoyed the show. We cycled in each day from our AirBnB in Froggatt and what a treat that was; not just missing the traffic, but on the first two days being enchanted by the wonderful hot-air balloon display. Chatsworth House is of course spectacular and the balloon take-off at both ends of the day just adds to the magic, with the intense blueness of the sky being an extra bonus.

The RHS shows (Malvern, Hampton Court, Tatton Park) were all busy and exciting, although we were less lucky with the weather at Hampton Court than usual, with several showery days to put up with. You’d think rain would drive people onto our stand – well it does, but in such quantities that no one can sit down and so it doesn’t help us at all!

On the plus side, however, we had a great location on a main drag, next to Roebuck’s English sparkling wine tent. Our Semarang chair display – with the stunning Pistachio velvet cushions – was strategically placed to tempt their visitors to come and sample our wares after they had imbibed! A brilliant bit of retail psychology…

We were pleased to return to Burghley Horse Trials for our last show of the year – we hadn’t been since 2019, and it was great to be back. I was amazed how many existing customers from previous Burghleys came on the stand to say Hi! That is always nice for us, and reassuring for prospective customers to hear their lovely comments.

‘Cutest visitors of the year’ award has to go to our grandsons, shown here modelling the Semarangs at Hampton Court… ahhh, bless!!

Final highlight…
We took a prototype outdoor version of the Semarang range to Burghley to get feedback and gauge interest, and we were really excited by the reactions.

The wood and seagrass have been specially treated to withstand the weather and we have created outdoor cushions using a great Romo fabric which is shower-proof, mould and mildew-resistant and colour-fast, with a water-proof liner inside protecting our classic duck feather cushions, so you get the same extraordinary comfort as our indoor chairs.

So watch this space for more news on the launch of our Semarang Outdoor range in 2025. If you are interested in finding out more please drop me an email and we will make sure you get an information pack as soon as we have the details ready.

And finally…

I have two particular passions – apart from this business (and my gorgeous wife!) – one is the grandsons – 4 out of 5 of whom already got a mention earlier on modelling the Semarang chairs… the other is mountain-biking. Well Prue and I had a wonderful 25 mile ride on our day off between the last 2 shows. We explored the beautiful countryside near Chatsworth and Bakewell off-road and were blessed with glorious sunshine. This is us taking a moment to enjoy the wonders of Derbyshire.

So that’s all for this time folks…

No matter whether you are already a customer, or may become one at some future date, if you have any ideas, questions or comments about our furniture, or about the way we do business, I will be very pleased to hear from you. You can reach me by phone (07801 380793) or by email.