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FOCUS ANCIENTMARINERFURNITURE
Crafting success
A family business is bringing a touch of Indonesia to Lancashire thanks to its
collection of beautifully designed hand-crafted furniture, as Chris Visser finds out.
R Cuthbert Culshaw
IBCHESTER is well-known
for its foreign influences.
Not only was it believed to be
occupied during the Bronze Age but
it was also the site of an ancient
Roman cavalry fort where historians
later uncovered priceless artefacts
and human remains dating back to
the first century.
These days, there are no Roman
soldiers in sight, but another outside
influence from the East is causing
interest at one business.
Family-run Ancient Mariner designs,
manufactures and sells exotic hand-
crafted furniture to traders - but
instead of being made here in Lan-
cashire, Indonesian villagers spend
hours carefully crafting them togeth-
er using “traditional” techniques.
These include hand-woven chairs,
cabinets and drawers made out of
mango wood and solid mahogany
tables and coffee tables.
Each item comes complete with a
brass plaque and scroll guaranteeing
the product’s authenticity.
The idea came from Michael Ellis
who travelled to Australia after
taking early retirement following a
40-year career in the furniture trade.
There, he found beautifully-designed
handmade furniture and brought the
idea back home with him.
Today, the business is run from a
Ribchester warehouse in Preston
Road by his daughters Rachael
Chadwick and Sarah Brown, while
son James has set up a second base in
East Sussex.
Rachael explains: “The furniture is
made in the villages of Indonesia
where we have helped hundreds of
people find jobs.
“It works as a particular area or
district makes a certain type of
furniture - one area might make a
mahogany table and other areas
make other things.
“The products are unique using tech-
niques passed down through time -
it’s a traditional way of making things
which unfortunately, in this country,
does not happen due to all of the
machinery involved.
“We have a factory base in Indonesia
which provides the wood. We take
the wood out to them - they do their
crafting and it’s brought to the facto-
ry to be checked and finished. The
process usually takes around eight
weeks but can take 12 to 15 weeks.”
Her sister Sarah adds: “We have
invested in a loyal and hard-working
workforce, providing steady employ-
ment and also ensuring the long
tradition of the highly skilled crafts-
manship of men and woman in the
villages will live on.
“Having highly skilled professionals
overseeing construction, we are able
to offer unique yet constant quality
in both the colour and the polishing
process, ensuring that Ancient
Mariner pieces are village produced
products with the consistency of
factory made items.”
In fact, the business has indirectly
helped to create more than 300 jobs
for Indonesian craftsmen and
WHEEL OF FORTUNE: Sarah Brown and Rachael Chadwick of Ancient Mariner Furniture with some of their range
women who work together to
produce the quality products.
And Rachael says business is very
pretty well considering the economic
climate. Not only is it successfully
managing two warehouses in the UK
with around 10 employees but there
are plans for the company to set up
its own woodland to provide
materials for new furniture including
mango and mahogany products.
She says: “We are doing absolutely
fantastic. We have had a very
successful year and have been up on
last year in the last few months.
“We are not offering the top-end
range of the market but it is not too
expensive and offers quality. We
always offer a warm friendly service
and that’s the feedback we receive -
we are always on the end of the
phone to answer questions.
“We are obviously keeping a lot of
people in jobs over in Indonesia but
we are looking to expand and create
more jobs in the UK.”
Evening Post, Tuesday, May 26, 2009
opinion
“
The business is also looking to run its
Indonesian factory base on biodiesel
by planting Jatrofa trees around the
factory, which it is hoped will
eventually produce the energy
needed to run the entire site.
Online
● Furniture firm reduces working
hours for staff
● Furniture slump hits retail sales
25
Why councils
should listen
to small firms
COUNTY council elections are due to
be held on June 4 and the FSB is lobby-
ing candidates to, if elected, positively
engage with the small business sector.
This is particularly relevant in the
current harsh trading environment.
Why is this important? Because collec-
tively small business is big business.
Small firms contribute more than £1 tril-
lion in turnover to the economy of the
United Kingdom and employ 58% of the
private sector workforce.
As part of its Keep Trade Local cam-
paign, the FSB has launched a Small
Business Engagement Accord which it is
hoped every local authority in England
will sign up to.
The principles of the Accord identify the
need for councils to consult with business
owners and organisations on a regular
basis and to ensure business, including
small businesses, is adequately repre-
sented on local authority forums such as
Local Strategic Partnerships.
I was, therefore, disappointed to learn
that the Preston Vision Board and its
equivalent in South Ribble have no spe-
cific representation for small business.
One of the issues frequently raised by
our members is that of transport and
parking. The FSB believes that local
authorities must include parking policy
when formulating their Local Transport
Plans with a requirement to consult with
local people, businesses and other
organisations.
Yet, this year, when retailers, large and
small, are trying to survive through the
worst trading conditions we have seen
for years, Preston City and South Ribble
Councils have raised their car parking
charges again.
So, it’s time some of our elected repre-
sentatives woke up to the fact that small
businesses matter – they are a significant
contributor to council budgets through
payment of business rates, they employ
local people and they spend most of their
money locally – and sometimes they like
to be consulted.
Collectively small business is
big business ... they make a
significant contribution
Cuthbert Culshaw is the chairman of the
Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
for Lancashire and Cumbria
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