Beautifully Bespoke

What is your background Daniel?
I went to art college in Newport which gave me a great foundation in art and design. I specialised in 3D design (as it was called) which was based around using woods, metals and plastics. Specialising further, I graduated with a degree in furniture design from Northumbria University and moved back to south Wales to work.

Having worked with several furniture designers and cabinet makers to gain invaluable experience, I started Alexander Bullock Furniture with the help of the Princes Trust in 1998. I opened with a small workshop in Llandaff North before settling for the last ten years at Curran Embankment.

Talk us through your team…
Throughout the past seventeen years I’ve been keen to share my skills and passion for furniture. I have always taken on apprentices and this long term, ongoing training is still very much a part of our philosophy today. Our team has grown steadily over the years and all of them have come through our apprenticeship program.

Martin, our foreman and cabinet maker, has been with us for over ten years. He organises the day-to-day running of the workshop. Ashley has been with us for over eight years and is our finisher and a cabinet maker. Mathew is our dedicated installer and cabinet maker. We don’t employ sub-contractors as I feel it is difficult to get the consistent quality we require. Mathew was fifteen and at school when he came to us for a work placement. He was incredibly keen – so much so he asked if he could be considered for an apprenticeship the following year. We told him to make sure he got all his GCSEs and we would consider it. He did, and he’s been with us ever since. Jemima has only recently joined the team as my design assistant. She has a degree in Fine Art and is currently training to be a cabinet maker, as well as learning the design side of the business. We also have two final year apprentices Kenton and John, and David a first year mature student.

What do you think is special about Alexander Bullock Furniture?
I believe we offer a truly bespoke solution to furniture and kitchen design. We take time to listen to our clients’ needs and design furniture to suit those requirements. Off the back of that tailored design package our skilled and dedicated cabinet makers, nishers and installers produce high quality furniture. So often you get one or the other, but rarely both. Because each project is designed individually for each client we have a huge variety of styles, materials and nishes. Each project is as unique as the clients who commission us.

Do you follow trends?
There are trends within design of course, but we try to design with the client in mind rather than following the herd.