The heartland of British Furniture
Furniture making in the Midlands Sold across the world
Are you aware that an East Midlands town has long been the
heartland of British furniture with more manufacturers of high quality
upholstery than any other town or city in the UK? It’s a town you
have probably not heard of Long Eaton. Even its leading historian
refers to it as ‘the largest unknown town in the country.’ Today, much of the upholstery manufactured in Long Eaton is sold in
high-end retailers in the UK and across the world. The town is now
home to over 50 companies involved in furniture manufacture or
allied industries such as frame, cushion and spring making, employing
nearly 3,000 people and turning over around £300 million per year.
Long Eaton was actually a boom town at the turn of the 20th century,
but what brought the boom was a product that didn’t bear the town’s
name. We all know of Nottingham Lace yet most of it was made in
Long Eaton. It’s largely because of that lace heritage that Long Eaton
evolved into a centre for furniture. When the lace industry collapsed
in the 1920's, upholstery manufacture was seen as the perfect
progression as Long Eaton was strewn with vacated lace mills which
could house this burgeoning industry and, crucially, utilise a large
workforce familiar with fabrics.
Furthermore, a high benchmark of quality was present right from the
beginning. Of the first furniture businesses in Long Eaton, Slater
Resilient made “high class” upholstery that was “not within the means
of the average Long Eatonian,” while F. C. Wade supplied furniture
for the first-class rooms on the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth
liners.
find out more at:
www.longeatonguild.co.uk