Furniture fit for Purpose

R&R Magazine looks at how a family furniture business has developed to become one of the biggest suppliers to the hotel sector.

Alan and Martin Pedley are the third generation of their family to be involved in the manufacture of furniture and other pieces of fine woodwork, though it was their father, Neville, who set up the business we find today, employing around 100 people in a purpose built plant on the outskirts of Saffron Walden.
It is an enterprise that has not only grown in size and reputation over the past six decades, but one which has matured into new markets for a variety of reasons: one of them more admirable than you would expect to encounter in the ultra-competitive world of manufacturing and commerce.
As Chairman Martin Pedley, quite philosophically explains the history: “It was 25 years ago when we realized we were doing everything in the process on the projects with which we were involved, except selling. We were designing, producing, fitting and even project managing the fit out of drawing offices and more general commercial offices. But we were actually undertaking all the manufacturing of the furniture sold by the three main companies in the sector, and simply putting their different brands on the finished product.
“We had knowledge of the prices the end client was being charged and it was obvious that if we entered the market in our own right we would put them all out of business; so we went looking for another area of work.”
It is an interpretation of corporate social responsibility which would be anathema to the inhabitants of most boardrooms these days, but the Pedley family quickly identified hotel refurbishment as offering an ideal opportunity in terms of contracts demanding high quality and longevity, as well as the potential for a fair degree of repetition.
The company’s first range of hotel bedroom furniture offered the scope for major chains to obtain the custom made ‘case pieces’ they wanted, but at an economic price. Essentially the choice of 25 mouldings, 20 different real wood veneers and another 30 different types of handle meant the number of permutations went past the two million mark.
The first to take the plunge with Pedley was the Forte Heritage chain, resulting in the manufacturer providing not just bespoke designs, but made-to-measure solutions for some less than regular shaped guest bedrooms in locations such as The Bear at Woodstock, and The Complete Angler in Marlowe.
Although in the early days, Pedley was mainly competing with suppliers from across the Atlantic, as it began to build a portfolio of successfully completed projects – based on product quality and level of service – the American market opened up for the brothers. And now with more than 150,000 bedroom fit-outs completed worldwide, Pedley can offer the experience as well as the expertise to meet any challenge.
Indeed there can be few more iconic locations for a hotel than overlooking Niagara Falls, where Pedley supplied the owners of the first Hilton on the site with all the bedroom furniture for a 522 room building.
Fast-forward some eight years (CONFIRM LENGTH OF TIME PLEASE) to when the client wanted to develop another 53 storey structure alongside and it realized everything supplied under the original contract was still in perfect condition. Winning the new contract for another 1058 bedrooms became a formality. In fact, repeat orders account for a large proportion of Pedley’s business.
So how does the company manage to achieve such high levels of quality and durability, supplying furniture for what is potentially an extremely hostile environment, that could be in use by different people every day of the year?
It results from striking a balance between employing old fashioned craftsmanship along with modern technologies and materials; as well as a hands-on managerial style.
Alan Pedley has spent seven years working with a small team of specialists to develop bespoke software that enables every design nuance to be viewed in three-dimensions, cross-referenced and turned into a cutting list that ensures nothing is left to chance when an order begins its journey through the factory.
Solid timber, the finest wood veneers, and high performance particleboard products are brought together in a series of operations which will lead to the assembly of such pieces as drawer units, desks, bedside tables, headboards, wash-stands and wardrobes. The veneers are applied using a hot melt adhesive and high pressure, creating an irreversible crystalline bond within minutes. And a series of automated sanding tables refine the finish before the lacquer is applied.
Impressively, after first pioneering a surface which would not ring stain, even if a metal pot of boiling water is stood on it, Pedley has managed to improve the performance still further while switching to a water based lacquer fro environmental units. Only the drying process has had to be modified, while other new materials are being investigated all the time.

Visit us at www.pedley.com