PROFITS GO INTO A NEW WOODWORKING PROGRAMME THAT HELPS THOSE WHO HAVE SLIPPED THROUGH THE CRACKS

social entrepreneur Oliver Waddington-Ball, envisaged an integrated furniture studio, training platform and community hub, underlined by an aspiration to minimise waste and maximise social impact. During its seven years, makers have been converging in its basement workshop to teach, craft and upcycle. The result is bespoke furniture such as the ‘Peshawar’ table, which is topped with inlaid marble by Afghan artisans and carved from maple flooring reclaimed from London’s Design Museum. ‘Waste doesn’t exist in nature – it’s a completely circular concept,’ explains Cudennec. ‘It goes into the soil and comes back as something else.’ This sustainable quest sees wood salvaged from local tree surgeons, and offcuts hewn into chopping boards and coasters. Profits are pumped back into the apprenticeship scheme and new community woodworking programme Soulcraft, which looks to help those who have slipped through the cracks of education and employment.

Goldfinger’s network of big-name backers and collaborators, such as John Lewis and Tom Dixon, has been recently bolstered by a series of high-profile hospitality commissions, including co-living space Mason & Fifth and the inaugural Inhabit hotel. According to Cudennec, the model works – and this could be just the start. ‘There are issues of unemployment and waste everywhere,’ she says. ‘The more scale you have, the more impact you have.’ goldfingerfactory.com