Furnishing the finest for jet set’s dream machines
IN A nondescript warehouse on a Welsh industrial estate remarkable things are being made. A team of craftsmen and women is creating bespoke furniture that will feature in the homes and on the yachts and private aeroplanes of the super-rich.
Silverlining designs produces and creates some of the world’s finest – and most expensive – furniture and bespoke interiors. Most projects are worth more than £2m.
The company gets orders from all over the world, and it’s usually by word of mouth or repeat orders. To meet demand it has plans to double its workforce over the next five years.
Its current order books are full for over a year, and it often takes more than 18 months to deliver on a single project.
Examples of the unique work include horsehair braided into speakers and leather which is embossed, finished and patterned for a floor in Singapore. Their pieces can take a year to complete.
Silverlining was started in 1985 by then 21-year-old Mark Boddington. The young craftsman, driven by a love of wood and a passion for the craft of furniture, decided to opt out of working for his family’s wellknown brewing company (yes, that Boddingtons) and trained under the famous furniture designer John Makepeace.
He set up the first Silverlining workshop in a disused cowshed in his home county of Cheshire. The name for the firm came from his early use of inlaid silver in furniture.
The company’s reputation grew, and by the 1990s he was creating furniture for clients around the world, notably for David Bowie’s London and New York homes, and for Kevin Costner’s Hollywood mansion.
A commission for the furniture on the yacht of Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei saw the company begin its longstanding affiliation with the yachting community.
The company outgrew its Cheshire home and moved across the border to the Wrexham Industrial Estate.
Now the company is considering establishing an academy to train and tutor the skills needed to maintain the company’s exacting standards and worldwide reputation.
Mr Boddington said: “I am committed to north Wales as the headquarters for my company and I am extremely confident that an unprecedented expansion will continue here.
“The UK is very good at niche advance manufacturing and as a country we need to export more using these talents.
“When we moved to Wales I found the Welsh Government helpful, quick and responsive to our needs and understanding of our ambitions.
“The skilled people I needed could be found locally and overall costs were cheaper.”
Of the company’s exclusive products Mr Boddington said: “We aim to be the very best in the world through a combination of creative design, innovative craftsmanship and advanced materials and technology – we believe we can become the Rolls-Royce of the furniture business in the years ahead.”
Silverlining is the only furnituremaker in the UK to win three Guild Marks and the Annual Award for Excellence in Design and Craftsmanship in the same year by The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers. It was also one of just four Welsh companies to be named on the Sunday Times Lloyds SME Export Track 100 league table. Mr Boddington also joined the Welsh Government on a trade mission to Hong Kong and Shanghai.