As part of the 2024 Chilterns Chair Festival, my wife and I had the privilege of a fascinating 2 hour tour, given by Ercol's 4th Generation Chairman Henry Tadros, of the Ercol Furniture Factory, located in Princess Risborough.
I had seen the factory on the BBC's "Inside the Factory", so had some idea of what to expect, but was very impressed by the hand craftsman skills that are combined with modern CNC machines, creating much excellent work.
CNC machines obviously have a place in a modern production facility - we saw a wood turning CNC machine turning I think around 110 chair spindles per hour - commercially it wouldn't make sense for someone to do this by hand on a wood turning lathe. But I was very impressed that beyond the "making the parts" process, there were no robots doing the making, people did it by hand with appropriate hand operated machines, right up to the finishing. And it goes without saying that the quality of the finished items was very impressive - solid pieces of furniture, with a very good finish applied. Ercol furniture may be expensive, but quality rightly comes at a cost - but in a good way. We live in such a throw away society where manufactured goods have such a short life, which is so wasteful of resources - but I could easily imagine Ercol furniture outlasting me and generations to come.
In a global economy where you're competing with anyone in the world it is all the more impressive that Ercol have managed to keep a good part of their manufacturing within the UK, using local employees, and keeping their traditions going. When Ercol started in High Wycombe in the 1920s, that town was a major centre for chair and furniture making in the UK - now there is hardly anyone left. What's all the more impressive is their commitment to using as much UK grown timber as they can - when you're dealing with volume, this is harder than it sounds - and it was impressive to hear Henry's work to improve this. Over time, Ercol have had to face various timber supply challenges - not the least Dutch Elm Disease (Elm timber was used in chair seat making for a long time) - so they've had to adapt.
I was also impressed by the relationship that Ercol's Chairman, Henry Tadros, seemed to have with all the employees on the shop floor. There were I think 75 of them, and understandably he knew them all by name and what they did. Henry also explained they had around 16 apprentices, learning the trade, who were teenagers - good that these skills are being passed on - but also very necessary if you want a business like this to continue.
Ercol produce a wide range of different furniture pieces - they may have been famous for their chairs in the past, but like many they've had to diversify and produce a range of different items. Due to the nature of the tour, and the production aims of the factory, it wasn't possible to see, for example, all the stages of chair manufacture, but that was OK, we saw a snap shot of what they were doing that day - and that in itself was fascinating.
In particular, we were able to see some steam bending in their workshop - timber being heated up in steam, then bent on an old machine that still serves it's purpose well after many years of use.
Knowing something of the companies history and brand, I went with high expectations, which were easily surpassed, seeing the dedication of the work force to produce a high quality product, made here, in the UK, just down the road from me, in the Chilterns. An impressive feat.
Note: For the avoidance of doubt, we paid for this tour, and were given no free gifts or incentives, this article is my personal impression only.
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