NEWS

• November 2007

• Cantina, London - This riverside restaurant owned by D & D London was recently refurbished. We supplied some Mrs B tables from our domestic range and designed some bespoke tables for the new look Cantina.

• 55 Baker Street, London - We are putting the finishing touches to an 16 metre reception desk for this prestigious new development in the West End. We will shortly install the Stealth Desk, named for its size and shape, in the ground floor reception area. The desk is made of solid London Plane and has faceted front panels.  Other features include a raised platform, rear balustrade and an accessibility ramp. The design also incorporates ten workstations which disappear into the desk when not in use, each comprising a monitor display unit, a pedestal unit with personal storage drawer and space for a computer. The desk was designed by us in collaboration with Make Architects.

• October 2007

• Dorchester, Park Lane, London - We made and fitted pewter clad restaurant screens, wall panelling and doors for this luxury Mayfair hotel.

• Private Residence, London - We made some bespoke furniture in a variety of timbers for a private residence in London. 

• Strada, Spinningfields, Manchester - We made and installed a 5 metre monolithic pewter bar for this new restaurant.

• St Paul’s, London - We made and installed an Information Kiosk, reception desk, storage units, kitchenette area, glass partitioning and doors and leaflet display units for the City of London.  This was a complicated design and build project involving the integration of mechanical and electrical components within furniture items. The extreme angular building design dictated the shape and form of the furniture adding to the challenge.

• Penny Hill Park Hotel & Spa, Bagshot - In collaboration with Nicholas Hollinshead Interiors  we designed, made and installed a polished pewter champagne ice well with integrated lighting

• Private Residence, London - We designed, made and installed a bespoke kitchen and supplied some furniture from our domestic range for a private residence in London.

• Mary Jane’s Bar, WFC, London - We made a 25 metre pewter bar top for a new bar and restaurant in the City.

• Chez Gerrard - Over the course of the summer and Autumn we worked on the refurbishment of 22 branches of Chez Gerrard from Cafe Unos for owners Paramount Restaurants.  We made oak tables with zinc tops and zinc bars. Another 20 refurbishments are planned.

• September 2007

• Waterbridge, Reading - We made and fitted two mini kitchens, a reception desk and four large tables in rippled sycamore for displaying models at Waterbridge’s headquarters.

• 100% Design, Earls Court London - Each year there are various awards given to designers and manufacturers exhibiting at 100% Design. This year there was a new award given for sustainable design which was sponsored by Benchmark.The award was won by Peter Masters of Burnt Toast for his glass dining table ‘Final Stand’. In addition we designed and made a wooden podium on three layers which formed a centrepiece in the 100% Futures exhibition hall.It was also used as a meeting and resting place for the thousands of visitors to the four day exhibition.

• Acorn Restaurants - In a record turnaround we made six long banquet tables in sustainable oak for Acorn’s temporary restaurant at 100% Design. We also supplied 40 square tables.

• Lord Lieutenant’s visit and Queen’s Award presentation - The Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, Philip Wroughton, in his capacity as the Queen’s Representative in Berkshire, visited Benchmark on September 13 to present us with the Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development. Following a tour of the workshops he was welcomed by Terence and after making a congratulatory speech to staff in which he explained the significance of the award he presented the certificate and a crystal bowl to workshop manager Steve Cooper. A celebratory rounders match and tea was held afterwards at Barton Court. Other VIP visitors included Mrs Broughton, the Chairman of Berkshire Council Andrew Rowles and Brien Beharrel, editor of the Newbury Weekly News. We were pleased to welcome several of our suppliers including Tamera Easterling from West Berkshire Training Consortium, Simon Knowles and Caroline Craven of Cantilever Bar Systems and Mike Bradley our woodturner.

• June - August 2007

• New Collection - Our craftsmen were hard at work over the summer making prototypes of the new pieces for Benchmark’s domestic furniture range.The new collection includes new designs by Terence Conran and Russell Pinch as well as pieces by designers new to Benchmark, Kay + Stemmer and Partridge and Walmsley. In house designers, Steven Owens and Peter Lowe have also contributed to the new range as has Andy Tungate, a woodworker in our workshop. For more information click on http://www.benchmark-furniture.com/newsletter.php

• The Vineyard at Stockcross, Berkshire - We completed the first stage of an ongoing renovations programme for the main dining room at our local Michelin starred restaurant! We made new waiter stations and tables as well as a gueridon in walnut and pewter and a pewter display table. The next stage is a new cocktail bar.

• Radisson SAS, Birmingham - We were delighted to be working once more with the Beetham Organisation and Ian Simpson Architects on this prestigious landmark hotel and apartment building in Birmingham. We made wall panels in oak and ash for the penthouse apartments.

• Kirkland and Ellis, London - Returning to Swiss Re’s Gherkin building we made and installed rippled sycamore wall panels, a boardroom table and credenzas for Kirkland and Ellis.

• May 2007

• Peat Restaurant, Inverness - For Waterbridge we made a stunning bar with an illuminated tiger onyx panel front for a new restaurant and bar in Inverness. We also made restaurant furniture, banquette seating and display boxes for the restaurant’s wine cellar, working in collaboration with Nicholas Hollinshead Interiors. A special feature of the restaurant is the stunning mosaic clad columns.

• Swan at West Malling, Kent - Continuing our association with owner Diccon Wright we made outdoor furniture for the restaurant’s BBQ area.

• April 2007

• FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY - We are currently looking to recruit experienced Furniture Makers/Joiners to join our busy well-equipped workshops, producing high quality furniture items. We offer excellent terms & conditions for the right candidates to compliment our existing team.

Please email your contact details and CV to Steve Cooper, Operations Manager: scooper@benchmarkwoodworking.com

• Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development - Benchmark has won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, a prestigious business award that recognises and rewards outstanding achievement by British companies. We won the award in the sustainable development category. Eight companies were given the award from a total of 116 applications. It was the first time Benchmark had applied.  The Awards are made each year by the Queen on the advice of the prime minister, assisted by an advisory committee that includes representatives of Government, industry and commerce.

• Bluebird Restaurant, London - New restaurant furniture in various timber finishes was made for this iconic London restaurant.

• Daylesford Organic , Gloucestershire - We made and delivered an outdoor furniture range to be sold in the farmshop. The range comprises tables, benches and stools in raw FSC certified oak .

• Globe Theatre, London - We were delighted to be working once more with the management team from the Swan Hotel at West Malling on the fit-out of this high profile new restaurant on the waterfront. We adapted pieces from our domestic furniture collection. Handmade in a selection of certified timbers, the furniture echoes the spirit of Shakespearian England, with chunky and robust tables, benches and stools from Benchmark’s Nelson and Maiden ranges. 

• Chez Gerrard, Farnham - We made bar and table tops for the latest Chez Gerrard in Farnham and we are about to start work on pieces for a new one opening in May in Teddington, Middlesex.

• Myhotel, Brighton - We are currentlyworking on pieces for a room set designed by Karim Rashid for his latest Myhotel project.

• March 2007

• Cumberland Hotel, London - For interior designer Nicky Drummond-Brady we made furniture for the bar at the refurbished Cumberland Hotel. This included solid oak distressed tables and bar stools.

• IPC Media , London - We completed a prestigious fit-out job for IPC Media ‘s new headquarters at the Blue Fin building next to the Tate Modern, a landmark building designed by Allies and Morrison.  We made furniture including reception and reading desks for the highly visible public spaces notably the main reception, boardroom and meeting rooms on the ground floor.  This included a desk in stainless steel, glass and corian as well as a stunning x metre oak desk and a 45 metre media wall with 9,000 LEDs.  Working with Bennett Interior Design we also supplied furniture for offices on the upper floors.

• Le Talbooth, Essex - We refurbished a pewter bar, made suede banquette seating and oak computer tables for this restaurant owned by Milsom Hotels.

• In the workshop - We are making tables, chairs and banquette seating for restaurants at the Globe Theatre in London. We’re also doing some work for The Third Space, a London gym and for an information kiosk at St Paul’s in the City of London.

• Oundle School , Peterborough - Working with architects Willmott Dixon, we made and fitted science lab benches in solid oak and stainless steel.

• Cutty Sark, London - We made a temporary timber structure for visitors to the Cutty Sark at Greenwich.

• Barratt Homes, Hounslow - We made and fitted a stunning reception desk shaped like a doughnut and clad in pewter for an upmarket residential development. Designed by architects Michael Aukett, the reception desk measured five metres in diameter.

• Old Queen Street, London - We designed, made and installed furniture for the media room and guest suite of this private home in Mayfair.  The commission included cabinets to house audio visual equipment. We also made furniture for kitchenettes on three floors.

• Carluccios, Manchester - This month we’ll install furniture for a new Carluccio’s in the Trafford Centre, Manchester. We’re already working on pieces for the next one at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey.

• Chez Gerrard, Egham - We made bar and table tops for the latest Chez Gerrard in Surrey and we are about to start work on pieces for a new one opening in May in Teddington, Middlesex.

• February 2007

• Best of British Industry Award - On 8 February Benchmark was named winner of the “Next Generation Award” at the Best of British Industry Awards sponsored by The Sunday Times.  The Award was given for outstanding achievement in driving performance through investment in new talent.  It was presented to Sean by Will Hutton, chief executive of the Work Foundation, at an awards dinner at the Tate Modern. Other winning companies included industrial giants such as Rolls Royce, Airbus Industries and JCB.

• January 2007

• Smiths of Smithfield, London - Working with owner John Torode, we made restaurant furniture, bars and a wine wall display for this restaurant in the City of London.

• New additions to the design team - The capabilities of the design team have been boosted by two new members:Andrew Berry, a recent graduate in furniture design from Lincoln University and from the workshop, Danny Thomas, who has been  working as a craftsman for Benchmark since joining as an apprentice twelve years ago.  An engineer in a previous life, Andrew won Cabinet Maker’s “Designer of the Year 2007”. Danny has joined the design team as a draughtsman.  He has an in- depth knowledge of manufacturing techniques and skills having worked in all areas of the company’s workshops.

• We have acquired Litton Furniture, a woodworking company with a long history of supplying luxury interiors as well as furniture for top end retailers. The acquisition will enable us to increase our workshop capacity and move into supplying the
luxury commercial and domestic markets. Litton has a reputation for skilled cabinet making and attention to detail. It makes furniture for LINLEY and has supplied interiors for British embassies around the world as well as several prestigious sailing yachts. For more information go to our press section.

• December 2006

• Beetham Organization, Birmingham - Working with Ian Simpson Architects, we made a stunning five-panelled screen from

mirrored glass, leather and polished stainless steel for the lobby of the Radisson SAS Hotel in Birmingham.

• November 2006

• Café Amore, London - Working in collaboration with Cantilever Bar Systems we made a new bar and a wine box display for

Café Amore.

• Carluccio’s Spitalfield - Another project for Carluccio’s. We made community sharing tables with avonite tops providing a

fresh twist to their sharing table concept.

• Chez Gerrard, London - We made a zinc wrapped bar top for this well-known London institution.

• Custom House, Copenhagen - A large commission for Conran restaurants, we made and installed walnut and oak furniture

for a new restaurant development in a renovated customs building at the port. 

• Dim T, London - For this Oriental dim sum restaurant in Charlotte Street we made oak tables and chairs and an unusual oak

wall panel with up lit LED lighting.

• Eden Project, Cornwall - We continue to work with Eden and our latest commission was some restaurant and canteen

furniture for the new Apple Café.

• Eight, London - We made free standing furniture including poker tables, screens and chairs for this private members club in

the City. We also supplied pieces from our domestic furniture range including the pewter nest of tables and the Concorde

 table.

• Greenwich University, London - Commissioned by Dannatt Johnson Architects, we made eight teaching desks for

classrooms in the science block and a lecture theatre console. The desks were finished in laminate and plywood and the

console in Douglas fir.

• Hawkpoint, London - Working with Denton Associates, we made a stone clad reception desk and boardroom credenza to

house audiovisual equipment. We also made a dresser with a large plasma screen.

• Oasis, London - We made some pretty pink display tables for Oasis stores. 

• Piccolino’s, Newcastle - We made a bar and some furniture for Piccolino’s Newcastle.  We’re now working on pewter bars

 for the new Wimbledon restaurant.

• Sunday Times Best of British Industry Awards - We have been shortlisted for an award in the category of Next Generation,

 as a result of our apprentice training programme and our sustainability profile. The winner will be announced in February

2007 at an awards ceremony in London.

• Giraffe - This month sees the fit-out of two more Giraffe restaurants, one at Milton Keynes and the other at the Trafford 

Centre, near Manchester. We have made surfboard bar tops, oak community tables and free standing furniture for five

Giraffe restaurants to date.

• Custom House, Copenhagen - We will shortly be on site to fit the new bar and restaurant furniture we have designed  

and made for this Conran restaurant in the Danish capital.

• October 2006  

• Carluccio’s - We finished the latest Carluccio's café at The Brunswick in Bloomsbury, London. Working with  

 Priscilla Carluccio we have designed and made furniture and fittings for all 28 cafés.

• Sean Sutcliffe was shortlisted to the final six for the Daily Telegraph Business Personality of the Year. He was nominated

for the company's award winning apprentice training programme. The result will be announced in late November.

• The Alnwick Garden and Pavilion Centre was runner up for the 2006 Wood Award, Britain's premier award for the use of

wood in buildings.

• September 2006 

• Chelsea Harbour Café Bar - An organic café bar inspired by the petals of a rose.  Designed by Din Associates and 

engineered by Benchmark, the curved form was created using surfboard technology and painted with a luxurious white gold

finish. The unit incorporated a bespoke refrigerated display.

• Bordeaux Quay, Bristol -  We completed the finishing touches to the mainly wooden interiors at Bordeaux Quay, a 

sustainable restaurant, brasserie, bar, bakery, delicatessen and cookery school in a converted warehouse at Bristol's

dockside. The owners' principles of sustainability, zero waste and carbon neutrality were incorporated into the design of

the building's interiors. Benchmark was involved in the design as well as making and fitting free standing furniture for the

project. 

• August 2006 

• Grand Canal Square, Dublin - Our site team installed an architectural joinery package of timber louvers supplied by timber

engineer Gordon Cowley’s TEC for this project. 

• July/August 2006  

• Farnham Estate Hotel, County Cavan, Ireland - Working with Project Orange we completed a major commission of bespoke

furniture and joinery for  this large 158 room luxury hotel and conference centre. This included furniture adapted from our

domestic range to give a relaxed, informal country house feel.