New Freemen welcomed

Back row: Stuart Curtis, Charlie Oulton, Phil Gibbs,  Debbie Browne, James Taylor, Marcelline Herald, Alex Stewart, Carsten Astheimer and Neil Clark.
Front row: Ben Burbidge, Senior Warden; David Dewing, Master; Tony Smart, Junior Warden.

During our recent Common Hall event in April, we were delighted to welcome nine new Freemen into the Company.

Carsten Astheimer 
Carsten runs his own design consultancy and studio, Astheimer Ltd, working in a variety of sectors, from super yachts to furniture. He studied mechanical engineering at Leicester, before gaining a second degree in transport design from the ArtCentre College of Design. In 1999 he began work for Pininfarina Extra, an Italian design firm specialising in transport, while also working as a course coordinator at Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan. In 2006 Carsten moved to Brunswick Boat Group, a shipbuilder, to be their Design Director before establishing his own Warwick based firm in 2009 dealing with a wider variety of design.

Debbie Browne
Debbie is the head of operations for Hands of Wycombe, and has been involved in the furniture industry for almost 25 years. She moved into manufacturing after school, working in sign production and engineering firms before moving into furniture in the early 1990s. Debbie worked for Deanes of Woburn Green, in the purchasing department, before moving to Hands of Wycombe to run the purchasing department. She was head hunted to run French Canadian seating manufacturer Dutailier’s production facility in Perivale for a period, before returning to Hands as administration manager and then head of operations last year.

Neil Clark
Neil is the sales director for Northamptonshire based Ocee Design, alongside Liveryman Alistair Gough. He went to the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology before moving into sales work. In 1998 Neil began work for Hille Ltd with Robin Day as a sales manager, moving to KI to be a business development manager in 2001.  He moved to Mileu Design in 2011, before joining Ocee Design later that same year. Neil is a keen sports fan, and as a player scored three centuries for Mildenhall Cricket Club, and in 2011 he cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats in eight and a half days.

Stuart Curtis
Stuart is the proprietor of Belvedere Reproductions, an Ipswich based furniture producer. He studied cabinet making at Suffolk College and served an apprenticeship at a cabinet making firm, before starting up his own company in 1984. Today Belvedere Reproductions supplies to the trade, interior designers and to retail customers direct. The company’s furniture has been sold all over the world to discerning clients. Stuart’s interests include motor cars and motor bikes, antique collecting and skiing.

Phil Gibbs
Phil is the company secretary for the Leisure and Outdoor Furniture Association, which offers business support for companies manufacturing or distributing garden furniture. He studied Physics at the University of Salford, spending over 30 years in the Royal Navy during which time he graduated several post graduate courses in information systems and resource management, achieving the post of Deputy Command Information Manager. In 2010 he worked for the University of Portsmouth, before starting at LOFA in 2011.

Marcelline Herald
Marcelline currently operates her own small business, trading through The Blanchard Collective in Froxfield, Wiltshire. She has a degree in English Literature and Psychology and, following graduation, went into education, working in schools in North Kensington in the 1970s before moving to Berkshire to start a family and work with local organisations. In 1992 Marcelline joined TVADA, LAPADA in 1995, and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1996, later becoming one of 136 Bench Chairman in England and Wales in 2001. In 1998 she opened a shop in Eton, and in 2000 became chairman of the TVADA. In 2008 she began working freelance.

Charlie Oulton
Charlie is the managing director of Foam Comforts International, which produces the N:rem sleep system designed for pain sufferers. He attended Ampleforth College, and started in his current role in 2013, having previously worked at Halo Manufacturing, a furniture producer. At Halo Charlie was involved with the work of their charitable fund and continues similar work with his new company.

Alex Stewart
Alex works as a design engineer at Carsten Astheimer’s studio in Warwick.  He graduated from De Montford University in 2014, having spent a year of his studies at École Supérieure d’Art et de Design d’Orléans as part of the Erasmus programme. In 2014 Alex was a winner of the Willis & Gambier Student Design Contest, and last year was on the shortlist for the British Design Council’s Spark Product Innovation Fund 2015 and also third place in our Young Furniture Maker Design Awards. He has been a Young Furniture Maker since 2012, joining the Young Furniture Maker committee in 2013.

James Taylor
James is the managing director of TMJ Interiors, a company that he founded in 1981, and recently has opened two new companies: Complete Fixing Solutions and Plus Interiors. He launched TMJ into the London market in the mid 1980s and hasn’t looked back since, reinvesting a large amount of money into the business, which now employs over 140 members of staff. Past projects include 10 Downing Street, Windsor Castle, the Royal Opera House and the City of London Guildhall.