What advice would you give someone starting from square one?

I would recommend they learn the skills that AI can't produce - for example, drawing beautifully by hand. It's so impressive when an interior designer or maker can draw up somebody's idea in a meeting as they are speaking. It used to be the norm, and now it's a rare skill. With the onslaught of AI, having skills that set you apart is important. I'd also encourage them to get a job, even if it's not the perfect one. It's always better to find a job when you're already in a job.

Is there a moment that didn’t feel significant at the time, but in hindsight was pivotal to your career?

My apprenticeship - serving a three-year apprenticeship as a gilder, painter, lacquerer and furniture restorer. At the time, I thought being an apprentice gilder and furniture restorer was a short-term step towards going to art school or becoming an architect. I didn't take it too seriously. But in retrospect, without that three-year apprenticeship, I would definitely not be able to do the job I do now. So even if you're in the wrong job, don't underestimate the value of learning.

And a setback that turned out to be a redirection?

The collapse of the antique market, which led me into the world of design and making.
When the antique market collapsed, I thought that was the end of the world. But it simply redirected my skill set into making furniture and creating more modern specialist finishes. If I was advising a young person, I'd say don't fear change or redirection. Sometimes, especially when you're forced into it, you end up better off for it. It's very easy to become comfortable in the things you do, but risk-taking and inquisitiveness are skills to be admired, in my view.

Which piece of furniture have you made that means the most to you?

Because of the nature of my company, historically making bespoke pieces for designers, the thing that matters most to me is translating my clients' ideas to help them design and make what they want. Whilst, if you pushed me, I would say copying a desk chair from the Pavlovsk Palace in St Petersburg. It was one of my first experiments of making furniture, and I went out to St Petersburg to make the piece of furniture when the Berlin Wall came down. It was an experiment to see if I could make furniture in Russia, and I still have the chair to this day sitting in our studio in Shropshire.

When things feel off-track, what helps you reset?

Sometimes I get overloaded with admin, and I find that walking around a museum (the V&A being my favourite) reminds me of what I do and clears my head. It's a great reset.
What also helps me reset is stepping out of my environment and into a different one, like the V&A. I also find that exercise, in whatever format, from a walk around Hyde Park to an exhausting gym session, tends to set me straight again.

Who do you rely on for advice when you need an honest answer?

Sophie, my wife. Not always what I want to hear! And if she's busy, my children don't hold back either. If it's work-related, Carlien and Tom in my sales team are very good at telling me straight.

What does “taking a leap” actually look like in your experience?

I think 'taking a leap' for me is being brave enough to stick your neck out and take a risk. For me, that sometimes translates as saying, "Yes, I can create a certain finish or decorative surface," and then discovering I have to go on a very steep learning curve.
It also gives me very sore knees now that I'm 60.

What’s a lesson you had to learn more than once?

Saying yes too much. I'm always saying yes to every challenge, but sometimes it's not the best thing to do. In reality, I'm in the service industry, and it's always tempting to please the client and say yes. Sometimes, though, you need to put your foot down. But I think I'm addicted to challenges.

When have you felt most “on the right ladder”?

When I translate a client's idea and give them exactly what is in their head. I deal with many brilliant designers, from minimalist to maximalist, and when I translate their ideas into a piece of furniture, it is deeply satisfying and definitely my happiest space. Apart from my own collection, as a furniture maker it is my job to translate my clients' needs and produce the ideas they have in their mind's eye. That is an incredible education for me, and it ties in with my earlier comments about enjoying a challenge.

A place that you return back to when in need of inspiration?

I think museums are an incredible platform not just for education but also for inspiration. They make you realise what incredible things we've produced over time and appreciate the craftsmanship of human beings. You can never fail to be inspired, and you can never complete the task because there's simply too much to learn. Surely that's a space we would all like to be in. The V&A Museum has always been my favourite, although more recently, I'm morphing into the British Museum.

Which song do you play to re-energise?

As much as I love music, I don't have a very good ear. When I was at school, we endlessly listened to David Bowie on repeat, and whenever I hear Changes, it makes me feel nostalgic. I also had the chance to see David Bowie's house on Gilston Road, which was brilliantly designed by Jonathan Reed and was way ahead of its time.

If you were playing a second game, which career route could you have taken?

That's easy for me. I would be a chef. I love food, and I love interiors, so I would have been very happy in the restaurant industry. It wasn't a popular route in my youth, but that definitely would have been the path I chose, as I spend all my spare time cooking. Or, if I'm not cooking, I'm thinking about food (as my wife keeps reminding me!)

I also have a very large collection of cookbooks, which I have to hide around the house in case Sophie (my wife) catches me buying yet another one. I see cooking as a completely parallel world to what I do. It involves exactly the same creativity and design mindset, and I could so easily have ended up doing that instead. If it weren't for a chance meeting with Salvatore Titian, where I did my apprenticeship, my life might have taken a very different direction.