It was an honour to represent Rycotewood at the awards, and it was very insightful to see all of the other beautiful furniture that had been made that year. I was lucky enough to be awarded the 'Best Chair In Show' award from Gaze Burvill, a forward thinking, environmentally focused outdoor bespoke furniture business based in Hampshire. As a result of my award, I received a 3-day work experience opportunity to visit the business and see how they operate in their design department and parts of the workshop.

I visited many workplaces during my four year long studies at Rycotewood, and have been working within the furniture industry for just over a year now, and I am beyond impressed with their craftsmanship, nurturing work culture, and sustainable focus. One element of Gaze Burvill that stood out to me is the company culture, which encourages non-hierarchical thinking and values each and every person's ideas to generate the best outcome for the business, its employees, and the environment.

During my visit, I got a good insight into the design department and the workshops, but I was mainly focused on CAD work. My current job as a CNC operator and programmer lends itself well to this, and I've been able to pick up some Fusion360 surface modelling and technical drawing tips, which will hopefully come in handy when designing my own projects in Fusion in my spare time.

Another interesting aspect of my visit was the considerations that had to be made in the design department due to the nature of outside conditions and the extra steps in the workshop that had to be made to make the furniture last. The principles seem to be the same as indoor furniture, but they are just amplified due to the wetter conditions.

Overall, my time at Gaze Burvill was an insightful experience that has allowed me to see how an ethnically driven business operates. Thank you to the Young Furniture Makers exhibition for giving me the opportunity to showcase my design, and thank you to Gaze Burvill for hosting me for a very interesting three days.