Andrew Reynolds talks to Design Insider

Can you start by introducing yourself and your role at Curtis Furniture? What has been your journey with the company?

I’m Andrew Reynolds the M.D. of Curtis. We started the company in 1997 from what had been Curtis Shopfitters. In those early years we made decisions about focus and that was part of the making of Curtis. Having had early links with Thistle Hotels, we decided to specialise in Hotel bedroom furniture and I am proud to say we are now the largest specialist manufacturer of hotel bedrooms in the UK (and we still work with Thistle Hotels).

How does Curtis Furniture stand out in the industry?

We learned early on that making lovely furniture was just half of the challenge of looking after hotel customers. The often, unseen, element is the co-ordination of the process from quick quotes through to the often changing demands of a live installation. To handle this, each project not only gets a dedicated Curtis project manager but we also provide a fully employed Installation Manager to provide communication, management and presence on each site. 

Curtis Furniture prides itself on its tried-and-tested processes. Can you explain how lean principles are integrated into your operations, and how they contribute to efficiency and quality?

LEAN is all about reducing waste – both physical in terms of raw materials or the less visible waste of time, it all costs. Our ongoing lean projects constantly review how we as a team reduce the wastes in the business. There is not a week goes by where we don’t turn a key element of the business upside down, give it a shake and look to improve it.

UK material sourcing is a cornerstone of Curtis Furniture's approach. Why is sourcing locally so important, and how does it align with your sustainability goals?

I think that the main reason we continue to grow is that we are here on the ground in the UK. Things go wrong but when they do we can react; not only because we are generally less than 4 hours from any site but because we manufacture right here in Leeds. In the same vein we want our suppliers here with us in the UK. Occasionally there is cost impact but this is tiny in comparison to not being able to deliver to a hotel on time, and of course it being far better for the environment in terms of our carbon footprint.

With the majority of your materials sourced from the UK, how do you navigate challenges such as supply chain fluctuations or increased demand while maintaining high standards?

We work as a team with our material suppliers, many of whom have been with over ten or even twenty years. We talk to them all the time and we pay them on time which means they do their utmost to look after us. How does UK-based manufacturing provide tangible benefits to your hotel clients in terms of lead times and adaptability? As well the reduced lead times that our UK factory allows, we can also be far more flexible with our approach. For example, clients often develop a sample room and then review this room and build in the lessons learned for the roll out. The reality is that the sample room type may represent less than half the keys in the hotel. We recognise this and have developed systems that allow for new room types to be reviewed as the development rolls through the hotel. Being here in the UK gives us the opportunity to implement the new lessons learned quick enough to deliver the improvements during the fit-out.