Sectors - Furniture
Skillbuilders started off with the artisan skills of furniture and textiles and in terms of specialist furniture makers the subregion of the Marches certainly has a reputation for being the new Cotswolds. The ambition is to make the sector sustainable with cottage type artisans working along side larger timber manufacturing entities. A capable young craftsman is just as valued in a one-off workshop making expensive bench seats as a jig maker in a busy factory is. In the 1970's Ludlow was quite a centre for reproduction furniture making and antique restoration.
For young students who want to learn to make things, the sector is very broad with plenty of opportunities to specialize in the high added value spectrum of the creative industries.