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Self-employed furniture designer: Amy

This Case Study belongs to Furniture designer.

Amy graduated with a degree in languages for business in 1987. Her language degree helped her to work abroad in Germany, where she re-trained as a furniture designer after a number of years. On returning to the UK, Amy went on to do an HND in Design Craft, which enabled her to acquire useful contacts in the furniture design business in UK. On completing her HND, Amy went on to work for a reputable bespoke furniture company in London and, after being employed as a furniture maker for a number of years, she went on to progress in her career by setting up her own company in London. She has now been running her own business for ten years, designing and making furniture to commission.

Her current role requires her to do everything from marketing to meeting with clients, designing their furniture, then making and installing it. On completion of her projects, she takes photographs of the work and adds the images to her portfolio. She is responsible for doing all her own paperwork, book-keeping and tax return.

Amy enjoys being in control of a project from start to finish and gets enormous satisfaction from delivering a completed product to a grateful client. She describes it as a very personal process for all concerned. The less enjoyable parts of the job are that it can be very physically demanding and at times she feels that there are concerns about financial security; she says it is 'a very hand-to-mouth existence'. She has considered teaming up with a business partner to share the load but is never totally convinced that it will work. Amy emphasises that in order to progress in this career it is important to get as much work experience (using the tools) as possible. This gives greater confidence and employers respond well to enthusiasm.

Case Study sourced by Rita Kapadia of AGCAS, 12 January 2009.