Furniture maker

He left Cherwell School, Oxford, at 16 with little to show for his sojourn there.

He said: “Being dyslexic, school and me didn’t really go well together.”

But now no-one could possibly deny what he may have lacked in academic achievement he has more than compensated for in entrepreneurial spirirt. He is now a furniture maker and designer with a workshop in Cassington, turning over about £50,000 a year, and considering taking on his first employee.

He said: “There are pictures of me aged two with a hammer in my hand and I suppose I always knew that what I really wanted to do was work with wood.

“I suppose I should be eternally grateful to my mum who took me along to Rycotewood College in Thame to take a course in woodwork.”

We were chatting in the barn he shares with kitchen fitter Ali Young at Burleigh Farm, in open countryside between Cassington and Bladon, and has, incidentally, in recent years become a workplace for five craftsmen working with wood.

He set up in 2004 with second-hand equipment in a cold shed in Beckley. He then moved to the farm two years ago. Now a wood burning stove and his equipment , including a £7,000 panel saw, are prominent signs of increasing prosperity.

He freely admits he was lucky to have parents who helped him on his way by supplying him with his first commission — a dresser, which in turn paid for his tools. Thereafter, it was mainly word-of-mouth that has led to a steady but slow growth in orders.

The fundamental problem for furniture makers these days, as is well known in the trade, is that they are not just competing against each other, and against producers of much cheaper mass-produced objects, but also against makers of good furniture from centuries gone by, namely antiques.

“We’re up against bad furniture from the present and good furniture from the past,” said Mr Lamdin.

He added that traditional joinery used in very good furniture, particularly antiques, was the best, and of course it was built to last.

“And building to last, standing out against the throwaway attitude, is what I stand for here. I try to show off really good traditional joints in my pieces,” he said.

Between us as we spoke was a simple but arresting-looking coffee table of light, modern design but nevertheless breathing solid good quality along traditional lines.

It was made of a light coloured maple with contrasting American walnut legs and was destined for the house of a regular customer who had already commissioned a number of pieces.

Mr Lamdin’s furniture varies in price largely according to whether or not he is selling on spec —such as a pair of coffee tables that would look good in an office or a modern home costing about £1,200 — or to commission, in which case things cost more but, of course, customers get exactly what they want.

Mr Lamdin explained that many of his customers were very rich and that since starting up he had not noticed even a temporary drop in orders, even after the credit crunch began to bite.

But then the recession was very short in the City, and there are plenty of super-rich in the Cotswolds — though Mr Lamdin was quick to add that not all his customers were in that bracket.

Strangely, Mr Lamdin has noticed that recently he has had many more inquiries, though the number of actual orders was only rising steadily as it has been since he started.

He said he was now waiting to see if those inquiries would turn into orders before committing to another employee.

He said: “I do work for builders and shops and other commercial premises, as well as private customers.”

Among these commercial customers are Alexis Thompson, who runs the Dancing Trousers Cookery School near Lechlade, who wanted a table large enough for six people to work around but so adaptable that it could turn into a dining room table, too.

She said: “The table is beautiful and has become the star of my cookery school kitchen. I call her ‘Big Bertha.’ She’s like a member of the team now. The maple and black walnut look stunning together and the table is so solidly built that even with six people kneading bread dough it doesn’t wobble at all.”

Contrasting woods are one of Mr Lamdin’s specialities. Businessman Paul Cox commissioned a desk and found the contrasting woods ‘amazing’.

He said: “The veneers have been laid out in such a way that when I sit at my desk (unable to prevent myself smiling at the view) the grains in the wood fan out like the tail of a peacock.

“The cables from the computer are neatly hidden behind invisible panels within the desk, retaining the sleek clean lines necessary for the look required.”

So all in all, who says academic excellence is essential for young people to do well in the economic climate of today?

There is always the shining star of Winston Churchill to follow, as many a youngster leaving school with hardly an exam pass to their name must have been told.

Name: Hugo Lamdin Furniture Established: 2004 Owner: Hugo Lamdin Number of staff: One Annual turnover: £50,000 Contact: 01993 703783 Web: www.hugolamdinfurniture.co.uk