From chair maker to business owner.
White & Son, now in its second generation, was set up in 1976 by Malcom White.
Malcom’s father worked for a large joinery and shop fitting company in their hometown of Leeds, which enabled his son to get involved at an early age in the environment of wood work, carving tools and joinery; although he was warned never to touch his fathers’ tools!
It wasn’t until Malcom was employed as a chair maker and carver, when the opportunity to work for himself came about…
Malcom’s first client was Barnsley resident Mr. Finley, who required a staircase structure built in Mahogany with handrails and newels, all with fine hand carved detailing. Not realising quite what he was letting himself in for, and how big the job was at hand, Malcom jumped right in.
But he needed a workshop…
Malcom knew of a local retiree that had some old yet reasonably serviceable machinery in a place close to home, so made a deal with him and began work on Mr. Finley’s staircase.
Three years later and the job was complete but had grown to include a paneled study, cabinetry, internal doors and various special fittings. It was a big learning curve but got Malcom into a specialised area of woodworking.
Malcom’s son Mark joined the company in 1989, and brought with him a specialised technical study of the science of geometrical hand railing and stair building. This enabled the two of them to tackle any form of complex curved and sweeping staircase design which now gives the business a much more unique presence.
Today, both father and son run the business from their workshop in Bromham, Wiltshire.