Fowler & Co offers a complete furniture design and manufacture service: from bespoke joinery to consultancy on architectural projects and product prototyping. From our workshop in Newhaven, East Sussex, we work solely with sustainable FSC certified timbers and use our expert knowledge of complementary materials and fittings to finish every commission exactingly to brief.
Having founded the business in 1986, designer Ben Fowler works to the most challenging of demands and budgets for major high street brands, architects, private and corporate clients.
The Fowler & Co portfolio includes Marks & Spencer’s best selling Sonoma range as well as retail products for John Lewis, Habitat and Ercol. We have also had the privilege of working on diverse and sometimes extraordinary commissions: from the interior of a major opera house in Germany to a giant operational sundial for Melbourn Science Park near Cambridge.
Ben’s lifelong love of rowing and his first hand knowledge of boat building informs much of his design, notably those for the Royal Barge Gloriana doors and a ‘boat seat’ commissioned by Sir Terrence Conran: a quirky exhibition piece that unexpectedly, and pleasingly, generated numerous orders.
Ben’s signature product line, licensed through sister company Marque Furniture, is on sale through Design Masters at the Futon Company. His Hat Tree, the debut product in the Design Masters range, was awarded a 2014 Design Guild Mark and the 2014 Wood Award for Production Made Furniture.
Trained under the Bauhaus ethos at the Royal College of Art, Leeds Polytechnic, and even earlier by his father, an Ercol designer and lecturer at the London College of Furniture, Ben’s approach is driven by clean lines, unfussy functionality and classic joinery. This, coupled with company director and workshop manager Matt Williams’ expert craftsmanship, ensures all Fowler & Co furniture and interiors are created to survive both hard wear and fleeting trends.
Ben Fowler MDes RCA offers a full design consultancy service incorporating development of design briefs; production of sketch and detail drawings and renderings and product prototyping through to manufacture, supply and fitting.
Matt Williams joined Fowler and Co in 1994 and holds 20 years continuous employment is Workshop Manager. He has amassed enormous experience and his skills as a furniture maker are unparalleled. He has an understanding of the design process, great ingenuity as a problem solver and is also responsible for quality control and training cabinet makers.
Andrew James joined Fowler and Co in October 2012 and is taking a Modern Apprenticeship in Furniture Making at City College Brighton. He shows a flair and natural ability at the bench, and a positive drive to improve his existing knowledge and skills.
Colin Price joined Fowler & Co in 2018, bringing with him 15 years experience as an expert veneerer. Thanks to Colin we have the flexibility to experiment in-house and we can now offer a specialist veneering and laminating service to our customers.
Sarah Inglis has worked with Ben since 1986 and is responsible for all aspects of our company administration.
To ask us anything, please call The Workshop on 01273 517114 or drop us an email: