Our professional team are an intrinsic part of The Secret Drawer.
After graduating from Birmingham University in Hotel Catering and Institutional Management I worked for a luxury cruise company for more than 28 years. The illustrious clientele catered for included members of the Royal Family including HM The Queen. A highlight of my career so far was attending the Coronation Festival in the grounds of Buckingham Palace in 2013. I pride myself on providing the highest levels of customer service ensuring a smooth and enjoyable Secret Drawer experience for our customers.
After graduating from UMIST I started my marketing career with a company owned by BP. I have since worked for other multi-nationals, brand leading franchise organisations, as well as family-owned businesses. With over 30 years of marketing experience my avid interest in and love of marketing remains.
My role at The Secret Drawer is to maintain our brand presence and authority across multiple channels and to help our customers have a great experience with us at every stage.
I’m involved with every piece of furniture created in the workshop, literally providing the finishing touches. We apply Farrow & Ball, Paint & Paper Library and other high-quality paints for our painted furniture and various lacquers and polishes to our timber furniture.
I've worked for The Secret Drawer for over 20 years as a senior cabinetmaker. I enjoy working on such varied projects from start to finish and helping to train our apprentices.
I joined The Secret Drawer in 2017 as an Apprentice Cabinetmaker, mentored by Darren Lambert, Production Manager. I qualified in 2020 and work as a Cabinetmaker looking after a variety of projects from start to finish.
Benjamin is under the watchful eye of senior cabinet makers to ensure he maintains the excellent standards of his more experienced colleagues. He works on projects from start to finish and the end results just takes Benjamin a little longer and we give him this time to ensure that the highest quality is achieved. As with all our projects, Benjamin’s work is signed off for quality by our furniture designer Richard Mason.
It's no secret...
I’ve been a cabinetmaker for over 50 years, and I love it now as much as I did when I started half a century ago. I did a 6-year apprenticeship, and the bulk of my career was spent travelling all over the world creating studio and production spaces and outside broadcast stages and sets for TV. I have worked as far afield as the Middle East and New Zealand.
I enjoy my work and I couldn’t pinpoint any one thing I enjoy the most. I love the variety at The Secret Drawer and being able to do projects from start to finish.
I first started learning my craft with my dad Eddie when I was 17. I decided I liked it very much and would pursue a career in cabinetmaking. At 21 I graduated with a BA (Hons) in Furniture Making from Leeds College of Art.
I have worked for high end, bespoke furniture manufacturers. I am very pleased to be part of the Secret Drawer team and it is a luxury and a privileged to have a work bench next to my father, as well as having the space and the time to devote to projects that I will take full responsibility for from start to finish.
I enjoy the precision of cabinetmaking, particularly engineering dovetail joints.
I was a police officer for 16 years before I moved north and decided to have a change of career. I studied at Waters and Acland Fine Furniture Workshop & School and then ran my own cabinet making business before joining The Secret Drawer. I enjoy the painstaking process of making fine furniture and getting it right.
Douglas joined The Secret Drawer with a fine eye for detail and a ‘latecomers’ passion for woodworking. He is a welcome addition to the team.
I studied Sports Science for 1 year but decided that a career in sports wasn’t for me. I wanted to learn a trade and be hands on. I always enjoyed woodwork at school, and I am enjoying my apprenticeship learning on the job.
Tom is our newest apprentice and is already working on tasks in the workshop whilst also following the General Furniture Manufacturing qualification.
I first trained as a mechanic and worked for many years as a national judge for tropical fish. I then worked at Tesco and was lucky enough to retire at 55. I enjoy keeping everything tidy in the workshop. The work is varied and gets me out of the house!
I have a passion for tropical fish, leading me to be a national judge and having 100 fish tanks in my home. I have cut this down to a sensible 4 tanks.
Starting out as an Escalator Engineer, Steven branched out after several years and has worked as a wagon driver, a roofer, and a builder. He loves working at the Secret Drawer with a great bunch of people in the workshop who are always eager to help each other out when needed. He likes the variety of the work and enjoys every aspect of it.
Steven, or Cloggie as he is known as at the Secret Drawer, loves to play snooker and is the local Skipton league. He was a keen footballer when he was younger but gave that up and now prefers snooker and socialising.
After completing his City and Guilds apprenticeship, Paul was a successful, local self-employed painter and decorator for 30 years. We used Paul for many years as a sub-contractor. We were so impressed with his work that we offered him a full-time role and now works in our customer’s homes, putting the final coat and finishing touches to their furniture.
A lifelong, season ticket holding Leeds United fan, Paul says he has endured the ups and downs of the team’s fortunes over the years and never misses a game.
Richard worked as an engineer at Rolls Royce for a staggering 42 years, even being presented with a model of a Trent engine (used in Airbus and Boeing planes) after 40 years’ service. He worked on parts for jumbo jets and Concorde.
Richard’s lifelong passion has been Burnley Football Club. He has supported them since 1968. The highlight was when they reached the Premier League and he is looking forward to their glorious return to the leage this year.
WORKING TOGETHER
Here we try and give you a flavour of how we work but we always welcome a chat too, either in person or over the phone.
