Simon Taylor becomes a freeman of the Furniture Maker's Livery Company

Simon Taylor, MD of Simon Taylor Furniture, was formally admitted as a freeman at The Furniture Makers’ Company at an admission ceremony at Furniture Makers’ Hall on Thursday 4^th December.

The Furniture Makers’ Company is a City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry. Welcoming 9 new freemen at the event, held in the David Burbidge Room, each attendee declared their support to the Company and were formally welcomed by Brian Ahern, immediate past master. Becoming a freeman is the first level of individual membership within the livery company. For many, it is the first step towards becoming a liveryman, the senior membership tier that carries voting rights in the governance of the City of London.

Simon Taylor started his business in 1985 having previously attended Rycotewood Furniture College, graduating as a master cabinetmaker. Today, his Buckinghamshire-based business focuses on projects in the KBB sector, designing, making and installing bespoke kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and furniture for the home. Throughout his 4 decades in business, he has always run an apprenticeship scheme, latterly, in partnership with his former college.

Simon Taylor said: “It is a privilege to have been admitted into the Furniture Makers’ Company, and to be made a freeman of The City of London. Having had a lifelong passion for cabinet making and having run a business in the sector for 40 years, I am deeply committed to its future. I have witnessed, at first hand, how our own apprenticeship scheme, in partnership with Rycotewood College, has nurtured the talents of our apprentices, who have achieved distinctions in Bespoke Furniture Making at either Level 2 or Level 3. By joining the Furniture Makers’ Company, I wish to work alongside my fellow members to share in the promotion of specialist training and apprenticeships in this industry to help recruit the next generation of bespoke furniture makers.”