NHS deal is welcome boost for Yorkshire furniture company

A Pontefract furniture business this month marks an important milestone in its 136-year history when it takes its new range of hospital furniture to the national stage.

Carleton Healthcare, a new division of Carleton Furniture Group, is moving into the design and manufacture of patient furniture after winning a tender to become an accredited supplier to the NHS at the end of last year.

“We see exciting opportunities for the business in this new phase of our growth.” says Paul Hodgkinson, Healthcare Development Manager.

“Since the business was founded more than a century ago, we have built a great reputation for producing quality products in the commercial, educational, residential and kitchen markets.

“But the range of chairs, lockers and over-bed tables that we are launching this month (March 2010) is a new departure for us and one that we expect to contribute significantly to the Group’s continued growth.”

Carleton, which has an annual turnover of £18m and employs 150 staff, started life as Wilkinson’s Furniture in Bradford in the late 19th Century and moved to its Pontefract manufacturing site in 1928. During its history, it has been a leading supplier of the wooden panelling for the iconic Morris Traveller car.

Mr Hodgkinson says: “Our design team are at the heart of our business and enable us to move quickly when new market opportunities arise.

“We have worked for a long time with the NHS, supplying residential furniture for key workers accommodation used by nurses and doctors.

“Our track record of delivering quality products to time and budget meant we were asked to tender by NHS Supply Chain.

“We were successful and are now one of only a few firms nationally on their roster of suppliers for NHS Trusts.”

“It’s been a great challenge for us to develop a new range in a limited period of time. We’re ready to launch nationally now and are excited at the prospect of growing our healthcare division.” says Mr Hodgkinson.

“We have already won a number of orders regionally but we are now taking the new Healthcare division to the next level with the roll-out of our products to customers nationally.”

Alongside furniture for hospitals and medical centres, Carleton Healthcare also designs and produces furniture for medium-secure mental health facilities.

Mr Hodgkinson says: “Hospital furniture needs to be robust, easy to keep hygienically clean and suitable for the needs of a wide range of patients and their visitors.

“We are very keen to work more closely with the healthcare industry to find professionals who will support us in designing our furniture. These professionals know what they need and their insight is vital to us.”

With new standards for cleanliness in hospitals expected to be launched this spring, Carleton believes its new range of furniture will assist hospitals and their cleaning contractors in maintaining high hygiene standards.

Mr Hodgkinson says: “Proper cleaning will always be the most important safeguard against cross-infection.

“But we have sought to support cleanliness in health units by ensuring our products have an anti-bacterial coating that will kill 95% of the bacteria known to exist.

“This gives added peace of mind to professionals, patients and their families at a time when hospital hygiene is under the spotlight.”

Carleton’s healthcare range also covers chairs for overweight and clinically obese patients and incorporates design features that enable easier and more dignified movement between the chair and hospital bed.

Mr Hodgkinson adds: “Our in-house design team means we can develop innovative designs to tackle problems that health professionals may encounter with the furniture in their facilities.”

Education will need to tighten its belt as public spending is hit by credit crunch cutbacks

But children don’t have to pay the price with poor posture and unattractive classrooms, say education furniture specialists Carleton Furniture Group.

Local education authorities and schools face some tough choices this year. The Education Secretary’s announcement that £2bn needs to be saved from budgets means school refurbishments and new builds are bound to be affected.

Experts in the design, manufacture and installation of furniture for schools are concerned that desks, chairs and other essential pieces of equipment will be first in the firing line as architects and contractors seek to shave costs from their projects.

That prospect, says Carleton, could undo many advances in the ergonomics and aesthetics of classrooms made over the last decade.

Richard Fitzmaurice, of Carleton, says: “If costs for projects are over-running or designers are having a re-think about new projects in the light of spending restrictions, furniture can be an option to cut back on due to it being procured towards the end of the build programme.

“Design and build quality, in both ergonomic and visual senses, could well end up being compromised.”

The consequences for students can extend beyond missing out on a modern and attractive space in which to learn.

Campaigners, notably the Furniture Industry Research Association, have been advocating greater co-operation between manufacturers and educationalists to ensure school furniture supports children physical as well as intellectual growth.

Figures show that by the age of 14, around 15% of schoolchildren will have experienced serious back pain.

“There’s no need to cut back on the quality of design and build with school furniture because budgets are being tightened” says Mr Fitzmaurice.

“Architects and interior designers can source bespoke solutions when building new schools or refurbishing old ones”.

“Involving designers and manufacturers early in projects means costs can potentially be managed out and expertise can be deployed to keep to budgets without compromising on aesthetics or functional appeal.”

Selecting the desks, chairs, stools and tables which are used day in day out by schoolchildren can often be left too late in the project when the opportunity to maximise use of design services and experience from manufacturers like Carleton can be missed.

Chris Hemsley, at Carleton, argues the visual appeal and build quality of school furniture is integral to the success of a new school and the wider community.

He says: “Schools are used for many more purposes nowadays than in the past.

“They offer a great opportunity to involve the wider community in education activities which can in turn help regenerate the local and surrounding area.

“Working smartly with furniture designers and manufacturers will give architects and contractors the best chance of delivering inspiring buildings that can withstand constant use.”

Small design elements, such as the careful selection of two complimentary colours for chair coverings, can turn a room into a much more attractive learning space without increased cost.
“Furniture designers and manufacturers have a vital role to play in schools” says Mr Hemsley.

“In times of financial restraint, our ability to deliver bespoke solutions to time and budget is more important than ever.”