Eborcraft furniture makers returns to full-time working

The Press reported last month how 28 production staff at Eborcraft furniture makers, based at Chessingham Business Park in Dunnington, had been put on short-time working in response to the downturn in the economy, with a couple of employees who had been taken on as temporary staff also being made redundant.

Managing director Chris Williams said then that short-term working was only a temporary measure, intended to protect the long-term future of the business.

He said it had actually lasted only four weeks, after which it had been possible to get employees back to full-time work, with additional overtime in the past fortnight.

He said the idea of short-time working as an alternative to redundancies had first been mooted in 2008, after it became clear the banking crisis could affect the market, and staff had been fully in favour and had remained so.

He said such flexibility was essential for the business, which manufactured high-quality veneer furniture such as office desks, boardroom tables, reception desks and cabinets to order for the commercial sector.

He said the family firm, which was established 116 years ago, was always having to move with the times, investing in state-of-the-art cutting, drilling, assembly and finishing processes.

It was currently working on a contract to make reception desks for car dealer showrooms across the country. The market was still tough but orders were steady, he said.

Mr Williams said the veneers, about 0.7 mms thick, came from trees such as oak, maple, cherry and black walnut, and were mainly supplied from managed forests in the USA.

He said they were first cut into shape and then pressed and bonded onto material such as Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) and chipboard, before being sawn, drilled and assembled, with thousands of pieces of furniture made each year.