M ATTHEW M ARSDEN F URNITURE L T D

							MATTHEW MARSDEN FURNITURE LTD
K I T C H E N S

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B E D R O O M S

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S T U D I E S

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F U R N I T U R E

Spring2008
showroom
No. 28 Liverpool Road, Penwortham, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 ODQ Tel – 01772 744165 e-mail – penwortham@mmfurniture.co.uk

Showroom & workshops
5-7 Lawrence Lane, Eccleston, Chorley, Lancashire PR7 5SJ Tel – 01257 450413 e-mail – matthew@mmfurniture.co.uk

The return of the newsletter
Welcome to our spring newsletter and firstly an apology as this newsletter is supposed to go out each season. Spring 07 was no problem and Summer wasn’t either then we got so busy towards the back end of last year I just didn’t have time to sit down and write Autumn, and it just got worse towards Christmas so Winter was definitely out. But here we are again the mad rush of Christmas over and another one beginning, we have had our busiest first quarter in the history of our company and its showing no signs of slowing down. But I thought it would be good to keep everyone informed of what we have been up, where we have been and to tell you about some interesting people we have met over the last few months. In this issue as always Mrs M has her say on the back page, I will be introducing you to our new Production Manager Steven Millington and many more interesting and sometimes amusing snippets. If you have any comments please send me an e-mail to the address above. It’s just left to say now that I really hope you like our newsletter as I try to make it as enjoyable as possible and not like the majority you get through the post. Thank you very much from us all at Matthew Marsden Furniture and enjoy.

www.mmfurniture.co.uk
“I think it’s about time we had a web site” said Peter Gornall out accounts manager. “A web site? Who’s going to look to buy kitchens on the internet” the voice of cyberspace knowledge replied (yours truly.) Well what do I know about the interweb. Give me a piece of walnut and oak and I can make you something beautiful but what I know about web sites and the internet you can write on the back of a postage stamp with a fat marker pen. So I gladly passed the task of generating the site to Peter and Peter’s sister Mrs M. After much deliberating and secret meetings between them both and some text pinched from my computer they came up with the finished article. Apparently they used a ‘web designer’ called Jon, now I met Jon and he didn’t meet up to the picture I had conjured up when Peter told me I was having a meeting with the web man. I didn’t know what to expect but Jon turned out to be a great guy and did CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

One of our recent installations, used to gain the BWF accreditation

What’s in this issue?
 PAGE 1 - The new Web Site.  PAGE 2 - Right proper fruit cake!!  PAGE 2 - BWF  PAGE 3 - Snowgoose  PAGE 3 - 25 Beautiful kitchens  BACK PAGE - No. 28

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1. exactly what we wanted. I think the site is easily navigated and we can update it when ever we want. Not that I’ve updated it as Peter usually does that. The site went live just before Christmas and I was overwhelmed with the response we received, why didn’t we do this years ago. The web site has given us the opportunity to offer our design and cabinet making skills to a wider audience and not just a limited audience in Lancashire. We now regularly travel up and down the country measuring and installing our furniture. The web guy Jonathan Cherrie was fantastic and I would recommend him without question, he did a wonderful job. Go to www.jdcuk.com for more information. So please have a look at our site. Its fab!!

Right proper fruit cake!!
On the 26 th of September 2008 we were invited to the Gibbon Bridge Hotel & Restaurant in Chipping to celebrate the 60th Birthday of Lancashire Life magazine. Janet Simpson and her team excelled themselves not only with the superb food and wines but the marquee was spectacular too. We were sat on a table with six other local businesses, one of which was ‘Have your cake and eat it’ from Coppull. Now on these do’s, we sometimes get invited to, at first everyone is ever so polite with each other until a few glass of wine are consumed and every one starts to relax and enjoy themselves. I was sat next to Carol & Amanda Brown from Have your cake and we had an absolute ball. They had made the wonderful cake for Lancashire Life and I casually enquired whether it was proper fruit cake and to my horror I was informed that most birthday cakes now a days are sponge. I couldn’t believe my ears what is happening to the good old fruit cake, steeped in tradition and in danger of being just another old fashion thing that grandma’s used to make. Carol then went on to inform me that her fruit cake was the best available and I decided that with the skills of fruitcake-atiers in jeopardy to take her up on that offer. A few months later Amanda delivered a wonderfully decorated Christmas cake for me and the temptation was sometimes unbearable as I waited until Christmas day to cut into it. Carol was not lying as cake was the best I have every tasted in my life, apart from my mums of course, it was perfect in every way. All I can say is if you ever want a proper fruit cake, you don’t need to wait for birthdays or weddings, the place to go is Have your cake and eat it in Coppull they are delicious and If your not a purist and prefer sponge I’m sure they will be excellent as well. Mrs M tells me they also have a very good web site where you can order your cake or bits for your cake or even go on a course to learn how to make a cake, basically all you cake requirements will be satisfied at Have your cake and eat it. So may I say a big thanks to Carol, Amanda, Gary and their team for such a wonderful cake and also what a great business. Well done! Roll on our next fruit cake!!! www.haveyourcakeandeatit.org t – 01257 795696

The wonderful Lancashire Life Birthday Cake

BWF
January saw Matthew Marsden Furniture Ltd & The Glasshouse & Timber Co. Ltd being accepted into the BWF (British Woodworking Federation.) We are both proud and honoured to be accepted into this organisation as we went through quite a gruelling initiation process. We had to prove our worth both on excellence in the workshop and also customer service to be allowed to display the BWF logo on our livery. Apparently we passed with flying colours and we are proud to display the logo along side ours. We are working alongside the BWF to run an in house training scheme for our apprentices. We have found a massive lack of college training courses for cabinet makers. To ensure we have a continued growth and to retain our quality within the company with the help of the BWF we are training our own apprentices to our own very high standards. And a big thank you to all who helped us achieve this accreditation.

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Snowgoose
A good few years ago we designed and installed a kitchen for Mark & Bella Radcliffe in Cheshire. At that time Mark was heading the infamous ‘Mark & Lard Show’ on radio 1 and we had sent him an e-mail from the office requesting a ‘cadley cadley hoo hoo’ over the radio (you would have to have been a listener to understand.) Mark made contact after the show and wondered if we were a decent kitchen company and not just a bunch of charlatans. Throughout the complete revamp of their home in Cheshire I was amazed with Bella’s ability to put things together and make rooms look fabulous with various fabrics, paints and furnishings. When the whole job was complete Bella took a course in interior design and formed Snowgoose Interiors. Since then Snowgoose has gone from strength to strength with Bella taking over Mark’s Room set’s by Snowgoose office at home to cope with the demand for her design skills. Bella’s design skills were recognised in 2007 when Snowgoose won the prestigious ‘Designer of the year’ & ‘Best room set’ award at the Concept for living design awards event. So if you are struggling and wondering what to do with a certain room or you want revamp your whole house give Bella a call and I’m sure she will come up with some fantastic ideas. www.snowgooseinteriors.com t - 01928 712736

Beautiful Kitchens
I would like say a big thanks to Helen Bradley, Bill Molyneux, Pam, Mick Gallagher & John, Sue Gornall for allowing their kitchens to be featured in the national ‘Beautiful Kitchens’ magazine. Our first kitchen issued was Pam & Mick’s kitchen in November 2007 followed by Helen & Bill’s kitchen in February 2008 and John & Sue’s kitchen will be in July’s issue which will be on sale on the 4th June. We have experienced a fantastic response from private clients and also from trade enquiries. This exposure has been wonderful and it has been fabulous to receive such recognition from around the UK. Currently we are working flat out to cope with demand and we have recently made additions to our workforce by employing another cabinet maker (Charles Thornborrow) who has made a big impact and is a massive asset to our team. Steven Millington has also joined us as our production manager who converts Jennifer’s and my designs into reality by organising the workshops with the help of Joseph Bennett. With this increase of production I am being extremely careful not to compromise on our quality and service we already offer our clients as our commitment to quality has given us this recognition today. Until our latest additions to our team we were a little stretched to say the least but both Charles and Steven are now beginning to make a big impact to our output. So once again thank you for allowing your kitchens to be featured and well done to the lads in the workshop (Joe Bennett, Joe Caunce, Dan Green, Rob Pearce, Sandor Simon, Charles Thornborrow and Angelo) who put all their hearts and pride into producing some of the finest & best quality furniture available.

Pam & Mick Gallagher’s kitchen / Nov 07 issue

Helen Bradley’s kitchen / Feb 08 issue

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Get ready for summer at No. 28
By Sue Marsden
With summer just around the corner our thoughts go to holidays and long summer evenings in the garden with friends and BBQ’s. That is if we have a better summer than last year, it seems a long time since our last stint of good weather last spring. So to make your outdoor living perfect this summer we have some wonderful ideas to impress your friends. We still stock a large range of ‘Garden Trading’ items which have some superb things such as the ‘Holkham BBQ’ which is perfect for those beach BBQ’s. Last year we put some of the bird boxes up in our garden which not only gave the blue tits a home but we also had running commentaries from our daughters who watched the birds avidly. We also hung around our patio in trees and other places some of the lanterns which look wonderful when the sun goes down twinkling away into the wee small hours as the conversation and wine flows freely. All these items add to an already perfect evening. The only thing you need that we cannot provide is good company and good weather. We also have an excellent eclectic collection of retro glassware, ceramics & cutlery from designer Martin Gulliver, this table ware is perfect for alfresco dining. Oh No. 28, I forgot to say that Mr M wanted me to have my separate identity so as not to confuse the home accessories with his furniture so I decided to call my shop No.28. No prizes for guessing where I got the name from and if you’re passing drop in and feel free to browse around. Don’t worry about parking as we have a car park at the rear of the shop and if you do drop by bring this newsletter with you and you will receive a 10% discount off all items*. So I hope you have a great summer and I hope to see you soon.
* excludes MMF Ltd furniture or any associated products.

A few items from our garden trading range for your summer garden. Our Blue Tits loved the nesting boxes last year. The lanterns looked perfect hung in the trees.

10% off Spring Offer
10% off all interiors accessories at No. 28.
Valid to the end of July 2008.
This offer does not include any Matthew Marsden Furniture Ltd. furniture. Or related products

M A T T H E W MA R S D E N FU R N I T U R E L T D SHOWROOM – No. 28 Liverpool Road, Penwortham, Preston, PR1 0DQ T – 01772 744165 WORKSHOPS – 5-7 Lawrence Lane, Eccleston, Chorley, Lancs, PR7 5SJ T – 01257 450413
Email – penwortham@mmfurniture.co.uk – Penwortham showroom enquiries matthew@mmfurniture.co.uk – Eccleston workshop & showroom enquiries sue@mmfurniture.co.uk - No. 28 Interior accessories enquiries

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