Iain James Furniture is the younger of two established family owned furniture businesses owned and managed by the Mitchell family. In the mid 1930's Jim Mitchell, an accomplished designer from the Scottish furniture town of Beith, Ayrshire moved south to the Midlands where he found work in the thriving furniture town of Long Eaton, Nottinghamshire.During the 1980's, Artistic had enjoyed the presence of quality reproduction furniture to help display their collections within the showroom through close associations with renowned cabinet makers Shaw of London and latterly Shard Stebbing until that agreement ended in 1989.In order and to retain a complementary display of Upholstery and Cabinet two polishing restoration specialists already familiar to the company were recruited to polish a small collection of occasional furniture for the showroom under the name ‘Artistic Cabinets’ and these pieces quickly gained recognition and sales accordingly.As the project became gained momentum, Andrew thought the business would benefit from its own identity and in March 1991 he formed ‘Iain James Furniture’, the name being derived from the Christian names of his two sons. However due to a tough economic recession during this time Andrew had to focus on his principal business Artistic, and elder son Iain assumed the responsibility of the company.
Post-recession Iain James secured significant new regular export business in particular to Paris and Brussels. This also coincided with buoyant home market sales due to more retailers stocking the product as the company became more established, and the collections more discerning despite stiff competition from established competitors. 1998 saw Iain’s younger brother James join the family business as the company maintained growth into the Millennium and in 2003 Iain James introduced the Art Deco Collection, an innovative range featuring exotic timbers that were prevalently used in the Art Deco period and taking inspiration from eminent designers at the time such as Jacque Emile Ruhlman.
Iain James is a founder member of Woodland Heritage, a UK organisation dedicated to the long term sustainment of woodlands and forests and furthermore became a member of the Long Eaton Guild of Furniture Manufacturers in 2011, an association committed to generating a higher level of consumer awareness for quality hand-made British furniture.
More recently we have developed exciting additional collections in Burr Walnut, Burr Oak and Rosewood and now firmly into its third decade, Iain James continues to work alongside sister company Artistic Upholstery and is proud to uphold the heritage of the Mitchell family.
