Atop the hill in Greendale Business Park, father and son duo Chris and Tom Jackson are bucking the economic trend with their Bespoke Fitted Furniture business, Just Wood Furniture. Chris and Tom (Father and Son) offers high quality and truly bespoke fitted furniture across the South West and has a back order of clients willing to wait for quality furniture and great customer service.

In the last 12 months the company has invested significantly in advanced technology and has employed the first of what they hope will be many trainees over the coming years. Owner, Chris Jackson believes that young people are eager to learn and to showcase their abilities but highlights room for improvement “We provide the opportunity with on-the-job training, but more needs to be done to expand apprenticeship schemes within our specialist niche.”

During a recent visit to the Just Wood workshop, Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon Picked up on the apprenticeship issue stating “Just Wood Furniture is one of the many business success stories we have here in East Devon. It was a pleasure to meet with Chris, Tom and their skilled team who create and fit high-quality furniture using specialist methods. With the business already providing brilliant work experience opportunities, I now want them to be able to offer specialist apprenticeships in this area for young people and I have raised this with the Education Secretary.”

Whilst Just Wood Furniture’s growth has been impressive, Chris attributes part of his success to the support provided by Greendale Business Park. “When we approached Greendale as a fledgling business, we weren’t sure how we would be received but they couldn’t have been any more supportive,” Chris said. Alec Carter from Greendale, who joined Simon Jupp’s visit, reiterated Greendale’s values “We are a family business ourselves and we love to help local family businesses to grow. Where we can support them, we will.”