Commercial and contract upholstery for London projects
Boardroom chairs, restaurant seating, contract curtains and matching sets for London. The making is done in Heybridge, Essex, by our own upholsterers and curtain makers, then fitted on site with time on site kept short.
Simon Houlding Upholstery does contract upholstery for London projects from a workshop in Heybridge, in Essex, near Maldon. The work has included boardroom chairs for Fortnum & Mason and overnight reupholstery on the shop floor at Selfridges. Established 1997, with its own upholsterers and curtain makers working across five units.
We travel to London for the right project, not for single pieces. What we come for is seating and curtains that meet the standards a public building asks of them, matching sets finished to one standard, and work timed so a shop or a restaurant never has to close. The making happens here, so time on site stays short. See our commercial and contract work.
Fortnum & Mason: a set of boardroom chairs
Working with Andrew & Albert, we upholstered twenty-six handcrafted frames into a collection of boardroom chairs for Fortnum & Mason. A boardroom set has to read as one piece around the table, so every chair was built and finished to the same standard rather than each one close enough on its own.
Every chair was hand-finished with individual upholstery nails, around seven thousand in total. Nails driven by hand show a set to one standard more plainly than almost anything: the spacing has to hold across all twenty-six, chair after chair, or the eye catches the one that drifts. See the Fortnum & Mason chairs.
Selfridges: a night on the shop floor
Simon and Jack worked through the night at Selfridges in London, from 8pm to 5am, carrying out upholstery directly on the shop floor. They reupholstered three chairs in the Men's Central department and were done by five in the morning.
A shop that cannot close sets the hours, so the work goes in overnight and is done by opening. See the Selfridges project.
Contract settings we work in for London
Each kind of room asks something different of its seating and its curtains.
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1
A boardroom
St James's and the City
What it asksA boardroom table wants a run of matching chairs that sit level and read as one set, comfortable enough for a long meeting and finished to a standard a client will see up close across the table.
What we bringWe upholstered twenty-six boardroom chairs for Fortnum & Mason, hand-finished with around seven thousand nails, made across our five units by our own upholsterers and overseen by Simon.
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2
A shop floor
Piccadilly and Oxford Street
What it asksA shop that trades every day cannot give up its floor, so seating is reupholstered out of hours and finished before opening, to a standard that stands under daylight and constant handling.
What we bringAt Selfridges we worked through the night on the shop floor, 8pm to 5am, and three chairs were reupholstered where they stood.
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3
A restaurant or bar
banquette and bench seating
What it asksBanquette and restaurant seating takes heavy daily wear and has to meet the fire-safety rules a public room is held to, in cloth that survives spills and close sitting without tiring in a season.
What we bringWe take on hospitality and restaurant seating, with fire-retardancy compliance handled and a clear lead time on every quote. The making is done in our own workshops, so quality holds whatever the scale.
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4
A hotel or members' club
matching sets, one standard
What it asksA hotel or club wants runs of seating finished alike across a floor, in materials that meet public-building fire rules and carry the look the room is known for, chair after chair.
What we bringA set is finished to one standard in the workshop before it reaches site. Thousands of fabrics through the houses we trust, and a customer's own material made up where a designer specifies it.
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5
An office or workspace
Canary Wharf and beyond
What it asksAn office or reception wants seating and curtains that suit a working floor, meet the fire rules a workplace is held to, and go in with the least possible disruption to the people using it.
What we bringWe work on offices and workspace, and make contract curtains measured and fitted by our own team. We made a seven metre curtain for Canada Gardens at Wembley Park, built here and fitted on site.
What the workshop brings to a London contract
Five units, our own makers
The work is made across five units in Heybridge by our own upholsterers and curtain makers. Nothing is subcontracted, so the standard holds whatever the size of the project, which lets us take on work most local workshops turn away.
Fire-retardancy handled
Seating and cloth for a public building has to meet the fire-safety rules that room is held to. Fire-retardancy compliance is handled as part of the job, so a designer or contractor does not have to chase it.
A clear lead time
Every project is quoted, and every quote carries a clear lead time. You know before you commit when the work will be made and when it will be ready to fit, so dates can be planned around it.
How a London contract runs
From the first brief to fitting on site, the job runs in order.
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1
The brief or drawing
Tell us the scope, the volume and the timeline, or send a drawing. We come back to you properly, with a quote and a clear lead time.
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2
Fabric or your own material
Choose from thousands of cloths through the houses we trust, or send a designer's or client's own material to be made up. Fire-retardancy compliance is handled either way.
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3
Made in Heybridge
Every piece is built across our five units by our own upholsterers and curtain makers, every stage overseen by Simon. A set is finished to one standard before it leaves.
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4
Fitted on site
Curtains, blinds and shutters are measured and fitted by the workshop's own team. Because the making is done here first, time on site stays short, including out of hours.
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5
Finished and cleared
The work is completed to the agreed date, as it was at Selfridges in a single overnight session, so a shop, restaurant or office is ready to trade again.
Where the workshop is, and the drive into London
The workshop and showroom are at Stock Chase, Heybridge, near Maldon in Essex. Measured by car, it is about 40 miles to Canary Wharf, about 43 to the City and about 46 to Piccadilly, which on a clear run is roughly 65 to 85 minutes. London traffic varies a good deal and can add to that, which is exactly why the making is done here in the workshop first: the more that is finished before we arrive, the shorter the time spent on site.
We also work in
Greater London
29 miles, about 42 minutes from the workshop
Developments and whole houses, where the work is a room or a building rather than a single piece.
Discuss a London project
Tell us the scope, the volume and the timeline, and we will come back to you properly, with a clear lead time.
Questions, answered.
Simon Houlding Upholstery, in Heybridge near Maldon in Essex, established 1997. The work has included boardroom chairs for Fortnum & Mason and overnight reupholstery at Selfridges, made across five units by our own upholsterers and curtain makers, every stage overseen by Simon.
Yes. At Selfridges we worked through the night on the shop floor, 8pm to 5am, so trading was not interrupted. A shop, restaurant or office that cannot close sets the hours, and we work to them.
Yes. A set is finished to one standard in the workshop before it reaches site. For Fortnum & Mason we built twenty-six boardroom chairs that read as one collection, hand-finished with around seven thousand nails spaced to hold across the whole set.
Yes. We make up a client's or designer's own material as specified, or you can choose from thousands of cloths through the houses we trust. Either way, fire-retardancy compliance for a public building is handled as part of the work.
Yes. Seating and cloth for a public room has to meet the fire-safety rules that building is held to, and that compliance is handled as part of the job. You do not have to chase it separately.
Every project is quoted, and every quote carries a clear lead time, because a run of restaurant seating and a single set of boardroom chairs are different jobs. You know when the work will be made and ready before you commit.
We travel to London for the right project rather than for single pieces, so contract and commercial work is what we come for there. Send us a photo of a single piece all the same and you will always get a reply.