Cabinet designer Kate Eyre, from Saltburn, is beginning to make a name for herself in the macho world of bespoke furniture. Ruth Addicott finds out what drives her to pursue such an unconventional passion.

CABINET maker Kate Eyre has made furniture for Russian billionaires, for private yachts and for Jeffrey Archer. Yet when people walk into her workshop in Marske, most assume she is just an assistant and ask to see the boss.

Kate, a single mum from Saltburn, east Cleveland, set up her business, K Furniture, four years ago, and it always comes as a surprise to customers that there is a woman doing all the graft.

“I can understand it to some degree because I am not of stocky build,” she says. “But it’s definitely a lot harder to make it in this business being female.”

Kate has had a fascination with wood since she was at school. She got top marks at design and technology and spent hours in the garage with her granddad, playing with tools and making things out of wood. Her great-grandfather was a cabinet maker and had a business making coffins, so she believes it is in her genes.

Following a diploma in 3D design at Cleveland College of Art and Design, Kate did a degree at the University of Northumbria. Her first big break came a few years later when she landed a job making bespoke furniture for Viscount Linley, the son of Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon.

He has a workshop in Whitby, North Yorkshire, and Kate was the only girl among 30 men.

With more than 20 years’ experience, Linley had a reputation for creating one-off high quality pieces.

Many have become collector’s items.

Kate was thrown straight in at the deep end and had to learn fast.

“I knew the furniture was out of my league, but I thought everyone had got to start somewhere,” she says. “I was totally useless in the beginning.

I felt I had to prove myself to be accepted, so I did exactly the same as the lads, lifting heavy awkward pieces of furniture and sawing thick pieces of timber. I was stubborn and adamant I had to do it and as time wore on, I was treated as one of the lads.”

Kate even managed to put on a brave face when she accidentally drilled through her finger with a cordless drill. “I had to put it in reverse to get it out,” she recalls.

“There was a fair amount of blood and I almost fainted. I’ve still got the scar today.”

KATE soon found herself making bespoke furniture for London penthouses, Russian and American billionaires and highprofile clients such as Jeffrey Archer, who ordered a sideboard with a wine rack.

As the only girl, there was inevitable banter and practical jokes, but Kate had grown up with five brothers and took it on the chin. Her colleagues got up to all sorts of mischief, from hiding under her bench and grabbing her ankles first thing in the morning, to tying her up in tape. “It was all in good humour,” she laughs.

“The lads were really helpful, it was a great environment to work in.”

Kate stayed in the job for eight years before opening her own workshop in Marske, which she now shares with a former colleague. She makes all the furniture by hand, creating everything from sideboards to the latest trend – made-to-measure TV units that fit into the corner of a room. Although she once made a cabinet worth £30,000 when she was working for Linley, her own prices are slightly more reasonable, starting at £500 for a nest of tables.

A true perfectionist, Kate is used to long hours and can sometimes been seen slaving away at half past four in the morning. She works to within half a millimetre and takes as much care over a picture frame as a fitted kitchen, to ensure each piece is of the same high standard. Each job is carefully thought out and planned from the initial drawings.

“It gives you a good feeling when you know you’ve taken the time to make sure the grain runs through on all the drawer fronts, or you’ve picked out the best looking bit of burr walnut and matched it to perfection on a table top,” she says. “It’s good to be set a challenge sometimes with complicated jobs. At first I worry and think ‘how the hell am I going to do that?’, but when I’ve finished, it’s a real achievement.”

“The other thing I enjoy about the job is the fact it’s active and you get a bit of a workout carrying the timber.

I can’t imagine sitting in front of a desk all day.”

Kate has to juggle her job with looking after her two-year-old daughter Lola. Fortunately, her mum steps in if she needs to work late but she always takes a break to make sure she is home to cook Lola’s tea. “She is my world,” she says.

Apart from shivering in the freezing cold – Kate wears ski pants, thermals and a heavy coat to work in – the only downside to running her own business is people assuming she is the “wife” or secretary. “It’s very frustrating, but I’ve come to expect it now,” she says.

“People often ask me which part of the job I have done or just look in disbelief.

Even the sales reps ask if they can speak to the boss. It’s just a shame people can’t accept that women can make furniture too. I know I can do just as good a job as a man.”

Kate admits that is part of what drives her. “It’s my blood, but part of it is the determination to prove that women can do a male-dominated job and do it well,” she says. “It’s such a great feeling when you’ve finished a piece and know you’ve done a perfect job and that someone, hopefully, is going to be over the moon with it.”

■ Contact Kate Eyre at K Furniture Email enquiries@k-furniture.co.uk or visit k-furniture.co.uk