When Fortnum & Mason calls, you answer. The 300-year-old institution on Piccadilly—holder of two Royal Warrants, purveyor to kings and queens since 1707—needed someone who understood that their store isn't just retail. It's a living museum of British excellence.
They found us through a recommendation, seeking specific pieces that would honour their heritage while serving modern commerce. The brief was deceptively simple: create bespoke cabinetry and source antique display pieces that would feel as though they'd always been there.
We designed the tea counter from scratch—a piece that needed to balance the gravitas of three centuries of tea expertise with the practical demands of serving thousands of customers daily. The wood was selected for its warmth. The brass fittings were custom-made to echo the Georgian elegance that defines Fortnum's aesthetic. Every drawer pull, every hinge, every joint was considered.
Then came the sourcing. Antique vitrines from French estates. Display cabinets from English country houses. Centre tables that had once graced the halls of aristocracy. Each piece was selected not just for its beauty, but for its ability to tell a story—because at Fortnum's, every object must earn its place.
Working with a Royal Warrant holder carries a particular weight. There's no room for compromise, no tolerance for "good enough." The standards are absolute, and rightly so. When your client has been serving royalty for three hundred years, you rise to meet that legacy.
It was, quite simply, a great honour. The kind of project that reminds you why you fell in love with this work in the first place.