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Complimenting Habbio

We were very happy to supply our lamps to Habbio

We were very happy to supply our lamps to Habbio for the photoshoot for their new range of sofas. We have had a great relationship with Habbio’s parent company for a few years now and were only too happy to supply our products for them to use. In many ways they have the same ideals as us; using materials from the UK and thinking about their environmental impact at all times. We also love their simple design philosophy as well as the choice they offer. It’s always nice to work with other likeminded companies and ultimately people. This is a relationship we are proud to maintain.

From them..

Sustainability starts at the end.

Furniture can be most harmful to the environment at the end of it’s life. 90% of furniture sold in the UK ends up in landfill because it doesn’t last, or isn’t recyclable or biodegradable.

That’s why all Habbio furniture is 100% recyclable. And because we believe it’s our responsibility to make sure our products do no harm, we collect and recycle them for you when the time comes. We can even collect your non-Habbio sofa to make sure it avoids landfill too.

 

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Great Northern Events – Makers Profiles

A few bits of news regarding Great Northern Events and the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair

Last Autumn we were involved in the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester. This is run by Great Northern Event who also run a number of other contemporary craft fair as well as a few other events. Unfortunately this year events have been cancelled so, with help from the Crafts Council UK they have come up with a number of new initiatives.

Firstly they have compiled an online – Makers Profile. This covers most of the makers who have been involved in the events over the last few years and acts as a directory with links to the makers website.

The second will be an online market with more details for each maker enabling them to add individual pieces of work. Through links people will be able to buy work from the site. The GNCCF will be live between 25th – 31st of July. More details and promotion to follow.

GNCCFonline will feature the 160 designer-makers who had originally been selected to take part in our 2020 fairs. As ever, they have all been handpicked by a panel of craft experts to ensure the work on sale showcases the best in cutting edge design and beautiful craftsmanship across a wide range of craft disciplines.

For now here is the links to the Makers Profiles and, of course our own profile

marklowe.co.uk

 

Keep safe

Mark

 

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Being Sustainable with all our packaging

At Mark Lowe we are always trying to be as sustainable as we can. A big part of this is being sustainable with all our packaging. We are always working on how to make our products more sustainable. We know that our customers are not the type of people to buy and then throw away objects after a year or so. Our customers buy our products to last for many years maybe even forever!

When it comes to packaging we want to do the same. Most of our products are posted in some way (see a previous blog on me driving to south Wales for an alternative). We have to make sure that whatever has been ordered will survive the journey, therefore we have to use enough packaging to protect your precious cargo.

We have updated our packaging over the last 6 months and now only use paper packaging for all our products – our shades do come in a plastic bag as this comes from our shade manufacturer. – We have found a good alternative to bubble wrap through a company called Kite packaging which does the job very well. (see picture below).

So, we will continual to work hard and be sustainable with all our packaging.  I think we are doing well so far.

Mark Lowe

 

Sustainable packaging at mark lowe

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Featured Nottingham Creative for The Creative Quarter.

Featured Nottingham Creative – for The Creative Quarter.

Thank you to the Nottingham Creative Quarter for featuring us in their weekly newsletter/online in their ‘Featured Business’ section.

I enjoyed answering a few questions regarding the business, other businesses and Nottingham in general.

It’s nice to get questions and then to really think about how you should answer. It was nice to mention some friends and fellow creatives that I have worked with and that have helped me – Olivia Aspinall and Joff and Ollie have been really big helps to us and good friends as well. It’s also nice to talk about where we go in Nottingham for food and drinks.

Follow the link and have a look. Article

Keep Safe

Mark

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Covid 19

 

Dear Customers

We thought it was important to add a notice to our website and get in touch with all our customers to explain our position, thoughts and what we are able to do.

It feels like we’ve not been in communication for a while. The world has change (at least for now). Everything feels different and strange this is new to us all.

Apart from all the problems both personal and as a business associated with Covid 19, we have had a terrible family ’emergency’. About 3 weeks ago 2 close family members were involved in a serious road traffic accident. Thankfully both are slowly recovering but it has really changed our world and this is massively compounded by Covid 19.

As I am typing this it feels like we can start to get back on track, even if it is a very different world. We will all need to get used to this way of life for a while and, as a small business, we are able to do most of our work from home. So we are aiming to get moving again. We have the materials and components to continue. We have developed some new products (before all this) and will be getting some (home done) photography and getting them on our website over the next few weeks.

Although we understand that buying interior products is not the priority right now. We do also understand that people are keen to think about life after all this and have time to think about their houses and browsing the web for future dreams or real ambitions.

All the best and keep safe

Mark and Marianne.

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Embankment show at the begining of March

We were pleased to take part in the recent event at The Embankment near Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

The Makers Market is held a few times a year. We had a brilliant spot in a beautiful room to show off or product range.

marklowe.co.uk wanted to use the event as a way of enabling some of our local contacts to come and see us and be able to see all our products out on show. We got in touch with all the local interior designers we have talked to and were please to welcome a number of them over the day.

As any business person knows, it is so important to be able to talk top customers ‘in the flesh’ and for them to see our products in front of them and altogether.

We have also developed some new products that we had showcased at the event. We have a key rack in the theme of the Edie coat rack and two different shaped hardwood cutting boards that also follow the theme. We got loads of positive feedback about them. They will be coming to our shop very soon.

Next stop is ECLECTIC HOMES & INTERIORS FAIR 

Sat 11 April 2020 (Shoreditch, London)

More to come very soon.

Kind Regards

Mark

 

 

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We’re at the Makers Market – The embankment – This Weekend

We’re at the Makers Market – The embankment – This Weekend

We’re looking forward to our first time at this event. It’s at The Embankment, Arkwright Street, Trent Bridge NG2 2GR. Free entry and pen between 11am and 4pm.

The Embankment was the old Boots Social Club and is now a pub and venue. The main room we are using is the function room which has a beautiful interior with lots of windows and a real character. There will be many other makers there, all I believe are from the local area.

Tamily Cookson is the organiser – Tamily Cookson Events. She has a great deal to do with local makers and is also part of the creative quarter team based in Sneinton market.

Please come down and have a look around. Come and say hello – mark lowe -and event pop back down stairs for a Sunday pint or even Lunch.

and don’t forget – We’re at the Makers Market – The embankment – This Weekend

Mark

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Featured in Luxury Lifestyle Magazine

We are very please to be featured in Luxury Lifestyle Magazine.

Luxury lifestyle magazine is premium online magazine with an high emphasis on quality and luxury.

They say:

‘Luxury Lifestyle Magazine is the ultimate showcase for five-star travel, fine dining, expensive property. We publish quality over quantity as our affluent and high net readership only want to read about the brands and services that deliver on their promises. This is why the vast majority of the hotels, restaurants and consumer brands featured on this website have been road tested by our expert team of writers. Our responsibility is to connect our loyal readers with only the world’s most prestigious companies.’

Luxury Lifestyle magazine were keen to feature our products because they felt it would fit with their ethos as well as focusing on smaller British businesses. They were very keen to showcase our continuing strive for more sustainable products in all the ways we can.

We are very happy with the article and feel it reflects us well. Thank you and we will see more in the future.

Have a read Article

 

Mark

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Georgia Lloyd Photography

Thank you to Georgia – Georgia Lloyd Photography – for the photo session yesterday.
For a while now we have realised that, although we have some great shots of our product, we have been lacking shots of the process. We realised that we needed some professional shots of the workshop and me at work. We know that the appeal of the products is not just what it looks like but also the story behind it and how it is made. Obviously we are big on ‘made in the UK’, ‘Made locally’ and ‘sourcing our materials in an ethical way’ but we are not getting across the handmade side of the product and the ‘lovingly made’ approach. https://marklowe.co.uk/about/

Georgia was brilliant. We worked well together as I had made a list of the shots needed and she was also able to add her skill and knowledge to the style of shots taken. She took over 400 shots in total and will go away and edit these down to a manageable amount. She will also work on photoshop to edit the chosen one’s. So in the end we will have a really good set of photos we can use on the website and for all sorts of other promotional work.

Thanks again Georgia. We can’t wait to see the results.

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Hoopers and John Sankey

Mark Lowe bespoke lighting with John Sankey at Hoopers department store Tunbridge Wells

Thanks to Suzanne Flynn from John Sankey for sending me this amazing picture of Hoopers shop window in Royal Tunbridge Wells.

As I have mentioned before we have been working with John Sankey who have a large area of floor space in this Hoopers Department store. As well as the general public visiting the shop John Sankey are based there so that they can invite interior designers down from London (an other areas) to view their furniture and make orders for interior projects they have for their own customers.

John Sankey is based in Long Eaton which, as anyone in the know knows is basically the centre of the universe for upholstery. They specialise in High end beautifully designed chairs and sofas as well as other products.

We are really proud to associated our bespoke lighting with john sankey at Hoopers department store.

As you can see, across the panorama from left to right there is our Adjustable Standard Lamp in oak with an off white shade. Also our Edie coat stand beautifully dressed and finally our Standard Lamp with Yellow shade.