Furniture-maker WILLIAM THOMSON on how his love of the Kent coast gave him an idea for a new business. Interview: Alex Fisher 

I have lived by the sea for most of my life. My family moved to Deal, in Kent, 18 years ago and I only left the coast to study architecture in Newcastle. However, after I qualified in 2010, I found there were few jobs to be had. I didn’t want to be an unpaid intern, but had no money to start my own business.

I returned home to my parents in Deal and as I walked along the coast I’d come to know so well, an idea came to me. Over the last few hundred years there have been many shipwrecks around the area where I grew up and, as a result, the more inaccessible parts of the coastline have an abundance of driftwood. After a couple of hours on Google, I discovered there was a market for driftwood furniture and suddenly I had a business that I could start without tools or money.

Initially, I worked outside in my parents’ garden, which has direct access to the sea. Luckily, the weather stayed fine and before long I made enough money to put a roof over my head and move into a workshop of my own. After a year, my girlfriend, Naomi, joined me and we now make bespoke furniture and garden buildings for clients around the world.

Although I no longer make furniture from driftwood, I still comb the local beaches for washed-up ‘treasures’ to inspire my designs. As a volunteer for the RNLI, I spend many hours around boats, another source of inspiration for my furniture collection.

To find out more, visit williamsworkshop.co.uk.

To read more 'Coast Characters' visit here. Make sure to keep an eye out for features in the magazine.

 

To read more 'Coast Characters' visit here. Make sure to keep an eye out for features in the magazine.