Joining the Wood Awards furniture and objects panel is Henry Tadros, Chairman of one of the UK’s most renowned furniture companies, Ercol.
Established in 1920 by Italian designer Lucian Ercolani, the firm has built an iconic reputation for creating timeless, high-quality designs with a focus on natural materials and a clean, modern aesthetic.
Over the years, the company has remained family-owned, with Henry, the great-grandson of Lucian Ercolani, becoming the fourth generation to take part in running it.
In this interview, Henry reflects on the qualities he will be looking out for in Wood Awards entries, and his hopes for the future of furniture making in the UK.
WA: Why did you want to become a Wood Awards judge?
HT: Ercol have worked in solid timber for 105 years; we have been one of the largest solid wood furniture manufacturers in the UK for a long period and, over this time, have been using a huge amount of British timber – so our blood is timber and wood.
As a celebration of design and making in wood, it is natural for me to be drawn to the Wood Awards like a moth to light. It is part of my mission as Chairman of Ercol to shine a light on the manufacturing and making of solid wood furniture throughout the UK, and I see being a judge as an opportunity to use Ercol’s extensive history and heritage to support and encourage the industry.
What are the qualities you will be looking out for in winning projects – especially in production-made furniture?
I am quite an Ercol furniture purist, and this extrapolates out to looking for honest furniture: well-made, beautiful and fit for use. This doesn’t mean being austere – but being the right item for its purpose.
Of course, you want the piece to be enjoyed and to last, but at the same time it is important to try to achieve an affordability and openness for as many people as possible. Doing this involves careful engineering as part of the design – enabling a piece to be made well and lastingly, at scale, for a good price.
So, the marriage between design and manufacture is key – I will be looking out for pieces which achieve a harmony between the two.
What changes do you hope to see in furniture making in the UK in the coming years?
My wider hope is that we will see a critical mass movement toward supporting and strengthening the industry and supply chains that we have here in the UK.
This would offer benefits across sustainability and manufacturing and supply. At Ercol, for example, we are starting to work with Grown in Britain (GiB) timber and the volume of timber that we use helps to support the sawmiller that we work with. But the industry needs others to source British timber at volume too, to make it viable for everyone.
At the same time, we also need customers to understand the value of solid wood furniture made in the UK – that there is a premium, but that this results in quality and longevity.
Why is wood an important material for designers and makers to look to now?
Wood has been the perfect working material for making long-lasting, durable furniture throughout history. And when something is right, it sticks around.
Sustainability is now a requirement in the furniture contract markets, with architects and designers increasingly well informed; and we are seeing a slow shift in the general retail market toward a requirement for natural and sustainable materials too.
With its virtuous cycle of carbon capture and replanting, sustainably sourced timber is the ultimate environmentally friendly material, in my eyes.
Finally, do you have a favourite Ercol design?
I think it has to be the Butterfly Chair – a classic design from the 1950s that my great grandfather designed. It has a moulded ply back and seat, with a solid wood chair. I love it because it exemplifies his vision of being a forward-thinking furniture manufacturer. It was ahead of its time, and I have a great pride in its imagination, its strength, its character, its elegant silhouette – and it is also very comfy.
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