2020 Highlights
A year to remember... for more reasons than one...
It's safe to say that 2020 hasn't been the year that any of us had planned. Whilst there has been plenty of unhappy, unsettling news in the world, we are very grateful to still be here doing what we love and for your continued support.
So we'd like to celebrate the successes of our team and take a moment to be thankful of what we what we did achieve, not should have.
New Products
The start of this year saw the re-launch of some iconic designs from our archives: our Butterfly and Cape Pendants. We welcomed our collection of Ash Accessories in March - six new designs spanning contemporary wooden shelving, mirrors and wall hooks that were inspired by the sculptural tree canopies that surround our Cornish studios.
Three new accessories, designed to suit smaller living spaces, were launched during the summer months. The Tilner Mirror became our very first portable mirror design, whilst the Mawnan Planter and Morvah Planter Small joined our Green Range to celebrate biophillic design and invite nature into our homes, with flexible smaller designs for any size space.
Two new Flock Chandeliers also joined our steam bent lighting collection, their statement designs and varying sizes better suited to a range of spaces and property styles. Our bestselling Skipper Lighting Range also gained three new designs - our Skipper Wall Light, Skipper Flush Ceiling Light and Skipper Flush Ceiling Light Small. Finally, our brand new and highly anticipated Loer Pendant became the final product to join our iconic range in 2020, bringing with it a new aesthetic and memorable, orbital design.
Our brand new Loer Pendant features in Elle Decoration magazine's December edition in a special AW20 lighting guide written by Kate Worthington.
In the News
We were incredibly lucky to be featured in some wonderful publications, books, journals and magazines this year. From 2LG Studio - Making Living Lovely to Scandi Living: Creating A Cozy & Happy Home, this year has been one of interior guides and books focused around spending more time in the home.
Dezeen also published an audit on sustainable furniture design written by Dodds and Shute, which placed Tom Raffield as the seventh most sustainable manufacturer internationally and a UK leader, above the likes or Ercol. You can read the article here.
We've also been incredibly honoured to have our steam bent designs featured in Elle Decoration, Living Etc, House Beautiful, Ideal Home, The English Home and Home & Antiques to name but a few.
Partnerships
Undeniably, 2020 has shined a spotlight on sustainability. There's been a real drive of businesses committing to new strategies and becoming more mindful of their impact on the planet. Here at Tom Raffield, sustainability has been a priority since day one, and as a result, 2020 saw a lot of the ground work we'd successfully laid over the last decade come together. We're looking forward to some exciting new developments happening in 2021, so watch this space for updates very soon.
A few highlights:
We are proud to be one of 6,000 employers across the UK who have volunteered and committed to pay a Real Living Wage to our team, independently circulated to be enough for employees, and their families, to live on.
We're a climate positive workforce, partnering with Ecologi to offset our employees' carbon footprint, including emissions from their home, personal travel, holidays, food, hobbies and more. In return, Ecologi plant trees to restore healthy forests around the globe and fund the world’s best climate crisis solutions.
Our Tom Raffield team have also committed to the UN Global Compact corporate responsibility initiative, this means that we are constantly striving to become more active in our local community to support environmental charities and groups.
Our team
More than ever, we're incredibly proud of the hard work and commitment of our team this year. Like every small business, we've faced the unprecedented and uncertain challenges of the pandemic by weathering the storm in the best way we can, together. Our team have been incredibly adaptable to working remotely, transforming our workshop into a socially distanced Covid-safe workplace, creating workplace bubbles and rallying together to keep up a constant workflow. We feel incredibly lucky to be surrounded by a great team of like-minded individuals.
It also goes without saying that we're incredibly grateful for all of the amazing support we've received this year from our valued customers, partners and clients. We couldn't come to work each day to do what we love without you - so thank you for making it all possible. Here's to 2021.
Posted: 31.12.20
Updated: 15.04.21