Turnstyle Designs is delighted to announce that the company has celebrated 25 years in business, 25 years of manufacturing in Britain and 25 years of setting the standard of design-led architectural ironmongery.
The history of Turnstyle Designs
Turnstyle Designs was established by Steve Roberts in 1992, out of a small shed in the back garden of a cottage in Westleigh, Bideford, Devon, UK.
In 1990 Steve had been developing an old Victorian house in London. When it came to renovating the doors, he could not find any interesting door handles outside the run of the mill brass, wood or glass traditional knobs and levers. With a keen interest in sculpting, he set about making some homemade sculpted door knobs out of a cement fondue mixture. The seed was planted!
Newly married, Steve and his wife then moved to North Devon for the waves and glorious countryside. Whist trying to make a living as a sculptor Steve also continued to research and develop the cast door handle ideas and launched Turnstyle Designs in 1992 – 25 years ago.
The company has gone from strength to strength, growing steadily and organically, moving from shed to barn to disused village shop and finally to purpose built factory units in Roundswell Business Park, Barnstaple, UK in 2000.
The business
Turnstyle Designs has developed from a craft based producer selling to shops (such as John Lewis, Purves & Purves) and interior designers in the UK, to a company that now offers over 30,000 different combinations of options of designs, materials and finishes to high end interior designers, superyacht designers and luxury commercial projects. Turnstyle sells to over 25 different countries (the US being one of the largest markets) with exports making up over 75% of its annual sales.
Turnstyle Designs has also recently won both the Overall Business 2017 and Made In North Devon Awards.
The company has a dedicated showroom in London’s prestigious Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour and a subsidiary office in the US. Turnstyle exhibits annually in London (London Design Week, Focus, 100% Design), Monaco (Monaco Yacht Show) New York (ICFF NY), Amsterdam (METS), Miami (ICFF Miami) and LA (WestEdge) with dedicated managers handling sales for US, UK and the marine sector.
The products
The product range includes its own range of Amalfine handles, (a proprietary composite blend of materials that produces beautiful and long last effects), brassware that is finished in house, with a choice of 8 different stock finishes and wide selection of beautiful leatherwork that is hand-stitched by Turnstyle Designs’ team of highly skilled leather craftswomen.
As well as its extensive range of designs and finish options, Turnstyle Designs also offers a custom service, which currently accounts for around 30% of sales. The company works with some of the worlds best designers and architects to produce unique door, cabinet and other hardware to the clients specifications, consulting and developing from sketches and discussions.
The superyacht marine industry
The superyacht marine industry accounts for just over a third of the company’s revenue, Turnstyle Designs’ unique styling can be found on some of the worlds largest and most prestigious yachts. The company has developed a reputation that has made it the go to supplier for many superyacht producers throughout the world.
Turnstyle Designs is proud to employ 35 staff at its Barnstaple site, which is due to expand again this year. A comprehensive training programme is put in place for all new staff (sales or production) and the company is proud at its level of staff retention, with many staff having worked for the company for well over 10 years.
The company is still owned by Steve and Christina who also work together to design the company’s catalogue of products.
January 2017 saw the launch of the company’s new website, which enables the user to configure over 20,000 different designs to their choice of finish combination. This was achieved by rendering, to an incredible quality, all 20,000 designs which sit in the background and are drawn in by selections from the clients.
2017 sees the company’s 25th year, which will be celebrated with parties in London, New York and a large staff, family and supplier party in North Devon.
For more information, visit: www.turnstyledesigns.com
Steve Roberts (Founder and Designer) is available to interview– please contact Samantha Bruce on email: [email protected]
Press Information: Samantha Bruce Tel: 0203 489 1040 email: [email protected]
