Steve Allen was always destined to become a furniture maker, as the fourth generation cabinet maker and the son of a master cabinet maker, who worked for the prestigious Waring and Gillow’s in Lancaster, he grew up with furniture making.

Steve began making furniture in 1974, his first workshop was based in the Lake District and his original way of thinking led to the production of unique pieces of furniture. One of his first ranges of furniture produced very solid items which were given a very distinctive knarled texture produced with the use of a flame thrower. The burnt wood would then be scrubbed with a wire brush to produce an impressive effect, however this method was not suitable for large scale production and would not meet today’s required green credentials or health and safety!
Following on from this Steve worked on renovating antique furniture from Ireland for export to New York including the famous Bloomindales and Macys stores. Provincial Irish furniture is very unusual and this style still shows through in some of today’s furniture. Steve gained a reputation for high quality work in the field of country style furniture, which was very popular at the time. Laura Ashley chose several pieces of Steve’s furniture for her first book on home decoration published in 1981. Later in his career Steve supplied furniture for every Laura Ashley Christmas shop window display.

Through out his career Steve has worked in most forms of woodwork. Carving, turning, marquetry, hardwoods, softwoods, chair making, ecclesiastical work.

Steve moved to Blackburn in Lancashire in 1984, setting up his first factory with the help of a local government grant. Steve’s furniture became well known for it’s intricate hand carving . At this time Steve spearheaded the revival of Gothic furniture into the mainstream. His hand carved acorn range was another very successful range at this time. Steve was also a keen cartoonist and the link between cartoons and furniture is evident in the range of children’s furniture currently produced and originally influence by his grandchildren who inspired him to design a new range of children’s furniture to suit their individual interests. It all happened very quickly, Kerry was a Princess, Ella was a fairy, Joe was a Space Man and Charlie was a footballer. From these ideas a range quickly developed, the grand children were a great help to Steve suggesting lots of good ideas that were incorporated into the designs. Demand of the beds was such that further items were developed to make complete bedroom ranges in all the themes.
In 2002 Steve moved with his work force to Hoghton, a village between Preston and Blackburn, were he continued to make various ranges and styles of furniture. However as a result of the increasing success of the children range a decision was made to work entirely in children’s furniture. What had begun as an indulgence for the important children in his own life had led to a very important part of his business.
Steve has made furniture for many famous clients, some of which has appeared in national celebrity magazines.

The company has provided many apprenticeships in the past 24 years, one of the original apprentices is now a highly skilled carver and cabinetmaker who runs the workshop.