Luxury hotel furniture range launched for spring 2012

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Spring is well and truly in the air for Dovetail Enterprises as all our recent hard work has culminated in the launch of our beautiful, new, bespoke Alto range.

Luxury hotel bedroom furniture

Our timing couldn’t have been more apt. What better way to give the traditional ‘spring clean’ a spruce up by breathing new life into tired hotel rooms awakening from the winter slumber and occupancy dip, ready to be made inviting again and shine in all their bespoke glory.   (If furniture could talk, we think our Alto range would say something like that!)

quality furniture for hotel bedroomsAlto was designed to offer tailor made packages to top end hotels whilst combining elegance and luxury with affordable expert craftsmanship . What makes it so different is that each piece is made to measure so that it fits your space perfectly. Plus we offer a broad spectrum of colours and glossy veneers to choose from.   Perfect, we think, for rooms that really speak volumes for the level of hospitality on offer.

We think of Dovetail as a one man band serenading its customers with an eclectic mix incorporating furniture design, interior design, fitting and finishings.  However, we are just as happy to allow the role of designer to be left up to the hotelier or specifier whilst we simply give our expert advice and suggestions.

Now here is the real Eureka! moment…the twist comes in the form of quantity.  With Dovetail furniture, quality is a given and we wanted to make this range as flexible as possible.

“How, if it is not flat pack?” we hear you say

“Ah ha” we reply and here is the answer…

Customers can take a whole package or just a couple of components. The same degree of expertise goes into each piece and, quite rightly so, our craftsmen and woman are equally proud of each and every door, chair, table, bed, wardrobe….

So a big thank you must go to all the staff whose dedication, hard work, skills and willing confirm just exactly why we are committed to being a social enterprise company…as if we would have it any other way anyway!

The fact that we are able to reinvest in Dovetail to further our ‘social mission’ is great and allows us to carry on waving a flag for the savvy hoteliers out there who pride themselves on being the best and who don’t want to compromise on quality without paying over the odds!

Dovetail People – Steven Smith

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Steven Smith has worked at Dovetail Enterprises for 15 years. He suffers from bad
arthritis which has resulted in his left leg being shorter than his right.

Steven operating the beam saw

His job at Dovetail gives him the flexibility that he needs, including getting paid for going to hospital appointments.

Steven cuts timber and raw materials, “breaking them out” of large pieces of wood to the right size, ready to go to be made into furniture or doors. He initially started in the upholstery department and moved into bedding before taking on his current role. He has also had machine shop training so that he can help out in other areas if required.

Recently Steven had a year off for an operation on his leg, and was fortunate to get his old job back afterwards. Not just that, but he was able to work sitting down until he was strong enough to go back to his normal job.

According to Steven, “Dovetail is a fantastic employer for someone with a disability. It gives me the opportunity to work in a paid job, without having to worry about taking time out for hospital visits or sickness. I have learned a skill and I’m responsible for breaking the timber out into the approximate size for the item of furniture being made. The next time you see it it’s all polished and ready for dispatch. I’m proud to have been part of making that finished product.”

Charlie’s Great Run

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Charlie, Dovetail’s production manager, recently took part in the Great North Run with his wife, Lynn, in aid of Get Kids Going. Here’s his story:

What can I say? This was just an amazing day for both of us from start to finish. The day started around 7am with breakfast and making sure we had everything we needed for the big day. As we were staying with friends in Sunderland we used the metro to take us to the start –  we were packed in like sardines in a tin. When we came off the train and headed to the start I don’t think we were ready for the overwhelming number of people that were there. It was very emotional walking along with everyone, as most had a poster pinned to their back telling you about a son, daughter, wife, husband or grandchild that they have lost or who is suffering with a disability of some kind. It gave us a sense of pride and made us feel very humble to think that they were all there for the same reasons; to help in some way to save a life, to help improve a life or just because their life had been touched in some way by someone so that they felt they needed to be there and share it with the rest of the world.

We walked to our starting point which was about 1km from the actual start line. There was a great buzz as all 54,000 of us were ready to go. The horn sounded and off we went! Well, not quite – it took us 30 minutes to reach the start line and from there our time was recorded. Once we got going, the first 2 miles were the worst as it was very hot and Lynn was trying to beat everyone. I managed to pull her reins in and we continued at a more manageable pace.

The crowds of supporters were amazing! We had a very heavy rainfall at around 3 miles but it was a godsend as it cooled us down, and yet the people were still there in the rain cheering and shouting out everyone’s names over the noise of a band playing.

Onwards to 6, 7, 8 miles and lots and lots of people were walking by this time. Lynn realised at that stage that she would not be last. By now it was getting warm again but some people had taken out their garden hoses to spray water on us to keep us cool. I think it was at this point we thought we might even finish in less than the expected 3 hours 30 minutes that we had hoped for.

At 12 miles Lynn was almost done. With only 1.1 miles left to go we wondered how could we find the strength to finish what, for me, had been one of the most rewarding things we had ever done together .Well, the motivation came again, as it had all day. 200 metres from the end, a group of small children on one of the charity buses started shouting, “Come on Lynn and Charlie, you can do it!” This was the inspiration that we needed. We lifted up the pace and nothing was going to stop us till we reached the line.

In the end we had completed the 13.1 miles in 2 hours 56 minutes.

On reflection the time wasn’t as important as the sense of being able to share in such a wonderful day with all those people that were there to tell their story or were trying to do a little bit to help in some way .

Oh, and would we do it again?

Definitely!

Charlie & Lynn