Preston furniture company carves out a great start to its business life

A Preston firm whose furniture range includes using recycled wood from old fishing boats has had a storming start to its business life.
Made With Oak based at The Watermark in Preston. From left, Maaz Umar, James Hodge, Saif Dar and Nadeem Rajani.Made With Oak based at The Watermark in Preston. From left, Maaz Umar, James Hodge, Saif Dar and Nadeem Rajani.
Made With Oak based at The Watermark in Preston. From left, Maaz Umar, James Hodge, Saif Dar and Nadeem Rajani.

Made With Oak started in April 2018 – and in just over nine months has grown to a near million-pound business with no sign of slowing down.

The internet-based business, which has offices in Ribbleton Lane, Preston, offers a wide range of quality furniture from traditional to contemporary.

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The furniture is made abroad, and stored in its UK warehouse in Bicester.

Director Nadeem Rajani said he was surprised at how quickly the business had established itself.

He said: “Nine months ago there was just one of us managing the website, now there are four and we are looking to recruit a further two members of staff in the new year.

“By offering a wide range of quality furniture from traditional to contemporary at extremely competitive prices we have quickly carved out a market which is growing at an extraordinarily rapid rate.”

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Nadeem and his top team of Maaz Umar, director, Saif Dar, customer service and logistics, and James Hodge , development, pride themselves on offering furniture made from solid timber.

The initial target was to reach a turnover of £250,000 by the end of 2018 – but by December Made With Oak had hit almost one million pounds.

Preston-born Nadeem said that while working very closely with their partners in Rajasthan, northern India, the firm had managed to reclaim wood from old retired fishing boats dating back 50 to 150 years.

That led to the creation of the exclusive Harbour Range of furniture.

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It also provided the company with a unique range and the satisfaction of recycling materials.

Made With Oak takes customer service seriously and is delighted with its ‘Excellent’ 5-star rating on Trustpilot from more than 200 reviews.

Nadeem said: “These are challenging times and I am surprised to say the least at how well the company has taken off.

“In a very uncertain climate with Brexit looming we are proud to show that there is still opportunity for companies to grow and develop,” he added.