Double helix marks a perfect circle

There's no clearer proof that TTJ Awards go to real winners. Kenny Macfarlane, recipient of the under-25 category of the TTJ Career Development Award in 2010, went on to pick up a raft of other prizes, then to launch his own successful business, bespoke hardwood stair rail producer Handrail Creations.

Bringing the story to a perfect circle, his company has also produced this year's technically demanding, visually stunning TTJ Awards trophies, which Kenny hopes will inspire recipients to the same success he's achieved. Ironically it was his older brother Mathew who was first drawn to working with wood.

"In fact, he's now a successful joiner," said 27-yearold Kenny. "I was more interested in design and went to Liverpool John Moores University to study product design and digital modelling. That's where I developed my interest in design software, programming and CNC but also, in a round about way, timber.We used all sorts of materials, and initially softwood was just for prototyping. But then I made a wooden wireless speaker and started to discover its organic qualities, and the creative possibilities of grain and colour. Some clients want timber to look uniform. But I love finding a random, light streak in a piece of walnut and working with it."

These two budding skills, working with wood and design technology, came together at stairparts specialist Clive DuroseWoodturners, Kenny's first employer. "They set up a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) graduate programme with Staffordshire University and had invested in new technology and software systems and needed someone to help integrate it," he said.

At Clive Durose, Kenny worked in digital modelling, but was given increasing responsibility in other areas. "I was already drawn to business development, marketing and strategy," he said. "I learned a lot from my dad [Martin Macfarlane], who's an engineer, but also ran businesses, and from Clive Durose and working at the company, which exposed me to the wider industry."

His all-round interest was clearly recognised. At just 21 he was given the responsibility of developing a new operation at Durose, Precision Handrails.

"We had the latest CNC and 3D modelling tools and I built my own team," said Kenny. "I was thrown in at the deep end, but there's nothing like being hands-on and working with customers. It was a huge opportunity." His contribution to the company was further acknowledged in 2010 with a glowing testimonial from Clive Durose in Kenny's TTJ Awards entry and, of course, by the fact he won.

"Getting that industry recognition was a tremendous experience," he said. "Someone said to me 'when you do something good, you tell people about it - when you do something more than good, they tell you'. That was quite a boost."

The success also clearly gave him a taste for awards themselves, as he went on to win five more. They included a Construction News Award, the Lord Stafford KTP Award and Business Leader of Tomorrow, which was presented by business secretaryVince Cable.

After the KTP finished, Clive Durose offered Kenny a permanent contract. "That was very satisfying," he said. "There were things I'd begun there I was keen to build on." In his own time, he also took a postgraduate diploma in management, followed by a Masters in business management, achieving a distinction in both. Then, in 2013, he joined innovative exterior furniture designer and producer Bailey Streetscene.

"That was another invaluable experience, learning about a new business, different products and materials," said Kenny. "I set up a unit within the company focused on timber and working with both customers and suppliers, which developed my supply chain knowledge."

By this point, he was also harbouring ambitions to develop his own business with his father. He took his business plans to the bank, which backed them, and Handrail Creations was born, setting up in a 3,000m² factory in Bolton.

"We've got a range of machinery, a cross-cut, planer moulder, ripsaw and so on but the centrepiece is our CNC machining centre," said Kenny. "It's a Routech Chronos which we saw advertised for sale in Spain.We bought it, and my father, who's worked with CNC machinery most of his career in metalworking, took it apart, then reassembled it in the factory. It was a challenge for our programmer as it's German engineered, with Spanish software on Italian Windows. But he's a genius and he worked it out."

Handrail Creations works with architects, contractors and designers and its projects are 100% bespoke, using primarily American white oak, black walnut, ash and sapele, and also occasionally other species, such as wenge, cherry and utile.

The company works with a range of leading suppliers, and is now looking at FSC certification. "There's our environmental responsibility to consider, but clients are also increasingly specifiying FSC, and we don't want to miss jobs because we can't supply it," said Kenny.

Asked whether he was ever nervous of going it alone, he said there wasn't time.

"Once we'd got the ball rolling this April, things just rocketed," he said. "Our first job was a handrail for a gorgeous staircase in a £10m mansion. It was blood, sweat and tears, a 12-month learning curve in six weeks, but we did it and then work started really coming in."

Just five months in, the company has a workforce of six, including Kenny and his father, who manages the CNC, and is recruiting two more. And it looks as though it might soon have to grow again. Threequarters of its contracts are in London, but it has installed handrails nationwide. It has also supplied handrail for a project in Dubai and there have been enquiries from France and Singapore.

It's hard work, but Kenny obviously relishes it, and was working long hours when he came up with the idea to put Handrail Creations forward as this year's TTJ Awards trophy maker.

"I was in my office at 9pm looking at my TTJ trophy, remembering the Awards, then started wondering how it was made. That got me thinking how great it would be if someone was looking at a trophy we'd made, getting the same inspiration from it, and asking themselves how it was made. I also thought it would be great exposure!"

Handrail Creations is using the project as a showcase for its CNC and wider technical prowess. "We chose sapele because we wanted a section big enough that we didn't have to laminate and also because of the dark consistent colour and interesting grain," said Kenny. "And as very dark, even black handrails are really in fashion, we then ebonised it with three or four coats of finish, right down to the grain. After this we've wire woolled it back to a really high gloss, which is also a look in demand."

But the key challenge was the shape. "We've produced a geometrically perfect double helix, really pushing our CNC skills," he said. "I want people to be intrigued and ask 'how on earth did they do that'. But we're not giving away our secrets!" Kenny acknowledges he's also looking forward to seeing the TTJ Awards winners' expressions as they pick up their trophies.

"That will be a proud moment - winning a TTJ Award was a great feeling."