A converted tin tabernacle deep in the heart of rural Sussex is an unlikely location for a company that sees itself at the cutting edge of contemporary furniture design. Yet from these idyllic surroundings in less than two years Tin Tab Ltd has grown from a simple shared workshop to a successful business supplying a variety of clients ranging from IBM to Fat Boy Slim.

Tin Tab was set up by Matt Haycocks and Simon Springford in an iron prefab tabernacle built as a ‘temporary’ building in 1884. The pair had known each other from childhood and initially set up together simply to share facilities. Soon it became clear that they could do a lot more together than working independently and Tin Tab was born.

Matt describes the company’s core ethos as ‘undogmatic modernism’. What does that mean? The answer lies in the lavish three-booklet brochure, which says: ‘For us modern does not mean modish, or dogmatic: it means original, flexible, and well thought out.’ It also invariably means simple – simple as in an uncluttered and almost minimalist style.

Which is perhaps why the company has had so much success building corporate furniture, where its bold, utilitarian approach comes into its own. As well as building a presentation suite for IBM, it has fitted out a lighting centre for Concord:Marlin, made desks for Sussex University, showcases for Brighton & Hove Museum, and countless receptions and restaurants. A recent client is DJ Fat Boy Slim, who ordered a storage unit for his music collection.

It’s all good clear, bold stuff and a long way from the artisan cliché conjured up by their business address, a point Matt is keen to drive home. ‘We’re not into the romance of being knee-deep in shavings,’ he says. ‘We use wood as a raw material, that’s all. We are about technology: we like machines and the way they save time and energy.’

In fact, ‘raw materials’ needn’t include wood at all. Much of their work includes contrasting materials such as perspex counters, stainless steel frames and slate kitchen tops. At Tin Tab, whether it is wood, glass or steel, the design concept comes before whatever material it is made of – to the extent that the design often dominates the material.

Both Matt and Simon produce all their designs on computer, Matt using a Vellum drawing programme and Simon experimenting with the whizzy 3-D graphics of Form Z. Their ambition is to buy a CAD/CAM machine, which will automatically laser-cut timber to size directly from their computer programmes. ‘We’re about sensible use of appropriate materials with up-to-date technology,’ says Matt.

That doesn’t mean they are blindly modern or hi-tech, however. One of the company’s ‘trademark’ signatures is the frequent use of finger-jointing, particularly on drawer fronts – an out-of-fashion technology which they have adopted for its simple, functional appeal.

‘Furniture is often perceived as a fashion product, which is about consumption and making a product redundant before it really is,’ says Simon. ‘We deliberately avoid looking at trends or trying to spot what’s hot at the moment. Otherwise it becomes all about image instead of real values.’

Their fresh approach is no doubt in part due to coming to the trade relatively late in life – that and leading a rich and varied life beforehand. Matt started off working for a theatre company until he broke his arm while on tour in Germany. He ended up spending 10 years in Essen, studying architectural engineering and working in furniture shops. Simon worked in the health food industry for several years and was marketing manager for Ecover in the US before studying wood, metal and plastics at Brighton University. Neither of them has had any formal woodwork training.

They have carried on this tradition by deliberately employing workers from outside the trade. Current recruits include Will the potter, Tom the sculptor and Tamsin the gardener – only Tamsin has had joinery training.

Design principles

‘They’ve all got the design principle,’ says Simon, ‘but they haven’t got preconceived ideas of how things are made. That means they can be more innovative, which is especially important using combinations of materials. It also means we can train them to do things our way – the Tin Tab way.’

Evolving a company approach is something Matt and Simon are very keen on. And, considering that their partnership was largely accidental, it is remarkable what a coherent policy they have managed to achieve. Partly this is through their natural compatibility, but it has also been achieved by bringing in outside advisors to help discuss and develop a cohesive strategy – almost like a company ‘counselling’ service. It all sounds very new-agey, but the results speak for themselves.

This approach has been enormously liberating, Matt says. ‘Instead of having to work out solutions from scratch every time, we can solve the problem once, develop a system to deal with it, and move on to the next thing,’ he says. ‘It’s no longer about ego, because you’re just working out a company approach.’

One example he points to is drawers. There are 101 ways of making a drawer, but only one Tin Tab way: finger-jointed front (to take the strain); lap-joined back; lino bottom and detachable metal slides. And it’s the same every time: one solution for many problems. Which is why the company contracts out work only when they have to.

Explaining what the Tin Tab way is could take as long as making the piece in the first place, and even then the details wouldn’t be quite right. ‘We like a small chamfer,’ Matt says, pointing to the edge of drawer which has been almost imperceptibly flattened off. ‘Most people if you ask them to put a chamfer on would take the whole corner off.’

But despite their unconventional, anti-fashion stance, the pair deny their work is offbeat. ‘We are rigorously unquirky,’ says Matt. ‘Our work is quite subdued and pared down. It’s not jokey because jokes wear thin.’

Staying local

The company has also adopted a clear corporate line on sourcing timber. Wherever possible they use renewable sources, although an even higher priority is to stay local – which generally means sustainable too. Local oak, elm and chestnut features regularly in their work, not ostentatiously as with many ‘green’ woodworkers anxious to make their point, but simply as part of the fabric. Where local or sustainable timber is not available – about 50% of the time – they get cedar and pine from North America, believing it to be better managed. Teak for a bathroom sink is the only tropical timber they have had to use recently.

Early on the company made a very smart move and, under the trade name of Multi-Ply, became the sole distributor for a European plywood manufacturer. Sales of the solid beech ply imported from Belgium have provided a steady source of income but, more importantly, have had valuable ‘spin-offs’ in terms of making contacts. Its soft, compliant colouring also features in many of their designs.

The wooden studio standing outside their office sums up much of the Tin Tab ethos. Built entirely of sustainable timber, it is prefabricated in the workshop before the modules are assembled on site – Matt says they couldn’t resist the idea of building a prefab building in a prefab building. The roof is made from recycled copper and the walls insulated with sheep’s wool. It is a modern concept incorporating age-old materials – in fact, the very essence of the ‘sensible use of appropriate materials with up to date technology’.

Success has brought its problems, notably in the space available. The original two-man workshop is struggling to accommodate the team of six (including two in the office) which Matt and Simon now employ, and they are on the lookout for a new site, perhaps on an industrial estate. It’s hard to imagine moving from such a beautiful location, but perhaps that’s all part of the ‘modernist’ approach. As we talk, the geese that have been roaming the courtyard outside the workshop peck at the window angrily. They might prefer their carpenters rustic, but time moves on.