2015

Cast your mind back. Mark Ronson’s ‘Uptown Funk’ is blaring from the stereo of a North London pub. Two friends, Tom Allen and Robin Tyler, are sitting at the bar thinking furniture.

They decide that the industry isn’t offering the kind of products and service people really need – plenty of companies were producing to meet market demand, but few were actually meeting human needs.

Worse still, in pursuit of bargain basement prices and seasonal sales, the industry was turning a blind eye to the needs of the planet, and producing furniture irresponsibly.

2017

Tom and Robin wanted to form a company of their own. They wanted to enable people to make positive changes in their daily lives, and to create a production model that gives back as much as it takes.

Soon enough, Grain was born.

For Tom, this was a chance to demonstrate that the future of business is conscious and nurturing.

For Robin, Grain was an opportunity to bring sustainable, low-waste on-demand manufacture to a wasteful and inefficient industry.

2018

Just over a year later, Tom and Robin cut Grain’s first piece on a rented CNC machine. Tom and Robin were operating from a storage basement three storeys underground.

In 2018, Grain moved into a railway arch, and Tom and Robin got their very own CNC machine. In 2019, with the help of Jamie, Grain’s new designer, we launched the current product range.

In 2020, Grain expanded in size, with new staff who are passionate about a sustainable future.