HJ Berry

Press Release

 

March 08 - New MD In the Chair At HJ Berry

One of Britain’s oldest furniture manufacturers has appointed a manufacturing expert as its new managing director. 

HJ Berry Ltd has recruited John Woodruffe, a Preston-based executive, to the leadership role.

 

Mr Woodruffe, 43, of Walton le Dale, is a specialist in innovative manufacturing techniques and joins the company 

from the Manufacturing Institute, the North West’s regional advisory service. His appointment represents a break with 

tradition for the company, which has seen a member of the Berry family at its helm since it began to produce furniture 

in 1840. Mr Woodruffe is the first leader of HJ Berry outside the family for five generations.

 

The business, which produces quality furniture for the residential, care home and leisure sector markets, remains firmly 

in family ownership. Mr Woodruffe said; “Over the years, HJ Berry has carved out an exceptional reputation for 

craftsmanship and service, coupled with a forward-thinking vision in areas including sustainability and staff development. 

It is a genuine British manufacturer with a proud past and a bright future and I’m delighted to take the managing 

director’s role at this exciting time in its history.”

 

HJ Berry is believed to be the oldest chair manufacturer in the country. The company has a strong focus on 

sustainability, with initiatives including powering the plant with offcuts from wood used in the manufacturing 

process and sourcing materials from as close to its base as possible. It also has a policy of only using 

British-grown oak and other woods for its furniture.

 

Located in the pictureesque village of Chipping, part of its factory is based within a millonce used by a pioneer of the 

Industrial Revolution, Sir Richard Arkwright. The site stillretains a waterwheel which powered the plant up to the 

20th Century. 

 

www.hjberry.co.uk

 

ENDS

      

Based in Kirk Mills, Chipping, Preston, HJ Berry manufactures furniture for the commercial 

and residential sectors.

 

Press release issued by Jane Shepherd, Shepherd PR Ltd.

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