Member Awards

Brian had an early career in the electrical wholesaling industry, before spending 18 years at a cabinet furniture manufacturer. With an extensive background in the furniture industry, Brian has since held various positions in different organisations, including the British Furniture Manufacturers Association and the Furniture Industry Research Association. Brian is also on the board of the British Furniture Confederation and joined The Furniture Makers’ Company in 2003.

Steve is the founder and CEO of Mattress Online, one of the UK’s leading online mattress retailers. With over 20 years’ e-commerce experience, Steve has transformed Mattress Online into the award-winning, multi-million-pound retailer that we know today.

Successfully navigating diverse market challenges, Steve’s tenacity and innovative spirit have been instrumental in scaling Mattress Online into a highly-profitable business.

Steve’s vision for development and expansion heralds the next generation of Mattress Online’s evolution. Increasing market share, boosting the management team and elevating customer experience will be key to Mattress Online’s future success.

Paul Farley joined Furniture News in 2006 and has been its editor since 2008. The magazine is the longest established of today’s furniture trade titles, starting life as Pine News International in 1986 and expanding its coverage across all domestic furniture as Furniture News from 2001.

A veteran NBF Award judge, Paul also co-ordinates The Furniture Awards, and is the Secretary General of the International Alliance of Furnishing Publications (IAFP).

James joined the family business full time in 2005 at 18, following a conversation with his father and late grandfather. Starting out as a delivery driver, which he enjoyed for four years, James was promoted to sales before getting more involved in marketing, buying, merchandising and e-commerce in his mid – late twenties. James took up his current role as operations director in 2018, after almost 18 years in the business.

Natalie has a keen eye for what makes a winning product, with Sealy UK winning 2022’s Bed Product of the Year. Having worked at Sealy UK for seven years in various roles within marketing, for the last two years, Natalie has headed up new product development initiatives from conception right through to launch.

Danny has worked in the industry for 30 years across a wide range of roles, beginning in operations, before going on to Silentnight’s Change Management team to work on a series of cross-functional projects. Danny went on to implement a new enterprise resource planning system, which provided a real in-depth perspective on all the business processes that support and drive all the functions and decisions. In recent years, Danny has worked on new product development, implementation and compliance, and taking on the role of Head of Change before his current position as Operations Director.

Joanna Fielding, beds category manager at Associated Independent Stores (AIS) makes her judging debut this year. Having studied surface design at university in York, Joanna worked for eight years as a fashion design manager where she spent much of her time in Asia and Europe working within sampling facilities and sourcing new innovative fabrics. Eager to broaden her expertise, Joanna pursued a business masters tailored for the creative industries. This strategic move opened doors to a pivotal role in Product Development at Furniture Wholesale Group (FWG), where she excelled in design, development and project management. After five years, Joanna joined AIS in January 2024.

Jonathan originally trained as a designer and practiced at leading architectural and design and build companies before moving into sales and marketing in fit-out, property development and office furniture design & manufacture. Jonathan founded the Design Guild Mark in 2007 and established the corporate membership and fundraising programmes at The Furniture Makers’ Company