Inspiring Makers 2026: Shaping the way forward for British craft and design

Constructing upon previous success and now going into its fifth yr, Inspiring Makers is being held at Tub’s historic Guildhall on Wednesday thirteenth Might 2026. The day-long occasion presents a singular platform to attach and encourage rising designers and makers with main manufacturers and influential business voices. The purpose is to champion conventional hand abilities, protect British craft and to encourage, prepare and maintain the devoted masters of the long run.

The not-for-profit convention is co-organised by Artichoke, the Somerset-based interiors studio specialising in world-class design and make of heritage joinery, and the Furnishings Makers’ Firm – the Metropolis of London livery firm and charity for the furnishing business.

Earlier touchpoints have included discussions about sustainability, gender, range, schooling and AI, with this yr’s thought-provoking line-up of audio system together with:

Invoice Amberg, Founding father of Invoice Amberg Studio

With sustainability and innovation as central philosophies, Amberg is certainly one of at this time’s most revered designers and craft makers in modern British furnishings and interiors. Celebrating a lifelong dedication to exploring leather-based’s aesthetic and architectural potential, commissions embody Harrods, the Royal Academy of Arts and Westminster Abbey’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries to non-public residences, yachts, luxurious motels and business interiors in addition to work within the V&A and the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork collections.

Caroline Until, Founding father of FranklinTill
Based in 2010, FranklinTill is a design futures consultancy activating design, color and materials innovation for optimistic social and environmental change.

Their work future-proofs the world’s largest manufacturers and organisations, supporting them to stay linked, impressed and related, becoming a member of the dots between sociocultural shifts, technological innovation and environmental change. Previous shoppers embody Samsung, Adidas, Google, Pantone and the V&A.

Caroline beforehand based and directed the Materials Futures postgraduate course at Central Saint Martin’s school of Artwork & Design, with experience rooted in sustainable design practices and design innovation. She is co-author of ‘Radical Matter: Rethinking supplies for a sustainable future’ printed by Thames & Hudson, and visitor curator of the exhibition Our Time on Earth which opened on the Barbican in 2022 and continues to tour till 2027.

Belinda Joslin, Founding father of Girls in Boatbuilding

Belinda grew up crusing on the East Coast rivers, watching the crusing barges in awe however by no means feeling they have been a spot for her. By way of the Bread and Roses barge undertaking she hopes to create significant abilities alternatives for girls in any respect ranges; to study primary sensible abilities; develop their boatbuilding careers; develop into skilled shipwrights and assist to create a extra various and welcoming maritime business.

There are classes right here for the furnishings and furnishings business, the place ladies are nonetheless in a minority and infrequently discover some elements of the office difficult.  How can we speed up change and obtain a greater gender steadiness which in the end will profit us all?

Fred Baier, Furnishings Maker & Designer

Fred Baier is an avant garde British furnishings designer and maker who has been working because the Seventies, when he graduated from the Royal School of Artwork. A few of his unique work drew its affect from industrial imagery ideas and featured using brightly colored stained woods. For the reason that Seventies, Fred has utilised convergent applied sciences together with computer systems, arithmetic, and theories of proportion in his furnishings designs. Commissions and exhibitions embody the Victoria & Albert Museum, Carnegie Museum of Artwork, Crafts Council London, the library for the Home of Lords in addition to public set up items.

Freddie Armstrong and Joseph De Ferranti, Founders of Sluggish Methods

Each graduating from the College of Edinburgh two years in the past, and coaching as makers themselves, Freddie and Joseph have since sought to doc Britain’s heritage crafts by strolling the size of the nation. Their undertaking, titled Sluggish Methods, was to discover the values gained from working slowly, and the way craft presents a possibility to re-establish our dying connection to the land and its seasonal rhythms. In 2025 the duo spent the summer time visiting artisans alongside their 1,200-mile expedition together with furnishings makers, tanners, printers, silversmiths and artists. They walked and documented their journey in assist of QEST (The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Belief) and Heritage Craft – bringing consciousness to the 2 charities in addition to the cultural significance of the UK’s artisanal practices which they are going to be sharing extra of throughout London Craft Week 2026 at Hoxton’s artwork’otel.

Artichoke

Artichoke is a luxurious interiors studio and the pre-eminent designers and makers of positive, heritage joinery for the world’s most unique houses, creating fully bespoke rooms in addition to complete home initiatives which embody inside design.

The fifty robust crew relies in Somerset with a thriving design studio and state-of-the-art workshops. By way of uncompromising high quality and a spotlight to element, Artichoke has constructed a surprising repute over thirty years with an enviable portfolio of worldwide initiatives spanning the US, Europe and throughout the UK.

Tickets are £15 for college kids and £25 for normal admission, together with lunch and refreshments, restricted areas can be found and could be bought by Eventbrite right here.

Inspiring Makers is happening 9am-5pm on Wednesday thirteenth Might 2026 at Guildhall, Tub and is generously supported by Artichoke, the Furnishings Makers’ Firm, Sykes Timber, Castelan, Wolf Parts, Halstock and Ergochair.