09/08/2026
High Wycombe = furniture. If there's one thing people associate with our town, it's furniture, especially chairs.
Contrary to the doomsters who claim that mass market stores, sourcing product from Sweden or wherever, have finished off Wycombe's furniture industry, I've got news.
In fact, furniture design and manufacture has simply evolved - like any other industry - and there are lots of companies in and around High Wycombe that are leading the way.
The Wycombe Furniture Forum, started by the wonderful Peter Spence, has pulled together lots of big and small companies, some featured in this magazine. Think of Verco Design - Furniture, William Hands, GB Foam, Cristiana Ionescu, Hypnos Beds, Recycled Business Furniture and, in this issue, Ercol Furniture.
Pictured are Helen Pethybridge of Wycombe Furniture Forum with Henry Tadros, ercol Chairman and descendant of the founder, Luciano Ercolani.
Born in 1888, Luciano trained as a furniture maker with Parker Knoll in High Wycombe where he became friends with Ted Gomme, whose family founded G Plan in the 1950s. Yes, the G in G Plan stands for Gomme!
Probably the best known and most loved British furniture brand, ercol is still a family company and its beautiful modern factory (the second image) in Princes Risborough is only a stone's throw from its original factory in Spring Gardens, north of the London Road. To this day, there are Ercolani Avenue and Tadros Court as reminders of this famous Wycombe family.
If you find this interesting, do absolutely check out Wycombe Museum and the brand new and stunning Chair Discovery Centre in St Mary Street, next to the Wycombe Swan theatre.
☺️ Link in Bio if you'd like to see the whole magazine, including this article in full
