Phyllis Stephen at the Edinburgh Reporter published this interview with Fiona Campbell this week. Fiona and Phyllis chat about what it is like to run a business and work in the city of Edinburgh.
Champagne Trays feature in the news section of Essentially Catering magazine this month.
No more spilled champagne and broken glasses! Fiona Campbell designs and produces an innovative tray for serving champagne and wine. Fiona Campbell Furniture launches its new website and full range of Perspex and wooden Champagne Trays on 8th October at Grand Designs LIVE.
About
Fiona Campbell, who graduated as ‘Student of the Year’ at the Chippendale International School of Furniture in 2000, set up her business, Fiona Campbell Furniture, in 2001. She later gained a Master’s degree in Design from Dundee University.
Applying traditional cabinet making to contemporary design techniques, Fiona produces pieces that are innovative and enduring.
Fiona’s latest range takes her business in a new direction. She has designed a series of safe drinks trays that eliminate the problem of dropping glasses while serving champagne or wine.
Background
Fiona was commissioned to design and make wooden trays for a local catering company. They asked her to come up with a design that would overcome the problem of spillages and breakages in busy, confined spaces, as they estimated they lost £50 worth of glasses and champagne a week in dropped trays.
Fiona, who has worked as a waitress in the past, developed a unique design that allows glasses to sit snuggly in holes around the tray. The trays provide a high quality, aesthetic accessory for safely serving champagne flutes, and red and white wine glasses.
The trays, which are stackable, are now available in a range of colours of Perspex manufactured in an Edinburgh-based factory. Fiona is particularly proud that the trays are designed and manufactured in Scotland.
She says, ‘The way the glasses are suspended adds to the theatre and beauty of serving. Saving catering companies the embarrassment and expense of broken glasses and wasted champagne also adds real value.’
Website Launch
This year, Fiona’s website has undergone a complete update and revamp, introducing a blog and links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. With these additions, the site has become an interactive media. Fiona encourages visitors to the site to comment on her work, recommend it to their friends and give feedback.
Sales
Champagne Trays have become regularly used in some of the country’s most prestigious hotels, catering companies, theatres and restaurants since their soft launch in May 2010. The trays also feature in Channel 4’s newest wedding programme, Wedding House.
Exhibitions
This year, Fiona has exhibited her trays in:
Wych Elm Exhibition, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
Studio D Presents, East Lothian
Method Furnishings, Edinburgh
Taste of London, Regents Park, London
Foodies Festival, Edinburgh
Scotland’s Countryside Festival, Glamis Castle, Scotland
Gulp, North Berwick
Upcoming events:
Grand Designs LIVE, Birmingham NEC, 8 – 10th October 2010 – launch of Champagne Trays
Taste of Christmas, ExCel, London, 3 – 5th December 2010
Further information and high-resolution images are available on request.
Article in Daily Record - Stylish HomesThat’s as good a description as any for the prevailing trends for this autumn. It’s the perfect summing up for the warmth of the colours, the appeal of lasting style and the sense that your home is the one place you want to be when the long dark evenings draw in."
Solid oak with rounded off flush top legs
1400 x 450 x 340mm
£950
Fiona Campbell Champagne Trays exhibited at Foodies Festival this weekend with Gulp Foods.
I spent the afternoon installing this solid oak cross headstone in the local cemetery. The family of the deceased wanted a sculptural hard wood headstone that was to be inspired by two stones they had found.
The Debut Exhibition of Method Furniture will be held in a secret location in Edinburgh on 19th June. They have asked a handful of other artists and designers to add pieces to their exhibition.
Champagne Trays feature in Channel 4's latest wedding show where a top team of wedding planners, stylists and organisers will create each couples ideal ceremony. Wedding House is in the process of being filmed in Sundridge Park Manor, just 10 miles from London.
We spent a day having a champagne and wine garden party whilst making a video for the website. Thanks everyone for helping out with the shoot.
Solid oak child's chair with toy train, carved name and under seat drawer.
