Alistair Fleming
Alistair Fleming started the business over 30 years ago.
He began designing and experiencing making things in wood while living in a monastic community in his early twenties.
His first workshop was an old barn, on a farm in the Sussex Weald and in the mid-1990s, he opened a showroom in Lewes, primarily focusing on high quality, individually designed, custom made kitchens, which have been the cornerstone of the business to date.
Never interested in the concept of mass production, the business has always been about building bespoke, long-lasting kitchen cabinetry which honors the homes in which they live.
In 1999 he had the opportunity to buy some redundant farm buildings with a business partner and convert one of them into a 5000 sq.ft., purpose-designed workshop. This is still at the heart of the operation today and was a refuge when the town of Lewes, including the showroom, was flooded in 2000.
Over the years we’ve painstakingly built a local reputation for exceptional quality, reliability and creative design, with some members of the team having been with us almost from the beginning. We’ve worked in every context, from small terraced houses to Grade I listed country mansions.
In 2014 we initiated a name change from Woodworks to Alistair Fleming Fine English Cabinetry, to differentiate ourselves from the other local companies who were using the Woodworks name and to create an identity that is more fitting, 30 years on.
Why do you support the Living Wage?
In our case, we employ highly skilled craftsmen and women who deserve to be paid accordingly.
Also because we fundamentally believe in paying people a wage which allows and empowers employees to live, grow and contribute to society. In this instance, personally, I feel we have to build from the bottom up rather than wait for a trickle down legislation.