Ministry of Furniture, the company which emerged from Remploy Furniture, has made a further investment in its workforce, creating seven new positions, six of them new hires, as it enjoys further growth on the back of its enhancement of its offering during the pandemic. The new appointments, which span design, production and operations, have been made by the firm on the back of an expansion and diversification of its services, a move prompted initially by the COVID-19 pandemic. Terry Mortimer has joined as a technical designer and estimator. He has more than 20 years’ experience in bespoke design. Qualified in Revit, Autocad, and 3D Studio Max, he has a technical background with the ability to carry out surveys, produce detailed technical plans and product drawings. He will work alongside Whitney Harris who has joined as an interior designer. Whitney is a graduate interior designer with Revit and 3D visualisation experience who joins from Do Digital. David Bond joins as a production operator through the Government’s Kickstart programme. David, a blacksmith in his spare time, previously worked as an observation assistant at Hawkeswood Ecology. He will also benefit from a rigorous training programme at the company in line with the company’s social aims. Ministry has also recruited Adrian Badcock as a production operator. Jake Webb joins the sales team as a fitted furniture sales specialist. Jake, who will be responsible for developing vector sales across the education sector, brings a depth of experience in the construction sector where he has worked as a sales estimator. He can use CAD and Revit and has Graphic Design qualifications. Samantha Garnett joins as purchasing manager. Samantha is an experienced procurement and product manager with an extensive background working across a range of sectors in both the retail and automotive industries. Reporting to the operations director, Samantha will manage strategic procurement activities across multiple category spends negotiating the best deals and managing the suppliers. Finally, Kay Wood has been promoted to project coordinator. She has a wealth of customer service experience having worked for Remploy for 22 years and Ministry for five years in sales and customer service roles. She will be responsible for ensuring that projects are delivered to the highest standard. Ministry is enjoying a period of sustained growth, partly on the back of changes it made in the business prompted by COVID-19. Now, it is eyeing growth and diversification in line with its values and aims as a company in 2021 – and is investing in the people, systems and skills to allow it to leverage that. This also includes anticipated growth in the commercial, construction and education sectors over the next 12 months. Having realigned the company’s working practices and offering in the past 12 months, it now offers clients a seamless journey over the timeline of a big project – from concept to completion. In Wales, as a framework supplier for The National Procurement Service (NPS) for Wales, it can offer its suite of services to all public sector bodies. Graham Hirst, Managing Director, Ministry of Furniture, said: “We are delighted to see five new faces join the company as we consolidate some of the changes we made through the pandemic and realign our values to ensure we are always offering the best possible customer service. The appointments will help to strengthen and improve departments throughout the business as we gear up for 2022.”