New Designers Show 2025

I visited the 2nd week of New Designers Show in the Business Design Centre, Islington.

It was well attended and showcased works from students at Product, Furniture and Graphic Design Universities.

The quality of the work is impressive and I spoke with many students as well as course leaders.

Common to all was the feedback that New Designers is the single best event for students that study in the regional bases to get their work seen by London based employers.

I mentioned the Clerkenwell Showrooms is planning to host students and their work from 2026 - and will effectively become a New Designers - off site. Most were enthusiastic about utilising Clerkenwell Showrooms as a resource to showcase students and their work.
Marketed under the working title of ‘Clerkenwell Grad Week’ - Clerkenwell Showrooms will begin communications with regional design universities and their respective course leaders to establish a rosta of interested parties.

Similarly, CS members will be pairing up with Universities with a view to participating during the CGW event next year. Finally, Jeremy from CS will be seeking suitable event sponsors as well as media partners.

CS Gathering at Modulyss - 19th June

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cs-gathering-modulyss-19th-june-jeremy-lee-iuu2c

CS Showroom Member - Basic Rates Increase

This is a notice to inform our members that from January 2025 we have had to increase Basic Membership from £180 to £220 per annum.

Reason for the increase is due to the additional services we have incorporated to the membership;

- CS Sharing
- CS Recruit

Additionally, CS has begun to develop The Clerkenwell Grad Week (CGW) event which will be open to Basic Members.

Note: Active Membership at £480 per annum has not increased.

LDF - Great to meet HCA Students at Fritz Fryer Reception!

Thanks to Abigail Carmichael for the invite and Ella Sibley from HCA what talent there was!

CS Gathering - Orangebox - 26th March

Another CS Gathering has come and gone - but what an evening it was!
Big thanks to our generous host - Orangebox and the team; Liz, Molly and Jordan!
In typical fashion, we began with a host introduction from Liz and showroom tours from Molly.
Jeremy welcomed new CS Members who introduced themselves to the group. He also touched on new CS Share and Recruit Services that started this year and are growing quickly.
Our main event for this CS Gathering was to go deep on Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW 24) starting with Molly who provided ‘tips and tricks’ session for all new showroom participants.
Karen from Beacon Security described the many health and safety considerations for CDW which are often overlooked.
Jeremy touched on future events including New Designers in June and LDF in September.
A final big thanks to everyone who came - it was quite a crowd - and Orangebox for the drinks and especially to Jordan for creating the lovely cold buffet spread!
”Its lovely to see so many showroom people finding friends here at CS especially younger staff who now can find similar age groups working nearby” - Jeremy
So until the next…

For more information please contact:
CS Membership and Presentation slides
Jeremy - Clerkenwell Showrooms
CDW Tips and Tricks Presentation
Molly - Orangebox
CDW Health and Safety Consultancy
Karen - Beacon Facilities

Karen providing H&S Risk Assessment Presentation

Core Team Meet - 15 Feb 2024

The CS core group met at the Bisley showroom on 15h Feb to review 2023/4 and discuss plans for the year ahead.
Growing together as a community is at the forefront of this group.
Stay tuned for a lot more from Clerkenwell Showrooms this year and do contact founder Jeremy Lee to learn more.

Agenda:

1. CS New Members:
Modulyss - Flooring
MDK - Chairs
Fritz Fryer - Lighting
Shaw Contract - Flooring
Susannah Hall - Tailor
Interface - Flooring 

2. CS Gatherings Lining up CS Members for CS Gatherings...
- no charge for events
- will seek a guest speaker for each event
- other inclusions to the agenda?
- next CS Gathering at Orangebox in March

3. CS Open Events
- BDC Workspace design
- CDW briefing
- New Designers - JL to discuss student showroom idea with ‘Immediate’ the event organisers.

4. CS - New Services
- CS Share - now running for exhibitors and showrooms
- CS Recruit - now set up for members
- CS Forum - new idea to garner intelligence on wide range of topics from members

Attending:
JEREMY - Clerkenwell Showrooms
EMILY - Bisley
LIZ - Orangebox
MOLLY - Orangebox
URVA - Milliken

Thanks to Emily at Bisley for Hosting the CS Core Team Meeting on 15th February 2024!

CS WhatsApp Group - User Guide

Finally, we have taken on board the ideas expressed at the Gatherings to pull together a super simple CS WhatsApp User Guide.

How simple?

A mere three TXT codes to remember and you will be good to go!


1. Security Protocol

Please use the following TXT protocol at the beginning of urgent security messages:

  • SOS - {name of showroom} for immediate assistance from other showrooms

IMPORTANT: Upon seeing this text we ask that all showrooms nearby reply and send someone quickly to assist.

2. Social Protocol

Please use the following TXT protocol at the beginning of social messaging:

  • FYI - for general information sharing

  • ASK - for any info/help assistance

Full Guide Here.

CS Gathering at Milliken

Thanks to all who attended the Milliken CS gathering last week - but especially Urva, our wonderful host.

We had a few new showrooms participate at this event including; Bisley, Formica, Marazzi and Gabriel. 

Itinerary for the Milliken CS Gathering:

Jeremy - Clerkenwell Showrooms overview

- Please see attached the full CS Presentation - which covers the CS short history.

CDW’23 - Showroom Review

- Much was said about the CDW 23 show - regarding turnout, weather and quality of leads. 

Harris Academy - Liz Walker

- LIz introduced Harris Academy to the group and explained how it is seeking mentors to assist young people seeking career advice. Please contact Liz for more info.

Lone Worker Workshop test day and feedback

- Urva picked up on the lone worker policy and the CS WhatsApp that will be tested over Autumn.

Open floor for any other business/suggestions

- William Knight (ex Media 10, now Material Matters) made several suggestions on how CS can succeed with growth and future challenges.

Next CS Open - New Designers BDC

- Urva mentioned how Milliken uses Graduates and the opportunities this creates.

- Jeremy touched on the exciting possibilities for the CS Open to support New Designers BDC - starting in earnest from 2024.

CS Gathering at Orangebox

All,

Thanks to all for attending the CS Gathering at Orangebox last week!

1. Host: Liz Walker (Orangebox)

Big thanks to Liz Walker for hosting the CS Gathering and providing a full bar and catering for the event.

Orangebox is one of Clerkenwells largest showrooms and is a founding member of Clerkenwell Showrooms.

2. Lone Worker Workshop: Urva Soni (Milliken)

Urva made a powerful presentation of the need to establish a 'Lone Worker' policy in every showroom. Dedicating Milliken's management resources, their policy document covers many of the security issues faced during Covid but also continue today. Urva explained that "while every showroom is different, many of the risks are the same".

Liz also volunteered the Orangebox lone worker policy document to provide yet another example for our members to share.

Jeremy reminded the group that the 'CS WhattsApp' is used to provide a means of alert for the community. "We encourage simple 'TXT' shorthand eg 'SOS' for immediate assistance or 'FYI' for general info"

Attachments:

Milliken - Lone Worker.pdf

Orangebox - Lone Worker.pdf

3. Catering:

Orangebox kindly provided catering supplied by 'Clerkenwell Kitchens' run by Emma who provided a fabulous buffet of cold food.

We will be adding Clerkenwell Kitchens to our CS Friends section on the CS website.

4. CS Presentation:

Jeremy made a short presentation (attached) of Clerkenwell Showrooms mission and its achievements over its short 2yr history. Our members are growing and we have ambitious plans for the future.

Attachments:

OB'23 presentation-v1.pdf

5. Next Steps:

Please feedback if you need any further information on any of the items covered.

Thanks again for attending and I hope to see you all again over the next event which is CDW '23.

CS Gathering at Frem Group

A big thanks to all for coming to CS Gathering at Frem Group.

It was great to see familiar as well as new faces at this Gathering. As usual we discussed past events as well as future plans - and for this year we have big ambitions.

Officially, CS will start 2023 with a plan to:

- Celebrate London events with CS Open running for the full week

- Start with CS Open for Surface Design in February 6 - 10

- Test CS WattsApp Group over Feb for showroom security

- Populate the calendar with CS Gatherings throughout 2023

- Liaise with Shoreditch Triangle for co-promotional ideas

- Utilise Old Sessions House as Clerkenwell's local events facility

Thanks again to Dave for hosting, Greg for Pizza and Frem tour support - and also Joe for VPS overview.

Finally, to Liz and Urva the CS Generals for ideas and high spirits.