Engineering and manufacturing

Advanced upholsterer - Traditional Upholsterer

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Make and repair upholstered furniture.

Summary

This occupation is found in the Furniture, Furnishings and Interiors industry, it can also relate to the automotive and marine industry where they have upholstered items such as seating. Advanced Upholsterers will specialise in either traditional or modern upholstery and will choose one option.

The UK furniture, bed and furnishings manufacturing is a substantial growth industry for the UK. Latest verified government figures from 2016 put total consumer expenditure on furniture and furnishings at £16.7 billion, supporting over 327,000 jobs.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to produce upholstered furniture by preparing and cutting fabrics, creating/repairing frames and joints, selecting and applying suspensions and upholstering frames. An Advanced Upholsterer is a skilled and methodical individual capable of creating ergonomic and comfortable furniture using traditional or modern techniques, materials and fabrics to produce aesthetically pleasing and fit for purpose consumer products.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a range of colleagues including production/manufacturing managers, quality technicians, production leaders, designers and product developers. Advanced Upholsterers will work alone or within small teams with other upholsterers and will be responsible for liaising with colleagues, suppliers and customers. They tend to work in small craft workshops but can also work in larger factories. An employee in this occupation will be responsible for the quality of their work and the relevant resources to carry out their activities.

Advanced Upholsterers may also have managerial responsibility for team members, the level of responsibility varies depending on the size of the organisation that they are working in. Depending on the size of the organisation, they will report to a production manager or a managing director.

Option 1: A Traditional Upholsterer is a skilled craft person who creates individual pieces of new furniture or renovates or re-upholsters old or antique furniture they also reupholster new furniture using traditional methods. Traditional upholsterers use materials like coil springs (post-1850), animal hair (horse, hog and cow), coir, hessian, linen scrim, wadding etc., and is done by hand, building up each layer.

Option 2: An Advanced Modern Upholsterer is a skilled person who understands frame construction, adds padding, springs and coverings to furniture such as chairs and sofas. Advanced Modern Upholsterers understand ergonomics and aesthetics required to apply methodically and accurately a wide range of modern upholstery techniques, materials and fabrics, to produce furniture that meets specification and is fit for purpose.

Typical job titles include

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Behaviours