Factory Friday: SPLINTR

In our ongoing Factory Friday series, we are delving into the stories behind some of the Scottish Manufacturers that you can find on Make Works.

This week we've interviewed Jack at SPLINTR; fabricators for furniture, lighting and commercial interior projects in Edinburgh.

1. You guys started Splintr fresh out of art school, what made you make the leap?

We had just come back from exhibiting our final year (product design) projects in London where we won "Best Stand" for exhibition for the space we designed and built. I think this gave us the confidence that was needed to make the leap. In some ways too, being just out of uni, we had nothing to lose. It was a big risk to dedicate so much time and effort into starting a business, especially when we didn’t even really know what route we were going down, but we were kind of in the mindset of, "if not now, then when?” We enjoyed working together at uni and we knew that if we tried, we could be successful. It was that time after graduating when everyone was franticly looking for a design job, we liked the idea of “make a job, don’t take a job” so that’s what we did.

2. What’s been the most exciting piece that you’ve been commissioned to produce?

3. Is there a typical client who commissions Splintr? 

4. What’s been the most challenging thing about running a fabrication business?

We're in a fortunate position where our previous work acts as an living advert for what we do. If people like what they see, they'll find out who has designed the space and they'll come and find us! Our popularity is a reflection of our previous work which is fantastic. Unfortunately we can only take on so many fabrication projects as we simply don't have the manpower right now to run several projects at one time. Put simply, we can't do all the work that's coming in. In recent months we have had to adapt what we offer slightly, providing a design service outwith our typical design and fabrication.

5. What advice do you have for emerging makers, designers and manufacturers? 

You can find out more about SPLINTR on their Make Works listing here.

If you've enjoyed reading this check out 10 Fabricators you should know about in Scotland