Making beds by hand

GWB Products is a unique specialist high-quality bed and mattress manufacturer.

It's unique because the mattresses are handmade by blind and partially sighted workers.

Elizabeth Gilbert set up General Welfare for the Blind (GWB) in 1854, as a handicrafts workshop employing blind people.

Today GWB concentrates on producing quality beds and mattresses and employs 28 people in its North London factory - four in the office and 24 in the factory. Of these, 13 staff are partially sighted or blind.

Dedicated

GWB has concentrated on high quality workmanship; it produces about 1,000 beds a year.

Each one is an individual job, and will have up to three workers dedicated to its production; two work on the bed base, and one on the mattress.

There are two standard types of mattress - the open coil and the pocket sprung.

The springs are bought in from an outside supplier, but for a special design or size of mattress, they can be specially made on site.

The springs are sent down to the factory floor and are then covered with a layer of padding.

We're definitely the Rolls-Royce of the bedding world. Robert Lippier Production manager

After that a layer of covering is put on, then a layer of cotton felt, then a final top panel.

It takes about half an hour for the whole job, which is mostly done by hand.

But for a more specialist mattress, which may require hand stitching, the process can take a day.

The fact that the beds and mattresses are produced by blind and partially sighted workers has no impact on the quality of the end product.

"If a mattress is substandard then we'll remake it," says special projects manager Jim Latour. "We're all skilled craftspeople here."

Modern technology

There are no machines used for the mattresses apart from the tufter that pulls the buttons through.

And, of course, the wood for the bed bases is cut on lathes.

Some processes could be speeded up with the help of modern technology - faster staple guns, for instance.

But because many of the workers are visually impaired, they've stuck with older equipment that is safer and more reliable to use.

These staff have to specially trained.

"Training is done both physically and verbally. You have to do a job with a person so they can feel their way through the processes," says production manager Robert Lippier.

While few of the processes at GWB are mechanised, the turnaround time from order to delivery is very quick, normally around two weeks.

This is on a par with, if not better than, the lead times offered for a handmade bed from a department store.

One of GWB's specialities is providing mattresses to the antiques market.

"Often very old bedsteads are odd shapes - not level or even," explains Jim.

"We have excellent relationships with a number of antique suppliers who need mattresses of strange shapes and sizes."

GWB also works with a variety of modern interior designers whose clients request non-standard beds and mattresses.

The factory's client list extends to the Rothschild family, celebrities such as Richard Branson, Charlie Watts, Britt Ekland and Mis-teeq. They also supply a number of hotels.

The business has grown through word of mouth and the beds and mattresses are sent as far afield as the United States and Bermuda.

GWB make beds to measure.

If you want a heart-shaped bed or just a shape to fit your dreams, GWB will make it just as you want it.

The business supplies designers, hotels, shops and antique dealers who often have odd shaped beds and need a mattress to fit.

The B in GWB doesn't stand for beds, but for blind.

The business was set up in 1854 as General Welfare for the Blind.

Same objective

It aimed to provide employment for people who would find it difficult to work elsewhere.

Today it still has the same objective. Of the 28 people who work for GWB, 13 are blind or partially sighted.

The profits provide accommodation, training, financial assistance in times of need and a pension at the end of their working life.

Just think...

Who are the stakeholders in GWB?

How does the business meet their needs?

The process

Most beds are made on big production lines where fabric and other materials are cut to standard sizes.

The beds come out in widths that you will find in any High Street shop.

As nothing is standard at GWB, a production line won't work.

When an order reaches the workshop it is given to one person who makes the mattress from start to finish. They: