Mark has been in the furniture manufacturing game from a young age. His father was a carpenter, who started a domestic timber furniture company called Galleon. Over time, the family acquired Harrows, and has built it into the company it is today. Mark and his two brothers grew up working in the business with timber manufacturing in their blood.

Today Mark is our Creative Director, focusing on product development that responds to the needs of the market around us. Mark reflects “back when we started making furniture, sustainability wasn’t front of mind for most businesses. But some of the basic guiding principals that apply to manufacturing, are more relevant than ever.”

“We have always designed and manufactured asking questions ‘is it needed’, ‘ will it last’ and ‘ what is the lifecycle’.”

Harrows believes that by producing high quality furniture, we can reduce the amount of furniture in circulation.

Being manufactures also allows for direct interaction with designers, facilitating product customisation, local design input and quality control.

“We’ve made a conscious effort to expand our in-house capabilities, which in turn has had a substantially positive impact on freight miles and emissions.”

Over the past 12 months Harrows have commissioned engineering and powdercoating plants onsite to combat supply chain issues and reduce domestic cartage. The investment in diversifying product capabilities locally has meant we can enhance New Zealand’s resilience and reduce the risk of supply chain bottlenecks.