Busy hotel and restaurant businesses require a lot of investment – not least because the particular requirements this industry places on furniture can frequently only be fulfilled with costly custom-made products.Even if chairs and tables can largely still be acquired “off the peg”, the numerous cupboards, cases, display units and room dividers generally require as much bespoke work as do counter tops, reception areas, and bars.It’s here that cabinetmakers and shopfitters come into their own, making the designs of architects and interior designers a reality with one-off pieces and minimum batches.

As unique and high-quality as the result may be in individual cases, this approach to production also harbors a number of risks:Each new design is virtually a prototype, meaning hotel guests and staff double up as testers – with costly consequences if a design proves to be less than functional in everyday use.For one-off pieces, it’s hard to predict what the service life will be because there are no values for comparison and furniture used in the hospitality industry is subject to enormous stress and a great deal of wear and tear.Where it becomes necessary, after a few years or perhaps even decades, to replace items of furniture or individual elements, there is no guarantee that all the materials or parts will still be available.Conversely, designs that have been created for a very special task and a particular spatial situation are unlikely to be fit-to-purpose elsewhere.Every instance of redecoration or reorganization of the relevant hotel or restaurant almost inevitably requires major investments in interior design.