As the woodworking and furniture manufacturing sector continues to evolve, Furniture and Joinery Production sits down with Neil Newbrook, business sector manager Wood, Mirka UK Ltd, to highlight several topics, including a look at the market and the challenges and opportunities in the industry.
“As it stands, as we head into 2026 and beyond, the feeling within the market is one of optimism,” says Neil. “This is because businesses are seeing their sales improving and their order books for the coming year filling up.
“In addition, there is a definite switch towards making bespoke pieces of furniture, which are profitable products, over mass-produced items.
“With the bespoke products, there is a market for them in the UK, but what we are noticing is that these types of products are being exported to countries such as the USA, and this enables businesses to open new revenue streams by entering these markets with a high-quality item.
The industry has also doubled down when it comes to productivity and this is being aided by the continued investment in automation in the form of CNC machinery, polishing lines, and automated processes.
“The investment in these areas helps businesses have a consistent product alongside the ability to scale up their production output without missing a beat,” says Neil.
“One of the major challenges in the industry is the need to upskill the workforce to be able to handle the surfaces being worked on and to have the knowledge and skills to make the best use of products for processes being used on site.
“At Mirka, the way this challenge is met head-on is through our training programme. We believe in our training, and the way we make it stand out from the crowd is by not offering a one-size-fits-all approach, but offering a bespoke solution. We know that each site has its own unique requirements, so our training, which is run by our experienced technical experts, is fully customisable and designed to deliver skills that are directly relevant to the work happening on the workshop floor.
“With momentum building and market confidence returning, Mirka understands the industry is not going to stop evolving, so it is important to meet the challenges head-on to ensure the industry continues to grow.”
A DAY IN THE WEEK OF... NEIL NEWBROOK
The best thing about my role at Mirka is that no two weeks are ever the same. I thrive on being in front of customers and understanding how they use our abrasives, demoing products, identifying opportunities for improvement, and finding smarter solutions that will provide our customers with benefits in the short, medium and long term.
For me a good week starts off with planning end-user visits, and I’ll check our CRM system to see which projects are live and then line up appointments.
The appointments are sometimes just solo, but there are times when I team up with colleagues across the UK to go on visits. If I have some in the south-west of England, I’ll map out a two-day trip with an overnight stop, plus a quick coffee catch-up with my local teammate to make sure they’re still smiling. When I’m working remotely, I can normally be found catching up on emails or diving into project work, which includes building tailored training presentations, collaborating with our marketing team on campaigns and promotions, chasing new leads for the team, or pulling together sales and product reports.
As you can see, my role is full of variety, and the connections I make and the hands-on problem solving I conduct with customers keeps the job exciting – and I would not change it.
