Sustainable Corporate Gifts Handmade Wood Trays

Not all commissions are kitchens or whole interiors. Sometimes the most meaningful work comes in smaller form.

This commission came from a business client who wanted to move away from the standard corporate Christmas hamper, beautiful on the outside, forgettable within and give their clients something with a genuine story behind it.

We were asked to make a series of handcrafted wooden trays, each to be filled with locally sourced produce. The material we chose tells the story as much as the making: olive ash salvaged from dieback-felled trees on the grounds of a Grade I listed estate in Northamptonshire. Wood that would otherwise have been lost,  milled, dried and crafted in our South Oxfordshire workshop into something lasting and beautiful.

Olive ash is extraordinary to work with. Its grain is dramatic and unpredictable, each tray entirely unique. Finished with a food-safe natural oil, they’re practical objects designed to be kept, used and passed on, not discarded after the Christmas season.

This is what we mean by circular making: finding value in material that others overlook, and turning it into something that carries meaning long after the gift is given.