Sit on This!

Has YouTube changed upholstery forever? Or are we just getting started?
This week Vicky and Ray sit down with Neil Banyard of Facelift Interiors — the upholsterer who built a 100,000-subscriber YouTube channel while still running a busy workshop and online academy.
We get into the real questions:
Is online training replacing traditional routes, or expanding them?
Does visibility equal credibility?
Can you scale a craft business without losing quality?
And what happens when a hands-on trade meets the algorithm?
Neil shares how he went from DJ decks to directing cameras, why mindset and mentorship matter more than ever, and what the future might look like for the next generation of upholsterers.
This is an honest conversation about growth, influence, craft and the tension between tradition and digital disruption.
If you’re teaching, learning, scaling or quietly wondering whether you should press record, this one’s for you.

Our profound thanks go out to all our Sponsors
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Martins Upholstery Supplies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BeA Group ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Sit on This! for monthly chats from the workbench - stories from inside the upholstery world, with makers, fixers, and fabric lovers.

In this episode, Vicky and Ray sit down with Joanna Privett from the British Furniture Association to talk about the realities of the UK furniture industry, from small upholstery workshops to large-scale manufacturing and retail.

We explore quality, standards, toxins, compliance and transparency, and how “cheap and fast” production shapes what ends up on the shop floor. We also discuss retail influence, including DFS and big-box expectations, and what that means for craftspeople who want to keep standards high.

This is an honest, practical conversation about how furniture is made, who sets the tone for quality, and what it takes to protect good work in a changing industry.

Our profound thanks go out to all our Sponsors
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Martins Upholstery Supplies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BeA Group ⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Sit on This! for monthly chats from the workbench - stories from inside the upholstery world, with makers, fixers, and fabric lovers.

BFA
FIESTA
AMUSF

Join Vicky & Ray for a Live Podcast with Conservator Heather Porter from Festival of Upholstery held Oct 10th 2025 .

Our profound thanks go out to all our Sponsors
⁠⁠⁠⁠Martins Upholstery Supplies⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠BeA Group ⁠⁠⁠
Follow Sit on This! for monthly chats from the workbench - stories from inside the upholstery world, with makers, fixers, and fabric lovers.

In this months Sit on This! podcast we sit down with Joanna Maeva (@maeva_and_daughters); Carpenter, Upholsterer and all-round legend. She joins Ray and Vicky for a chat full on bants, sawdust and stories from life on set.
Jo shares a studio with five other upholsterers' (all running their own business) as part of a collective, sharing knowledge and space.
Expect laughs, loud opinions and a proper peek into her journey.
⁠Albert Kennedy Trust⁠

Our profound thanks go out to all our Sponsors
⁠⁠⁠Martins Upholstery Supplies⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠BeA Group ⁠⁠
Follow Sit on This! for monthly chats from the workbench - stories from inside the upholstery world, with makers, fixers, and fabric lovers.

This week Vicky & Ray head to Margate to step inside the bold, technicolour world of upholsterer and interior designer Jesse Du Preez (@jessedupreezdesign). From training at some of the UK’s top upholstery schools to appearing on BBC’s Interior Design Masters, Jesse’s journey has been anything but beige. We talk craft, colour, and what it really takes to make it as an upholsterer.

Our profound thanks go out to all our Sponsors
⁠⁠Martins Upholstery Supplies⁠⁠
⁠⁠BeA Group ⁠
Follow Sit on This! for monthly chats from the workbench - stories from inside the upholstery world, with makers, fixers, and fabric lovers.