Two award-winning Yorkshire companies celebrate 35-year partnership 'made in heaven'

Guy Armitage, the managing director of Alne-based York Handmade, said: “It’s a partnership made in heaven. We have the same values and the same commitment to excellence, beauty, sustainability and conservation. The projects we have worked on together have been a joy.”

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Simon Mitchell, founder and managing director of York-based Mitchell Design Consultancy, added: “It was in 1989, two years after my consultancy was launched, that I first worked with York Handmade. It was a project at Fangfoss Hall, a grade II listed 18th century listed building near Driffield, involving renovation, a new build, courtyard and landscaping. It won a Civic Trust commendation.

“It was an important commission for both of us, as York Handmade had just been formed, too. I was delighted to find that our visions coincided and we were able to complete the job to everyone’s satisfaction.

“Since then, York Handmade have always been my first choice of brick supplier when working on new designs and projects which require handmade bricks of quality. It is a remarkable business, serving the industry like no other in the country.”

One of their favourite projects was the creation of the new Art and Design Technology Centre at Pocklington School, near York, in 2018. York Handmade supplied 31,000 bricks for the exterior of the new multi-million pound building, together with 4,300 terracotta tiles for the interior floor.

Mr Armitage said: “It was a tremendous honour to be asked to provide our bricks and tiles for such a prestigious project. Pocklington School has a long and proud artistic heritage and this stunning building reflects this.”

The two companies have worked on a number of projects since, including Cloister Garth in Marygate, York, which won the Residential - Single Dwellings category of the York Design Awards in 2022.

Founded as a partnership in 1987, the Mitchell Design Consultancy has won awards for commercial as well as residential projects. The practice specialises in architectural design and retail and conceptual schemes, both external and internal. Past projects include new builds, the restoration of historic buildings and public spaces such as schools and public buildings.

York Handmade has won a host of awards for its brickwork and has just concluded a development at Kings Cross, for which it supplied 300,000 specially manufactured bricks.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​