Yaffle & Bosk

29/06/2026

As you guys know we've decided to close the business (the response has been pretty overwhelming, and I'll come back to that in another post). A gut wrenching call, but undeniably the right call. I thought a little insight into what goes on when you close a business might be kinda interesting.

Sadly our circumstances dictated we have had to sell pretty much everything. Wallop, there's one right in the solar plexus! Emotionally that's been a far more difficult thing to do than I'd anticipated - years of bringing together tools, machines, fixings, finishes, etc all those purchases and little investments, p**f... gone, just like that.

Anyone who's done this gig will know how hard it is to set up a workshop - you don't just hit Homebase with a shopping list and few quid (if only!). Breaking it up and suddenly flogging it all off is all a bit numbing. Repeatedly having to explain with a fake stoic smile to every prospective buyer and well meaning tyre kicker the 'why?', ain't, frankly, been a lot of fun. I'll be glad when this bit is done and dusted.

Now, whinge over. Big boy pants back on. This post was supposed to be about coming full circle, and I went and got distracted.

The build shown is literally the last cab off the rank and it just so happens it's the very same design that kicked the whole Yaffle thing off for me. A design called the Sail Loft. Named after the stunning property it was commissioned for Braunds Sail Loft here in Devon and inspired by a delicious table in the lobby of the Surf Rider Hotel, Malibu (yes. I am that cool. Er, not). Emma, the owner of Braunds, gave me so much encouragement at the time and continued to support with positivity and good vibes. These little interactions when you take a life leap are very powerful. Nice one Emma, you did a good thing.

Anyway, it feels like a neat way to have tied things up. Good vibes. Full circle.

23/06/2026

Morning all. I'm afraid it's one of those posts that might make your heart sink, just a little (I hope not).

After a challenging few months, we recently took the decision to close Yaffle and Bosk. My little furniture making baby is, sadly, no more.

2025 promised so much. It felt like this little business had jumped into a different space, and the years of graft and sacrifice were finally paying off. RHS Chelsea, commercial commissions, a new website/brochure, and an unexpected new business partner to boot!. It was discombobulating but also bloody exciting 🙂. 2026 has been different 🙁.

After many years cutting my teeth designing, building and fitting wardrobes, kitchens, furniture etc I decided, like so many in lockdown, to try something else. One 10k bounce back loan and a remote cow shed later, Yaffle and Bosk was born. The best part of 12 months ensued working on a family of table designs, a smart brand with a clear sustainable ethos, figuring out build processes, sorting kit, suppliers, photography, websites, social media, etc, etc and so the all-consuming runaway train that is running a small business, left the station. Choo choo!

For the past six years, I've made a lot of very nice tables and had the incredible privilege of meeting some amazing people who, without this business, I'd simply never have stumbled across. Those who know me, know I'm quite a solitary animal, a tough nut to crack maybe, but all these relationships have and continue to mean so much to me. A humbling and completely unexpected bonus Yaffle & Bosk delivered into this grizzled old carpenter's lap. Quite possibly the best part of this whole experience. No, actually not 'possibly'. 'Definitely'!

Anyway, that's enough of all that. I'm ready to embrace whatever comes next. It's all blummin good, as they say. In the meantime, if what I've learnt/know might be useful to anyone who is starting out on a similar journey please do please point them in my direction. If on the other hand you might know of an opportunity that you think might be a good fit for me or just worth a convo, do drop me a line.

Oh, and to my dearest Annie, you've got your husband back❤️.

Cheerio for now,
Rob

12/06/2026

22/05/2026

Roll up, roll up! Items are being snapped up, bargains are being had! If you've got your eye on anything drop us a DM quickly - we've got various parties popping in to talk tables over the weekend so these discounted pieces may not hang around for long!

We don't normally go in for this kind of shouty selling approach and rarely do 'sales' as such (our tables have always sold themselves🙂), but we really do need the space to push on with our plans.

Fancy your very own Yaffle and Bosk table at a tasty discounted price? Drop us a line. Go on, make us an offer... you know you want to!

20/05/2026

Grab yourself a top notch Mr Morley table at a discount! We're having a little re-organise in the Studio and this 2400x900 beauty is up for grabs. Solid English oak top and stretcher finished in a clear hard wax oil, English ash frames hand painted in 'Hopper' . All hand made here in our North Devon workshop.

In pristine condition. 44mm top. Frames 94mmx94mm. Delivery or collection (table shown without oak pegs, can be delivered pegged and fully assembled or if access is tight, for home assembly)

This stunner would normally retail at £5.5k. Go on, make us an offer!

20/05/2026

Grab yourself a top notch Mr Morley table at a discount! We're having a little re-organise in the Studio and this 2400x900 beauty is up for grabs. Solid English oak top and stretcher finished in a clear hard wax oil, English ash frames hand painted in 'Hopper' . All hand made here in our North Devon workshop.

In pristine condition. 44mm top. Frames 94mmx94mm. Delivery or collection (table shown without oak pegs, can be delivered pegged and fully assembled or if access is tight, for home assembly)

This stunner would normally retail at £5.5k. Go on, make us an offer!

18/05/2026

Grab yourself a top notch Mr Morley table at a discount! We're having a little re-organise in the Studio and this 2400x900 beauty is up for grabs. Solid English oak top and stretcher finished in a clear hard wax oil, English ash frames hand painted in 'Hopper' . All hand made here in our North Devon workshop.

In pristine condition. 44mm top. Frames 94mmx94mm. Delivery or collection (table shown without oak pegs, can be delivered pegged and fully assembled or if access is tight, for home assembly)

This stunner would normally retail at £5.5k. Go on, make us an offer!

01/05/2026

It seems we might have upset the internet gods. We were hacked. The second version of the website we'd spent months putting together suddenly disappeared. One that had been live for barely a month, was essentially stolen and held for ransom 🙁. Well, this is a new experience!

In the grand scheme of things, and in light of what many people are facing at the moment this seemed small beans. But, for our little business, this was potentially catastrophic. The website is our shop front, basically our means of speaking to the outside world. We'd put so much into it. Without it we're really not in a great place.

Thankfully, and after a heap of stress, our ace web developer worked his magic and managed to recover an older version of our site late last night tucked away on a server somewhere (exhale....). But we're all left with a lot of questions and yet more work to put things right we, and he, could do without. He definitely saved our bacon.

The reason why I attached this image was really to show what we actually are. Behind the smart website (when it's there), nice pics and branding we're pretty down to earth. A small furniture workshop, some decent folk with a few tools and some ideas trying to make a bit of a living with, we think, honesty and integrity. We're not flash, wealthy or have grandiose ideas above our station, but we care, a lot, about what we do and try to do things the right way. Nefarious attacks like this can kill a small business like ours, it's pretty simple.

We feel we got lucky and dodged a bullet.

Bring on the weekend....

30/04/2026

How does your Y&B table build start?

Well, not quite at this stage, but once we've sourced what we need from the mill and stacked our lovely boards to acclimatise for a while in the workshop, a lot of this sort of thing goes on. Shifting, checking, pondering, measuring and marking up, stacking, restacking, and so on it goes. Each board is carefully considered for suitability throughout. It's only after this that we even consider breaking the timber down, and machining into perfectly sized sections.

Slow furniture? Too right me hearties. We're very much not a factory. 'Made, not manufactured' is our company strapline, for a very good reason 🙂.

A footnote to the people who have decided to hack and hold to ransom the website we've literally spent months putting together. Very, very uncool 😐.