Professionally
Trained

BA (Hons) Furniture Restoration and Craftsmanship
Brunel University 1997
(Buckinghamshire College)

City and Guilds Advanced Craft Certificates
Suffolk College 1995

Experience

After completing my 5 years' professional training, I worked in the furniture restoration trade for 18 months before starting up Simon Layt Antique Furniture Restoration & French Polishing in April 1999.

During the 18 years' history of the business, I have built up a large and loyal customer base gaining many recommendations nationwide.

I specialise in fine antique furniture restoration and French polishing and also the traditional cleaning and polishing of historic interior timbers. See examples of previous work undertaken with before and after photos.

"Our dining room table had suffered some water damage and try as we might to rectify the situation nothing worked. Called Simon and what a great job he did too. Our table looks like new again and was done in a very timely manner. Would not hesitate in recommending Simon to anyone, very professional."
— Anna W (Cambridge)
"Simon restored an antique desk for us that needed all sorts of repairs. The internal mechanism hadn't worked for many years and needed to be fixed, all of the brass lock fittings needed attention, a drawer knob was missing and a new leather inlay was needed. And there were numerous other parts that were slightly damaged that needed repair and a facelift. Simon did a complete overhaul and the result is stunning. He is the ultimate perfectionist and the high quality of his work shows great craftsmanship. He's also a pleasure to deal with. Highly recommended."
— Sarah V (Newmarket)