Lewis and Kaye has been part of Farley’s for just over a year now and we have found it an invaluable addition to our stock.  Our clients seem to agree!  It has taken a long time but each new item is now listed, photographed and ready to be viewed in our inventory here on the website.  We have made numerous additions and have replenished the existing stock.  These additions include some new sets of china, personal favourites are a beautiful blue and white Minton Astor set (LKDS12601) and an extensive antique coral and blue set (LKDS12589) which I recommend having a looking at.

If you haven’t already had a chance to come in and see the new and improved Lewis and Kaye, please come and join us in the New Year and Mark and Francesca would be happy to give you the guided tour.

Although the addition of Lewis and Kaye has kept us busy we have not neglected our other departments.  After scouring the markets in France and China and the auction houses in London, amongst others, we have acquired a range of new pieces from carvings to cabinets.

As well as scouring the market for new acquisitions we have also been on the look out for new talent, and where better than at The National Film and Television School and with the entrants for The Joe Farley Award.

This year’s students were of such a high standard it made judging even more difficult than usual.  Thankfully I was helped by Stephen Scott who has years of invaluable experience in the field of design and was therefore able to offer the students his expert opinions and advice.

Steven and I were very impressed with the technical drawings and model making submitted by all of the students, but in the end there could only be one winner.  After much discussion we were delighted to confirm that Anna Lavelle was selected as this year’s winner of the award in memory of my father Joe.

We felt Anna had excellent all round skills and we are sure she will go on to achieve great things.

We anticipate that 2009 will be another busy and exciting year with new projects starting, buying trips and showroom improvements all planned.

As always there is plenty to see and our experienced team look forward to showing you around in the near future.