The problem is less acute with glass meeting tables as the cabling requirement is much more simple. You may only need a phone, or at most some power and data, but even this limited requirement can generate a big mess under the table.
And most cabling systems are actually not very aesthetically pleasing – trunking is designed to be hidden away and fixed to the underside of desktops as is metal cable trays and tidies.

Nowadays wireless connections can really help with your cabling problems. The network and printers can all be accessed from anywhere, without the need to plug anything in and even electronic presentations can be done wirelessly.
But we still need accessible power and this is where a bit of thought and clever design can really help.

The frame on this table is very stylish and presents an almost minimal effect, but it is in fact fully cable managed and can even be fitted with discrete power and/or data outlets.
The tubular frame is hollow and carefully welded together to allow cables to be fed through it, from the lowest point, right up to just  below the desk top

The tops, when made, can be specified to have cable ports cut into them to your own specification.  And these can be used to just trail a cable with a designer power and data socket on the desk top, or the power and data sockets can be fitted into a unit, which sits in the cut-out.

So there are ways to keep your glass tables and desks looking as stylish as they did   in the brochure, whilst  still being as usable and functional piece of office furniture.

All it takes is a little careful thought at the planning stage and an office furniture dealer who has experienced this before and you will be able to have your meeting room cake and eat it. And remember, you cannot add cable ports to a glass table or desk at a later date, like you can with a wood finish, so make sure you get it right at the beginning.

If you require a fabric upholstered draughtsman chair, then we have three  to choose from, all of which have a permanent contact backrest and a fixed foot-ring.

They are all guaranteed for five years and are available from stock for delivery in 5 to 7 working days.

All three draughtsman chairs are available in either a blue, black, bordeaux or grey fabric.

Both the seat and the backrests of these chairs are height adjustable ( Ratchet system on the backrest and gas lift mechanism on the seat)

In addition to the above models we also hold in stock an antistatic draughtsman chair. This additional attribute is often specified for scientific research areas or laboratories, although we have supplied a few computer maintenance companies with them.

We also have two  draughtsman chairs which have wooden, rather than fabric upholstered  seats. These are usually specified for food preparation areas, where a fabric seat would not be suitable.

The seat and backrests are made from solid beech or beech wood laminate, which is then steam bent to the required shape.

The beech seat is a simple solution for areas where hygiene and cleanliness are of paramount importance, but these seats, being solid wood, are not suited for prolonged periods of use.

For this reason a also have a range of draughtsman chairs which are properly upholstered, but with a strong vinyl fabric. These are comfortable and easy to clean.

Staying with the concept of being comfortable, yet easy to clean in demanding environments,  we also have a range of draughtsman chairs where the seat and backrest are made from solid moulded CFC free polyurethane.

As well as being hard wearing and very comfortable,  these chairs are also resistant to a wide range of chemicals and are naturally resistant to germs and bacteria.

So a complete range of eight draughtsman chairs to suit all requirements, all of which are available from stock, and some in a choice of fabric finishes.

And whilst we are on the subject of draughtsman chairs we are often asked for one of these chairs, but with castors fitted instead of glides.

We always make a point of explaining to our customers that draughtsman chairs are fitted with castors, because their increased height makes them less stable when getting off them.

Glides grip the floor and prevent the chair form shooting backwards, away from the user.

This is a health and safety issue and all manufacturers of these chairs only supply them with glides.

With over 30 years of manufacturing history Silverline have a wealth of experience and produce a comprehensive range of steel storage from the traditional four drawer filing cabinet to the professional S:line family of cabinets.

S:Line is an innovative storage system designed to complement any office environment and includes filing drawers, personal cupboards and combination units in three heights and two standard widths to match other office furniture systems.

All units can be individually levelled to create a clean looking installation even on uneven surfaces. Each door has its own lock adding an additional level of security which is useful in many environments and the internal security plates add to the quality of the product.

From an interior designer’s point of view S:line creates a wealth of opportunities as the systems can be ordered in up to 23 standard colours enabling this storage system to fit into any office environment.

Recently introduced to the Silverline range is the new IGT image and graphic tambour cupboard. Supply your own photograph in digital format and we will apply this to the tambour door of your new storage cupboard.  Whether you want to see your company logo or would rather look at a picture of the beech or golf course the new Graphic Tambour range will turn the side opening tambour cupboard into a work of art.

Within the tambour storage range there is a choice of either vertical tambour doors in heights up to 220cm or side opening tambour cupboards in 80, 100 or 120cm wide, heights up to 200cm and either the Kontrax range or M:line range depending on the specification you require.

You can be assured of the quality of Silverline office storage products as they are all guaranteed for a minimum of 5 years with much of the range guaranteed for 10 or even 15 years.  This quality assurance allows you to choose the product that best suits your requirements and your pocket..

In addition to this existing new range of product carry in stock a wide range of tambour cupboards in many different heights and widths, and in a variety of finishes.  These can all be delivered in a matter of days to any UK mainland location.

We even have a range of flat packed tambours ( most of our stocked tambour units are welded steel construction) which can be carried to any office space in their flat packed form and then assembled on site. This is very useful when access space is tight or for storage in unusual locations. There is no additional charge for the assembly of our flat packed tambour units and storage cupboards

Which is why we have added to our range of meeting tables which are available from stock, a smaller version of our popular and well priced barrel shaped meeting table.

This new table looks exactly like its bigger brother, but is slightly shorter at  two metres long and only one metre wide ( at its widest point) .

The flat ends of the table are eighty centimetres, which is also slightly less than its bigger brother.

And, provided you are careful about which meeting chairs you choose, this table can still seat up to 8 persons.

In fact it is so versatile that we have even fitted central power and data outlets to one of these for a customer to use as a hot- desking station for a varying number of sales representatives. These busy people are out most of the day so separate desk space for them all could not be justified.

Instead they use one room for all 8 of them, with one of these desks which they can plug their laptops into. Most of the time there are a maximum of 4 or 5 sales people in this room, but occasionally they are all there,  for a meeting, which is what the meeting table has been designed for.

A simple solution which gives them more than they would have with individual desks, with a very small compromise in terms of individual office desk size.

To keep the cost down, these meeting tables can be fitted with 60mm tubular steel legs, or you can opt for a flattened pedestal base, which is slightly more expensive but gives even more leg room.

This table is also available in all of our operator desk finishes to go with all of our ranges of stocked office furniture, which are White Maple, Light Beech, Salmon Beech, Copper pear, Cherry, Light Grey, Cinnamon Walnut, and Chocolate Wenge.

Quite a few options to choose from and all available from stock, with prices starting as low as £250 including delivery and installation.

Our main source of height adjustable tables is a Danish company called Conset, and although cheap, their product range is a not very specialised.

Their products, like all things based on price, are a little compromised and therefore the purchaser needs to make some allowance for this. For instance on certain sizes of height adjustable desk the desk frame actually partly blocks the cable port. To a normal person this would be regarded as a bad design but this height adjustable desk manufacturer is willing to accept slight flaws such as these on the basis of cheaper manufacturing costs ( and presumably less intelligent designers).

The other area where these desks have more serious problems, is where they are purchased, for example, by wheelchair users who need an electrically height adjustable desk in order just to get on with their life. The Conset  height adjustable desks all have horizontal support beams between the height adjustable legs, which reduce the amount of leg room available. This also restricts the amount of under desk space for CPU’s especially when using a CPU cradle, as the CPU has to be positioned in front of the support beam.

So if you are just after some height adjustable office furniture then in most cases their  products will fit the bill.

However, should you be looking for a height adjustable desk which has been specifically designed for a wheelchair user, then Scanflex have some very interesting and very clever products.

We will be dealing with their product range in greater detail later but  one of their products which we are very excited  about is a four  legged height adjustable desk or table, where each of the rectangular legs are height adjustable, and all operated at the same time by one control.
The legs are fixed to a box section perimeter frame, which will support all kinds of standard office desk tops. These box section frames are available in any length which allows for maximum flexibility. And best of all, the perimeter frame gives the user of the desk, the maximum amount of under desk space, and cable ports can be situated anywhere without risking being blocked by the steel frame. Plus there is plenty of room to accommodate a mobile pedestal  ( drawer unit on wheels) under the desk as well

This height adjustable desk or table and many other clever designs can be seen at on their website at www.scanflex.co.uk

Most office  furniture dealers will be able to help you with at the very least some basic two dimensional drawings which will give you an idea of what can be fitted into your office space, but if you are not used to working with flat line drawings then it is sometime very difficult to visualise what your new workspace is going to look like.

The more professional office furniture dealers will be able to help you even further by producing three dimension renditions of your office space, and, using similar finishes in the rendition for your walls ceiling, doors and windows, will be able to produce 3d renditions which are so lifelike that you will think the office  furniture, along with your office, has been mocked up in a photographic showroom.

Even the lighting can be specially programmed to take account of natural light which would come in through the windows, and artificial light which exactly replicates the lighting patterns of the ones in your office.

These virtual reality renditions will really help you understand how you office will look; the effect that tall tambour cupboard will have on the light in the office, and what the ideal desk finish would be. 

Most of the finish parameters can be easily changed so you can quickly see how the office would look with darker or lighter office  furniture.  You could even have the wall and carpet colours changed to see how they would look before making your final decision.

You can also see what effect changing the fabric of your desktop screens and operator chairs, would have on the overall impact of your office
In fact most of the Cad Design systems nowadays are so sophisticated that a JPG  photo of your wall, carpet, or favourite colour can simply be loaded into the system and applied to any surface.

We could even scan colour cards and pick each one in turn, instantly making the whole room decorated in your chosen colour. 

Thanks to technology, this level of planning assistance is no longer the domain of an expensive in house Cad design  team using very sophisticated CAD software, but  your local office  furniture dealer can probably do this for you on his laptop!

CHW has been a customer of Topright Design for many years,  after meeting Adam Bloomfield, at a motor design exhibition. Ever since then both Topright Design and CH Workspace have worked closely together on many different projects, including the design and build of a one off custom vehicle prototype for a travelling office   furniture exhibition roadshow.

The latest for Topright Design has been to design the new  office furniture logo which is part of the sponsorship programme for a talented young motorcycle rider called Danny Buchan.

 Danny Buchan is riding in the British Junior Superstock this year and the owners of CH Workspace are particularily pleased to be linked to Danny Buchan and his enthusiastic team.

Danny Buchan’s father, Jim,  has been a lifelong friend of the owners of the office   furniture company  and runs their transport, delivery and installation teams.

CH Workspace first met Danny Buchan when he was 6 years old, racing in the National schoolboy motocross championship, which he won. Ever since then the two owners of CHW office  furniture, Jonathan Marriott and Vince Wright, have followed Danny’s  career very closely.

Last year Danny Buchan won every race in the Bemsee Superstock 400 class and proved very effective in his 600 cc Superstock debut.

The two owners  of the office furniture company CH Workspace, Jonthan Marriott and Vince Wright, have always been very closely involved with motorsport. Jonathan Marriott  had his motor racing spark from his father who was a successful rally cross driver, but Jon drifted  back to the tarmac and ran his own Formula  Ford team, along with frequent stints at Le Mans with the GT cars.  Lately though Jonathan  has moved to motorcycle grass track racing with mixed success and now concentrates on his motorcycle road racing activities.

It has always been two wheels for Vince Wright, from local  enduro and motocross riding as a teenager to participating in the Erzberg Enduro in Switzerland. Erzberg is an old iron mine and is one of the hardest enduros in the world.  This along, with the Weston beach Race and Le Touquet beach race, has been one of Vince Wright’s most memorable moments.

Vince Wright’s  business of supplying office  furniture to CH Workspace’s many clients has meant that his motorcycling interests are now limited to mainly being a spectator, although a little road racing is always a welcome distraction.

All the team at CHW are looking forward to an exciting racing year in 2010 and are wishing for every success for Danny Buchan and his team, and will be at as many of the race meetings as can be managed.

Whilst we offer a national delivery installation service for our whole furniture portfolio from one desk to a bespoke reception counter, it is always a pleasure to deal with local customers who live only a few miles from our head office, just outside Colchester.

The time saved travelling such a short distance means that we can spend more time on producing 3D renditions, and it is much easier to take along a desk or office chair samples for our customers to try out.

Colchester is one of the oldest towns in the UK, and the diversity of the buildings creates some interesting challenges for business furniture planning. 

Modern reception areas and meeting rooms need plenty of space to look their best, and some of the rooms in the ancient Colchester buildings are really not suitable for contemporary furniture.

Also many modern office furniture ranges are man made light wood finishes on an aluminium frame, which really does not suit some of the older offices.

However, within our range we do have a good selection of traditional styled desks and executive chairs which perfectly suit some of the older properties in Colchester. Plus we are able to manufacture to customers own design in a wide range of wood veneers and other materials which might compliment the décor of the building.

Currently we do not have an office furniture showroom in Colchester, but do have many visitors to our ones in Reigate and Central London. These have proved to be very successful in allowing our customers to  see and feel the quality of our furniture ranges and our longer terms plans do include to have a significant display of office desks, chairs and storage items displayed in a central Colchester location, which we feel will greatly benefit us and our local customers.

So if you are based in Colchester and would like a visit for one of our friendly office furniture professionals please give us a call or contact us through our main website

Both chairs are upholstered in corrected grain leather, and the operating mechanisms are sourced from the mayor European manufacturers. This ensures  consistent and reliable operation for many years past their warranty period.

Although more expensive than some of the supermarket offerings, these chairs are made to a significantly higher standard, from quality materials. 

The result is a more comfortable chair which will stay that way for much longer, and which will take more weight for longer periods than cheaper inferior chairs. 

These chairs therefore offer much better value for money than the cheaper leather chairs in the market.
The Reflex President chair is a high back executive chair with a synchronomic mechanism, which is not usually found on executive chairs.
This chairs has a modern contoured back rest , giving good lumbar and upper back support, whilst retaining an elegant appearance.

This chair also has a seat depth adjustment as well as a ratchet controlled seat back height adjustment mechanism.

Height adjustable armrest and a chrome 5 star base are also standard options on this chair. There is also a matching 4 legged visitor chair to go with the Reflex President chair.
Another worthwhile addition to our range of executive armchairs is the Private President armchair. 

It has a more traditional look to it  over  the Reflex president chair, with its elegant curved alloy armrests and leather support pads, together with the stylish panel stitching on the back rest and base. 

Once again this chair has a multiple position synchronomic mechanism which is not usually seen on executive leather armchairs.

Both of these chairs are truly comfortable and will last for many years.

They can be tried out at either of our UK showrooms, or you can call us for more information about seeing these chairs.  The only way to appreciate and understand the additional value of spending more for a decent office chair, is by trying them out before you buy.

The worst thing you can do is find out the real cost of buying cheap chairs, five years after you have purchased them, when you are left with broken chair and a bad back.

As will all things in life with office seating you really do get what you pay for.

The Ellipse modular chair has been very popular in its many guises over the years, and now we have decided to keep it as a stock product from 2010 

Available in either black, blue or burgundy for under £200 including delivery, it can be a cost effective way of providing some visitor seating in even the smallest of reception areas.

For larger and more grand areas we can offer a choice of our classic single and two seater tub chairs ( called chest  easy seats)  in either fabric or leather with prices starting at under £200.

Once again, these are all available from stock for quick delivery, so you don’t have wait long for your ideal reception area to be finished, especially if you have chosen from one of our many stocked reception counter units as well.
For 2010 we have introduced a new range of simulated and  real leather sofas called Elite Sofas. There are single and two seater options available from stock in black, brown, or ivory leather together with matching stylish coffee tables.

Another  range which we have introduced this year is the Opium Easy chairs; a range of contemporary metal frames single  and twin seater chairs in a choice of 5 different fabrics which have the look and feel of suede. 

These units are very stylish and most suitable for a modern reception area, although these chairs can be specified with a stained wood frame if preferred.
All of the above soft seating options are in addition our existing reception seating ranges, which have been developed over the years. 

 These are also all available from stock, and are tried and tested products represent good value and offering a professional solution to your reception area seating requirements.

All of these units have been integrated into our CAD design system, along with all of our modular reception counter ranges, allowing us to produce realist renditions of your new reception area.