Nicholas Lee – Ngāi Tahu & Ngāti Kurī
Nick Lee was born and raised in Westport. He is a passionate musician and furniture designer/maker based in Ōtautahi, Christchurch. He owns Innate Furniture Ltd which has been operating for nearly 4 years.
Nick and his flatmate Guido Loeffler needed a new dining table during the 2020 lockdown. So with plenty of time on their hands, they set about building one for themselves in the backyard as a challenge. Their friends were all highly impressed and the idea for a business began.
It quickly grew into a workshop in Christchurch City where they have been for over two years now. They specialise in dining tables but also make benches, bar leaners, stools and shelving units. They’re also the South Island supplier for EcoBeans and have a sustainable bean bag range.
Their location is strategically placed in the heart of Ōtautahi’s manufacturing hub, which means any outsourcing usually takes place within a few blocks. “This has contributed to the success of the business. We have received endless support from others in the community to help us get off the ground, often because they believe in our ethos and vision”, Nicholas says.
How has/will the funding from Poutama help improve your business? Poutama funding will have a big impact on the capability of our manufacturing facility, our strategic development and website upgrades. Investing in our manufacturing facility is pivotal to our success and growth.
Is being Māori important to what you do as a business? Of course – we live by the principles of Tangata Whenua. Our business is founded on looking after the seas and the lands of Aotearoa. Our core focus is caring for our native forests with respect to all species which rely on it. We incorporate Te Reo in our business and are always looking for new ways to incorporate Māori culture into the day-to-day practices of our operations.
Aotearoa has the resources and capability to manufacture high quality, reasonably priced furniture using native timbers, steel made in NZ, and natural oil finishes. We are a catalyst showcasing that it is not only possible, but our land and our people are primed perfectly for catering to the growing needs of New Zealanders.
Nicholas says, “we are focused on both residential and commercial furniture. For residential, our primary offering is dining tables. For commercial, it covers board room tables, bar leaners, workstations and cafe tables.”
“We are the only furniture manufacturer in Aotearoa who focuses fully on NZ sourced raw materials, including a preference for sustainably harvested natives, NZ steel and natural oil finishes. We do this to support the entire supply chain of local businesses, for transparency, and quality. Any outsourcing we do is usually done within a couple of blocks, such as powder coating our steel legs.”
“We pride ourselves on a progressive workplace where staff can choose their own hours, everyone is paid at least the living wage, and there are training opportunities for our team, such as the joinery apprenticeship at Ara which our entire team is currently undertaking. We have ambitious goals and are constantly developing and refining the business to position it to take on larger contracts and have a bigger impact.”
For more information check out their website, Facebook and Instagram pages.
