Product design agency Studio Wood is the newest tenant at Bobby’s Bournemouth, taking up residence in the building’s former bakery.

“We really wanted something with character, something in the centre of town, and something beautiful,” said founder James Wood.

“The bakery ticked all those boxes for us.

“There’s something about high ceilings that make me feel like my brain has more space!”

James launched Studio Wood in 2013 to support his freelancing career in London, just a year after graduating top of his class from an industrial design degree course at Bournemouth University.

“When I graduated in 2012, there just weren’t any design jobs in Bournemouth,” he said.

“Thankfully that’s changed now – but at the time, I had no choice, I had to go to London.”

“After some high-profile design jobs, I decided to go freelance, and that’s when I started Studio Wood.

“I rented studio space in Brixton, but I purposefully only employed freelancers. I didn’t want to hire anyone permanent.

“I wanted to come back – I wanted to prove you could run a successful product design agency in Bournemouth.”

And so James made his return in 2017, renting office space in Boscombe.

It was there he began working with one of the agency’s most prominent brands, Chilly’s, the reusable water bottle company.

Once settled in, James began to grow his permanent team.

“Chilly’s came to us because of our sustainability credentials.

“It seems crazy to say now, but seven years ago we were one of a handful of product design agencies that had sustainability and ethics at our heart.

“Sustainability is embedded into our product design.

“That’s our house style – we design products that are neutral and simple, and we don’t lean into trends.

“This naturally extends the shelf life of a product, therefore reducing waste or overconsumption.”

As well as championing sustainability, James and his team are passionate about diversity in the workplace.

“I grew up in Poole and came from a working-class background.

“I’ve experienced first-hand how much class and lack of finance can impact someone’s opportunities or lack thereof.

“Kids from disadvantaged backgrounds like I was weren’t even given university as an option.

“And for me, when I did finally get to go, it was the first place I’d flourished and felt that I was actually good at something – and crucially, where I found something I liked and enjoyed doing.

“Now we’re here at Bobby’s, we’ll be making use of their space and restarting our events programme which has centred around inclusivity and balance in the industry.

“There’s so much imbalance. There’s about a 90/10 ratio of males to females in the product design space, for example.

“We’re very proud to have an even split in our multidisciplinary team – 50/50 for those that identify as males and females.

“An inclusive, diverse team equips us with more empathy, fresh perspectives, and varied viewpoints.

“This expansion for us into Bobby’s feels great, we’ve got the space we need and there’s extra too, it gives us potential to grow if and when it’s right.

“The team are really happy to be so close to the beach and we feel like we’re a part of Bournemouth now, in the heart of the town.

“Our clients love it too – we get lots more visiting us than we used to!”

• studiowood.co.uk

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