Inclusion is widely recognised as something to focus on, in order to improve the attraction and increase the retention of people within the engineering sector.

Airports can be stressful places for many people, but by focussing on the customer experience, Liverpool has come out top of the Which? report on UK airports for customer satisfaction.

It’s amazing how a post on Linked In, about taking time out of my day to do something for me, triggered Scott Challinor to get in touch.

It’s been a while since we blogged.  Too long in fact.  It’s simply down to the fact that we have pushed it down our ‘to do list’ as we have been busy refreshing and refurbishing or client’s projects.  Like doing the VAT, we have pushed announcing we have had a website refresh, to the back of the queue.  Time to put this right and showcase our site.  

Bev is a designer, seasoned entrepreneur and the owner/creative director of BWD LTD. She has held prominent positions in some of the largest organisations in the UK including the Arcadia Group and the University of Central Lancashire. We dubbed her, ‘the networking guru’ for the role networking has played in her success. Bev discovered the […]

Like most people we are sick of hearing how damaging the coronavirus is to business.  There is no doubt it has impacted pretty much all industries, however, there are moments that bring back faith in the sector we work in – the Creative sector.

Hardwearing wood effect Expona Flow commercial flooring from Polyflor was chosen to give a new lease of life to the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

This month saw the return of the Clerkenwell Design Week and Kristiana, our interior designer, headed to London for day one to ‘walk her socks off’.

Every year we attend the London Design Festival and this year we will be there again.  We have the train booked, the accommodation sorted and really looking forward to it.  One of the designs we are really excited to see is the 3D printed wheelchair!  Yes, a ‘made to fit’ you wheelchair that brakes the […]

As with most industries in the UK, the construction industry still has presented mixed reports on the impact of Brexit. Will it help to tackle the current skills shortage in the industry? What will the effect on imports and exports be? And crucially, will there be less or more red tape to adhere to? A […]

It was showtime at the University of Lancashire last week and bwd were invited to attend the prize-winning Fashion Show at 53 Degrees in Preston.  Angela and Bev went along to see this year’s collections. Before the fashion show started, we managed to sneak a peek at the degree work first which is still on […]

What a busy year it has been so far and workloads have been steadily increasing.  We are not complaining, far from it, however, it has meant that we have had to increase our team and would like to welcome our ‘new babe who designs’ Angela Drakeford. Angela comes to us with over 20 years’ experience […]

Two Lancashire entrepreneurs have launched a new venture after identifying a market gap for a wallpaper that requires no paste.

Have you finished your shopping yet?  We haven’t either!  Not wishing to worry you but it is about three weeks to Christmas. We thought, like last year, we would share some of the Christmas decorating trends this year. If you haven’t thought about how you will decorate your home, your tree or your table, take a look […]

Do your staff have good quality seating that supports their back?  Do you have adjustable desking?  If your answer is no, then it may be time to think about investing in your office furniture. 

Do your staff have good quality seating that supports their back?  Do you have adjustable desking?  If your answer is no, then it may be time to think about investing in your office furniture. We spend almost half of our waking lives at work and a large percentage of the day sitting down.   Many studies […]

Happy New Year.  We hope you have all had a great Christmas break.  We closed the studio over the holidays, which we do every year, to give everyone a proper break.  We are now back and getting ready for a very busy three months ahead. Two of the projects we completed before the Christmas shut-down […]

Happy New Year.  We hope you have all had a great Christmas break.  We closed the studio over the holidays, which we do every year, to give everyone a proper break.  We are now back and getting ready for a very busy three months ahead. Two of the projects we completed before the Christmas shut-down […]

Have you finished your shopping yet?  We haven’t either!  Not wishing to worry you but it is about three weeks to Christmas.   We thought, like last year, we would share some of the Christmas decorating trends this year. If you haven’t thought about how you will decorate your home, your tree or your table, take a […]

They say it’s fairly commonplace to have a ‘seven-year itch’ in your personal life but we are sure it applies to business life too.  That’s exactly what has happened here at bwd. Moving towards our eighth year we have just had our seven-year itch.  For a while now we have felt that our current website […]

We have all heard the phrase ‘you can’t have your cake and eat it’, well we know you can.  We have just completed another yummy project in Preston – Indulgence Dessert Bar. Indulgence, Preston [Above] A photo of the space before the refurbishment. Following the success of our Grillaz https://youtu.be/O86YgMSLh5c restaurant in Preston, which we […]

We are so proud to announce another win for the babes who design. Yes, we did it again! On September 23rd ladies from across the North West gathered in the spectacular Winter Gardens in Blackpool to discover the winners of the Enterprise Vision Awards 2016 (EVAS). A highly commended awards ceremony celebrating women entrepreneurialism. Our […]

We believe that if you look after your clients, they’ll look after you.  It’s all about building relationships. Our followers will know that bwd are interior architects and design internal spaces for all sorts of sectors.  You may not know that we can now provide all of the loose furniture for your schemes as well.  Ok, […]

Our new client, Preston’s College provided us with the opportunity to design and implement a number of enhancements to their new #iSTEM building earlier in the summer.  One of the enhancements was a monitor display unit to house their large welcome screen which would double as a break-out teaching space.  This type of installation is always a […]

“How work-ready and talented students are at the University of Central Lancashire”. Our Creative Director Bev said, when she returned from judging this year’s DS16 Awards, which celebrates the talent being showcased at the 2016 Degree Shows. It’s always difficult taking time out of the studio. We are so busy all of the time. However […]

Day 1 What to expect? Where to start? Which exhibits to go to? As a “newbie” in the UK and a little out of my comfort zone in that my career was built on designing and detailing building envelopes in South Africa where there are a total different set of influences and solutions.… I was […]

Day 1 What to expect? Where to start? Which exhibits to go to? As a “newbie” in the UK and a little out of my comfort zone in that my career was built on designing and detailing building envelopes in South Africa where there are a total different set of influences and solutions.… I was […]

“How work-ready and talented students are at the University of Central Lancashire”.  Our Creative Director Bev said, when she returned from judging this year’s DS16 Awards, which celebrates the talent being showcased at the 2016 Degree Shows. It’s always difficult taking time out of the studio.  We are so busy all of the time.  However […]

We are so proud to announce another win for the babes who design. Yes, we did it again! On September 23rd ladies from across the North West gathered in the spectacular Winter Gardens in Blackpool to discover the winners of the Enterprise Vision Awards 2016 (EVAS). A highly commended awards ceremony celebrating women entrepreneurialism.

Did you know that Blackpool Transport has a 125 year history? Blackpool has the oldest electric street tramway in the world, dating back to 1884. You can imagine how proud we were to be invited by Blackpool Transport to design their new Customer Centre travel hub, on Market Street. We started to redevelop our brand and style […]

Did you know that Blackpool Transport has a 125 year history? Blackpool has the oldest electric street tramway in the world, dating back to 1884. You can imagine how proud we were to be invited by Blackpool Transport to design their new Customer Centre travel hub, on Market Street.

Apologies to all of our bwd blog followers for our lapse in posts over the last month.  The reason is simply that we have been mad busy. We are not complaining at all, to the contrary, it’s all great and very exciting. Do you need help visualising the new layout of your restaurant, office or […]

Back in the old Post Office in Preston, for its second year, the Best of Britannia pop-up showcased again. This weekend, 11th, 12th and 13th March 2016, creatives from Lancashire and further afield showed us what’s great about being creative and British! Last year’s event was a huge success and we were happy to see […]

The first month back after Christmas has certainly been a hectic one! We have received some really interesting approaches, have been working flat out on two new restaurant concepts as well as managing to fit in a local school event; OUR FUTURE, OUR CHOICE. We feel really proud to be involved with a careers fair […]

Hello and welcome to 2016 bwd friends. Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year. It’s hard to believe we are already two weeks into 2016. Time flies when you are planning out the year, working on client deadlines and building a new team. We pen this post today to share an insight […]

It’s great when someone else does the hard work for you. Thankyou WordPress.com for preparing our 2015 annual report for our blog. Thank you too to #DaleBasham for being our most active commenter. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,300 times in 2015. If […]

Where has 2015 gone?  We can’t believe it’s only 36 days to Christmas…..not that we are trying to panic you.  At bwd we are getting super excited so have been embarking on a bit of Christmas research to find out what’s hot and what’s not. Trends that are making their way into shops, offices and homes this […]

We have really exciting news, our doggy spa is open! Great timing too for all you pet owners who want to get your pets spruced-up for Christmas. If you read our last post #DoggySpa we announced were designing a lovely local dog groomers in Freckleton #GlamourPooch. The design work was started in February this year and […]

Wow we did it again! We are so proud to have won another Enterprise Vision Award (EVAS). Last year we won Creative Industry Of The Year and this time we have scooped Small Business Of The Year.  What makes us so proud of this award is that it was independently judged. The EVAS2015 took place at the […]

On Wednesday 23rd September, Ria took a trip to London to visit 100% Design. The exhibition takes place each year and is one of our favourites to visit. Why go to 100% Design? We go to see the variety and quality of exhibitors, who are all under one roof at London’s Olympia.  The sheer scale of the exhibition space enables similar […]

As a designer who lived and worked in London during the 1980’s, you can imagine what a surprise and honour it was for Bev to be invited to an exclusive lunch and get to meet one of the design industry’s icons: Sir Terence Conran. My friend Gill Seville, who is KPMG’s Business Development Executive, kindly […]

Wow! We have done it again. https://vine.co/v/edhgaVlt1Th The bwd team are Small Business of the Year finalists in the prestigious Enterprise Vision Awards (#EVAS). We are so proud to have been nominated again and have made it through to the finals. Now we have a small request for all you bwd fans – we need your […]

We are happy to announce that Bev is now on the Board of Creative Lancashire. The invitation to join the Board is in recognition of her support to creative students in Lancashire. Part of Lancashire County Council, the Creative Lancashire team is here to help raise the profile of the creative and digital sector in Lancashire. The Creative Lancashire team have expertise, contacts and […]

The #DS15 fashion show was fab! If you missed this invite only UCLan event don’t worry, we’ve snapped a few photos and videos for our followers to give you a flavour. Being an all female creative business, we do love our clothes.  So, as you can imagine, it’s always inspirational to see what our local […]

In the home of the famous Blackpool Illuminations, Tower and Pleasure Beach we would like to introduce our re-planned and re-designed Tourist Information Centre. Next time you are in Blackpool, why not pop in to the Tourist Information Centre at Festival House.  Did you know, you can get discounted show tickets there?  The staff too have fantastic knowledge […]

Best of Britannia is now over and what an amazing event.  The bwd team had a fantastic time. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GIQKFUpwQg] Hosted by the Best of Britannia team, in the gorgeous old Post Office building in Preston.  We met new prospective clients, some existing ones and got to meet many new businesses who we can potentially collaborate with. […]

It’s official, the babes will be attending Best of Britannia 2015 in Preston. This is a huge privilege for us as exhibitors are carefully selected; Best Of Britannia (BOB) BoB is a highly targeted brand statement event that exclusively caters for British companies that design and/or manufacture in the UK.” Best of Britannia event details When? […]

Are you looking at a blue sky idea or do you want to develop an existing one? Do you want to see the end result before the physical work begins? We can help. Our skilled team of designers at bwd are using cutting-edge 3D design programs to help our clients realise their schemes before investing in the physical works. We can bring […]

You may remember our blog post “Painting History” which profiled our work with Crown Paints and Preston’s College students, well we are proud to announce that our work with them both is now complete.  We thought you might like to see the completed creations, so here they are: The Level 3 Art and Design Students from Preston’s College have done a fantastic […]

Don’t we love our pooches?  We certainly do.  As dog loving babes, we are really excited to be designing a local dog groomers and turning it into a #DoggySpa. From pooches, to moggies, bunnies to goldfish, we certainly love our pets in Britain. During our research stage, which we do with all our projects, did you know […]

They say you have made it when you see your name in lights. With help from our new creative friends Typical Type we have done just that for the Collabro UK tour. We are developing a reputation for being able to turn creative work around in ‘double-quick’ time.  This project is another example of how having an amazing network of talented and […]

Our followers know we like to help out charities and we are proud to have helped our Manchester Arndale client to stage their second (and also award winning) fashion event for homeless charity Mustard Tree.  Our good friends Clarke Gough donated all of the fixtures and fittings and this innovative fashion event showcased its ’empty shelves’ to the […]

We have started the New Year very upbeat and were delighted to find out that the creative design work we did for our Manchester Arndale client has been implemented. Check out the newly refurbished loo’s in the Manchester Arndale Winter Garden’s area. The design of the loo’s happened last year and forms part of a […]

365 days, a tonne of blog posts (yes a 100 of them), another babe who designs and some amazing projects undertaken in 2014; what a year! What an amazing year 2014 it was. Wow it went by quickly….well we think so.  Along the way we have kept you updated on our highlights, projects and shows, […]

How time flies.  We can’t believe it is almost a year since we completed our Mighty Makeover project in Lancaster. This cost effective revamp of an old video shop is now modern and thriving Estate Agents. Mighty House Residential and Lettings Agents in Lancaster were delighted with our design and a year on, our client has credited us […]

We really love Christmas. It’s the time of the year when we appreciate how fortunate we are.  We will enjoy the pleasure of opening presents from our family and friends on Christmas Day, however that’s not the case for everyone living here in the North West.  Some of the kids in our local area wake up to […]

What happens when you combine Level 3 Art and Design Students with one of the North West’s biggest manufacturers and a leading Lancashire design agency? You get project-based learning in action. Coming up with creative yet practical ideas and then presenting to a client is a skill that students need to perfect, and they welcome opportunities […]

Our bwd followers will remember that about this time last year Bev was a judge at the #LTA13 (Lancashire Tourism Awards 2013). Well we are pleased to say she has been invited to judge again this year.  Keep an eye out for Bev at #LTA14 and until the results are announced #MumsTheWord. What Are The Lancashire Tourism […]

We are very pleased to announce that we won “Creative Industry Of The Year” at the EVA Awards 2014! It is an honour to know so many of you voted for us and that the judges saw it fit to award us this title. Eva, The Enterprise Vision Awards have been created to specifically recognise […]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlvZfryhB7Q&w=560&h=315] A designer’s dream is to be able to immerse yourself in all things creative and that’s exactly what the #babeswhodesign did last week at #LDF14 (LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL). Backed by The Mayor of London, Mr Boris Johnson himself, “The London Design Festival provides an opportunity for you to marvel at new design developments. […]

You will have no doubt noticed the latest viral craze that has been sweeping Facebook and other social channels #IceBucketChallenge. If you haven’t been nominated yet, you are one of the lucky ones! Our lovely friend, and Pink Link Ladies founder, Coral Horn decided to take on 600 gallons of ice cold water. She wasn’t alone in […]

How good would it be to turn your humble shed into a themed bar or an all American diner! Well some have done just that.  Check out these #amazing spaces. After our designer Ria watched the TV series on Channel 4 – Amazing Spaces Shed of the Year she was so impressed with the transformations that she […]

We love getting involved with our local community and were really flattered to be asked by Jim Leak, Chairman of Lytham In Bloom Trust to help them with two projects they were putting together. Lytham in Bloom Trust was formed in 1998 by a small group of interested local residents. Over the years it has […]

As you may have read in our last blog post, we have been expanding our team. Now we are pleased to announce that we have been nominated in two categories for the Enterprise Vision Awards (#EVAS2014). Having just had the interviews, which is the first stage of the competition, we really need your votes to […]

bwd would like to introduce our new #babewhodesigns Becky Worgan joins us from University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) after graduating this year with a 2.1 BA Hons Degree in Interior Design.  Originally from Cheshire, Becky has spent the last three years as a student in Preston. We have been looking for a student intern for […]

We’ve been getting organised at bwd and have created a yearly events calendar so we don’t miss any of the creative shows around the UK and overseas. You’ll remember we went to May Design Series and Clerkenwell last month, well last week we were in London at New Designers.  We debated whether or not we […]

This June the Fylde coast welcomes back the Lytham Arts Festival, a fantastic week of exhibitions, music and dancing. The festival starts in Clifton Square, Lytham at 1pm on June 20th with the Mayor of Fylde himself opening the event. There’ll be live music from the Fylde Coasters and dancing from Kizomba Desejo North West […]

As we said in the last post our very talented designer Ria was attending the May Design Series and Clerkenwell Design Week. Here are Ria’s highlights from the shows. Please click the photos below for a closer look and to find out more. Which photo is your favourite? Have any of these displays inspired you? […]

If you are one of the estimated eight million people in London on Tuesday 20th May, you might see our very own design supremo Ria who will be at ExCeL London. We love to keep up to date with what’s happening in the design sector and that’s why Ria is visiting the May Design Series. Material Xperience On […]

The Winckley Weekend was a really creative event with a vintage twist. Only on for two days, we popped along on Saturday 3rd May to see what it was all about.  Did you miss it? Not to worry if you did as we promised to share our #WinckleyWeekendHighlights… It was a bit of a family affair for Bev […]

Have you heard about the Winckley Weekend in Preston? It starts this Friday 1st May at 11am and runs until 10pm.  We’re going on Saturday, are you? It is going to be a weekend of vintage fashion stalls, catwalk shows, great food and street performances.  The aim is to bring back the spirit of the […]

To all the bwd fans we would like to say “Croeso i Gymru” Welcome to Wales. You may remember our blog post ‘Croeso‘ that we published mid March this year. The post profiled the fit out of the new design scheme for the North Wales Housing Association based in Llandudno. The new re-brand was behind […]

BWD have been working with Ollerton Engineering Services in Samlesbury for over ten years working on various street furniture ranges.  Ollerton have recently partnered with the WEC Group of Darwen to help progress their seating and bench ranges into a family of co-ordinated street furniture products. The Goosefoot Range is a brand new range of high […]

Previewing ideas before they become reality is something we do as part of our design process and we have become extremely skilled at visualising.   Recently we were asked to do this for a property development company to help them promote their new apartments at the Lime House, Preston. The Lime House, on Market Street, Preston, […]

Croeso bwd followers. That’s right this week we are getting into the Welsh spirit as we are on site in Llandudno to fit out our most recent design scheme for the North Wales Housing Association. As interior architects, and  brand practitioners we have really enjoyed bringing our client’s new branding to life in the form […]

On a business trip last week to Birmingham we took time out to visit the famous Library of Birmingham, designed by Mecanoo, situated in Centenary Square. The Library of Birmingham provides a showcase for the city’s internationally important collections of archives, photography and rare books. New facilities including state-of-the-art gallery space open up public access […]

Spring is around the corner and with the brighter weather comes the new season’s colour trends so we thought we would share with you what’s new for 2014. Fashion design trends always influence interior colours and finishes so we are keeping an eye on what’s happening on the catwalks! Sunny Pastels are set to dominate […]

The babes at bwd are excited to reveal the completion of another amazing commercial interiors project: Mighty House Residential and Lettings Agents in Lancaster. A brilliant, modern estate agent office” Peter Charnley – Managing Director of Might House bwd were tasked with the cost effective revamp of an old and no longer used video shop […]

We have been doing lots of fast turn-around jobs recently which has been keeping us very busy. Whilst driving back from a client site meeting in Llandudno we were contacted by Manchester Arndale to see if we could do a Feedback Box for an event. Here is what our brief went like: Hi Bev, do […]

Last week we were rushed off our feet; literally! We were briefed by the Head of Marketing, Manchester Arndale, to come up with an idea for a ‘backdrop’ for a pair of shoes. We were thinking, why a backdrop for a pair of shoes, until we saw the size of them! The aim of the […]

It’s always a pleasure to see how well a client is doing, after we have finished a project. This month we were so pleased to see a newspaper article posted on the Burger Parlour’s Facebook page. The headline read “Meat feat is proving too hard to stomach” Any fan of our blog will be familiar […]

365 days, 32 blog posts, a new full-time team member and plenty of exciting projects lined up for 2014; we are very proud What an amazing year 2013 was! It is hard to believe it’s already 2014 and before we zoom ahead with more creative projects we wanted to pause a little and reflect on […]

We are feeling the Christmas Spirit this week so we are taking part in Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 13th December. This day is to support and fundraise for Save the Children who use the money to help children all around the world. Click here to find out more. So, as its Christmas Jumper day, […]

On the eve of our 5th year in business we wanted to do something special with this year’s Christmas card so we decided to host a creative competition. We invited the University of Central Lancashire final year Advertising students to help us out. We briefed the students to not only come up with the creative […]

When we think of the seats and benches we sit on out in the street we usually find we are sitting on something nondescript, covered in graffiti with peeling paint. However, times are changing and street furniture is becoming stylish, sculptural and designed with attention to how it might be used. We think street furniture […]

This week Bev has been looking for a quirky napkin holder to add a bit of flair to her table, when she has the family over for Christmas. Our web browsing has discovered that there are loads of fun and funky ones to choose from. How about this holder? Made to remind us all that […]

It’s all about judging this month as we have been invited, firstly, to be on the panel for the Lancashire Tourism Awards and secondly we launched our very own Christmas design competition at UCLan (University of Central Lancashire). Last week our Creative Director spent a day at the Marketing Lancashire offices in Leyland with three […]

Your office is the hub of your business and the staff are your spokes. It is where most tasks, relating to running your business happen. Here at bwd we have been giving our own office a makeover to optimise our space and to make room for our very lovely new Office Manager called Lisa. Recent […]

Disclaimer: If you hate early Christmas talk or imagery then don’t read any further. This post contains both festive ramblings and inspirational Christmas card ideas.  We bet you thought autumn…but no, we’ve been getting festive with Christmas card ideas. We love a good Christmas card and love designing and sending them to friends and clients. […]

Time for our team to take a bow as another fab project comes to a close and have loads of photos to show you! Our avid bwd fans will remember our past post “New Look For Bowness” where we covered how we were invited to design and project manage the Bowness on Windermere Information Centre […]

We love creative and inspirational local events and as such we couldn’t leave this event unreported. Coming to an end this week – have you ascended the Harris Flights? It looks like a flight of stairs, that is until you start to notice the scale. It spans over two storeys, links two key public areas […]

What 3Bs? Well we’re referring to the Best Burgers in Barrow of course. Our first restaurant project; the Burger Parlour, is now open for business and serves ‘proper burgers and real ice-cream’. See our previous blogs Ice-cream-saturday and anyone-for-ice-cream to see the project development (click above). It’s fantastic and really rewarding to see positive comments […]

Bev has got herself a slot on the Sally Naden show, BBC Radio Lancashire and guess who’s on the panel with her only 007…our very own bwd photographer Mr Roger Moore. Two redheads on at the same time, poor Sally and guests! The ginger nuts, Bev and Roger, will be appearing on this Thursday’s show […]

You may have heard of pop-up shops and you must have at least seen a pop-up card or book? Have you ever seen a pop-up village? Well now is your chance. Earlier today (Friday 23rd August) Blackpool hosted its very own pop-up village. When we saw this story online all the bwd team were excited, […]

Window shopping just became a little more collective. From playing space invaders to displays that monitor and respond to your movement. When was the last time a shop or office window made you stop and take notice? Here at bwd we do love a good window display! Designed thoughtfully, a display can capture someone’s imagination, […]

“Champagne at the proms? Why not?” and with Roger Moore no less. It’s not every day you have the pleasure of working with a real life 007. We are proud to announce that we not only design fashion stores but are now designing the clothes too. Our first fashion project designing for Roger Moore.  Being […]

Have you heard? Rita Ora is in town as well as Russell Watson, Conor Maynard, Stooshe, Jason Donovan, Heaven 17 and Sonia! It’s the Lytham Proms Festival Weekend! It’s not every day you can take a short walk from your office and see such a great line-up. Here at bwd we are excited to have […]

With the UK’s weather being so glorious we thought we would treat you to a little refreshment. With pleasure we bring you Custom House & our new Burger Parlour.  Our “Anyone for ice-cream” project is almost complete, in fact it will open this Saturday! (27th July 2013) so anyone for an ice-cream Saturday? This project […]

We join you this week with not just one piece of good news but two! Firstly, we have photographs of our Brockhole Play and Learn Room installation which the kids love. Secondly, we have received two great testimonials from the amazing team at the Lake District National Park Authority. 1. See below photographs of our […]

Fantastic news from bwd this week as we find our Ria has been shortlisted for a top UK award. We cannot wait to attend the ceremony in two weeks hosted at the Institute of Directors – London. Ria has excelled in the short time she has been with us at bwd with her creativity now […]

Here at bwd we love following up on previous posts so this week we could not help but share some of our photos from the Sand, Sea and Spray event in Blackpool. See our previous post for details – Blackpool Decorations. We highly recommend you put aside some time to see these public works of […]

As an experienced design agency we know inspiration can come from many sources. We often find a great way to inspire our creativity it to attend various events both within and outside the design sector. One such event, starting this weekend in Blackpool is Sand, Sea and Spray. 40 Artists from 4 Continents Painting Live […]

We can’t believe we are already half way through 2013, were has the time gone?  Well we have had a great year so far doing some new Visitor Centre work, which we have a strong track record in, for our Lake District National Park client. We handed over Keswick and Bowness on Windermere recently, adding […]

The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) looks after one of England’s most popular visitor destination.  Their aim ‘to encourage people to enjoy and understand its beauty and helping those who live and work here’. Their staff members include rangers and field workers, planners, ecologists and event organisers as well as knowledgeable advisers at their […]

Making a positive difference to how spaces are used is one of the driving forces here at bwd.  We also like to share our knowledge and expertise around.  Bev, our Creative Director, regularly lectures at UCLan (University of Central Lancashire) and we often take on student placements.  Helping graduates is not the only thing we […]

After a most exciting trip to London our Managing Director, Beverley Wood, returned with lots of photos we just had to show you. Below are six photos taken at the Institute of Making – a multidisciplinary research club for those interested in the made world. Read last week’s blog Living in a material world for […]

Here at bwd, we are definitely material babes. In fact our Creative Director, Beverley Wood, is going to the Institute of Making in London today. With over 1500 materials in their library she can’t wait to see what’s being showcased.   “The Institute of Making is a multidisciplinary research club for those interested in the […]

The British summer would not be complete without a good ice-cream. They bring back memories of being with the family and make any visit an event. Now its time to let you into a bwd secret. We are currently working on a project for a private client in Cumbria designing their new ice-cream parlour. We […]

You might remember our post last year, around the May Bank Holiday, when we told you about our designs for Manchester Arndale for their ‘Inside Live’ event. We created the set design for the fashion showcase, as well as some fabulous beauty workstations which the likes of Body Shop loved.. Well we were so pleased […]

What’s red, green, blue, yellow and purple? Why it’s the iconic tower just down the coast from us in Blackpool and this is no joke. Last week saw one of the North West’s most known landmarks turn purple. A fitting tribute for a landmark in a town famed for light displays and the cause this […]

An office object that is so simple and functional we have all used them at some point. A thin piece of wire commonly comprising of three half spherical 180 degree bends that simply and easily slide onto paper to clasp pages together. The humble paper clip brings two cornerstones of our design philosophy together. Form […]

After a short blogging break bwd are back. Would you believe it has been five months since we last posted on our blog? We are sorry for losing touch but with our return we bring you some great news. We are as busy as ever and have a whole host of creative ideas, inspiration and […]

For us, our best result from our clients is their happiness with what we have created for them, so we love that there are other companies out there that share this with us! Fab is a website providing creatively designed websites and apps as well as selling creatively designed products, but Fab differs to other […]

As a design company, we understand how difficult it can be to remain creative and different from the rest. Inspiration and influence can come from the most surprising of places, but with constant mainstream communication from social and fashion trends, advertising, and the media, designers can often end up following each other down the same […]

Although the north west is home to team bwd, Bev’s career began in the capital city, so London still remains close to our hearts. One of our favourite things to do in London occurs each year, and comes in the form of London Design Festival. The festival features hundreds of events and design shows, exhibiting […]

September has rolled in and Autumn has only just begun, and we are stocking up on khaki green and metallic shades, but as always the design world is one step ahead! As Fashion Week for Spring/Summer ’13 are going ahead, Pantone have revealed its top 10 most prominent hues for the spring/summer 2013 season. Pantone […]

A little trip down memory lane for many of us will take us back to school where we watched our teachers spend hours scrawling on chalkboards, but now they’ve started to sneak their way in to interior design in many different ways! A trend that is suitable for domestic and commercial use, the idea of […]

We came across this article by Mary Griffin and we fell in love with the idea! “In the heart of Coventry city centre tomato, herb and butternut squash plants are growing in public flower displays. Councils across the country are testing the idea of growing fruit and veg along grass verges, in pavement planters and […]

I recently read a great blog post by Robin Fisher Roffer “Research proves that 65% of all communication is visual. What are your clothes saying about your personal brand?” I think this is spot on! I feel like jewellery is my signature, rings especially. The more unusual the ring, the better for me! They are […]

Click HERE to listen to our very own Beverley Wood being interviewed by Brett Davison on BBC Radio Lancashire We don’t feature in Brett’s 2 hour show until 1:37 but we had an fantastic time! Thank you so much to Brett for inviting us! Have a listen quick, there are only 4 days left!

We have had a few requests from current and future prospective clients asking bwd if we have or use video during our designing and project managing, so we felt that this was the perfect time to share a video from one of our old projects. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUkHqZ4pXRQ&w=560&h=315] Back when Beverley worked on the visitor centre […]

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! bwd has been featured in one of our local newspapers, the Blackpool Gazette, in their report on The Pollinations! The article, written by Jacqui Morley, is featured both online and in the printed newspaper, and talks about how The Pollinations has been such a success that is due to […]

The moment has arrived, and we could not be more happy with what the fantastic team have created for The Pollinations flower event in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens. Lots of planning and preparation took place, and we had a brilliant team on hand to help bwd! We started the process by taking photos of the space […]

Our home of Lytham St. Annes has been drowning in all things golf related this week, as The Open Championship has come to town! Word on the coast is that many celebrities, namely the likes of Tom Cruise and George Clooney, have flocked to Lytham St. Annes for the sporting event, which has left many […]

Our latest project is coming along fantastically, and we are very excited to be working on it, although we do feel it is a little to blame for all this Summer rainy weather! Blackpool’s Winter Gardens will be home to The Pollinations, a new floral art display commissioned by Marketing Blackpool from an idea created […]

We are proud to announce that the new Chester Cathedral gift shop is now open! It was a great challenge to create this space for Chester Cathedral. The Cathedral is steeped in history, and the shape of the room itself meant standard fixtures were out of the question, so a lot of hard work went […]

After months of hard work designing and project managing, we have finally reached the end of our latest project for Chester Cathedral! The Lord Mayor of Chester, Cllr. Pam Booher, will be formally opening Chester Cathedral’s newly redesigned and refurbished Gift Shop tomorrow! According to Marketing Cheshire, “The Shop will still be situated in the […]

Last week, Team bwd were invited for a first look at the University of Salford’s Degree Show for their School of Art and Design before it was open to the public. It was based in their school building at Media City, making the invitation too tempting to turn down! Not only do we generally enjoy […]

We’re well underway with our project over at Chester Cathedral and its been a great challenge for us. The Cathedral is full of history, which is clear to see from the building itself! Chester Cathedral is a buzzing attraction to many visitors across the world, holding services, events, concerts, and tours. The space bwd is […]

While you’re there, put down that bag of crisps! We’ve something we’re dying to try, and you’re going to want to try it too! While visiting our friends over at JDL, the Managing Director had his lunch delivered courtesy of Graze.com I love the idea that I can have these healthy snacks delivered straight to […]

Keeping with the theme of the Diamond Jubilee, we have come across these fantastic little treasures by Lydia Leith. Why stay traditional when you can play outside the box? But don’t worry, Lydia Leith hasn’t deviated too far from what we know. We can still enjoy our British delight of jelly and ice cream! We […]

It is now near impossible to ignore the fact that the entire country will soon be celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee with an extended weekend over 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th June. Almost every industry has gone patriotically crazy, adorning everything possible with a Union Jack in order to unite us a nation and […]

The innovative team at Kohler have taken the two most used rooms of our homes and have turned them on their head to transform our day-to-day activities in to pure experiences. One of our favourite products that Kohler have created is the VibrAcoutic bath. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6QHpHHQ6fQ&w=560&h=315] According to their website, “With VibrAcoustic technology, you can […]

As a designer, it is your job to be creative and let your imagination run wild, and one of the hardest things is reining yourself back. A client has come to us because their room has a purpose, and they want us to make the space practical for this purpose. But, who says practicality and […]

Up the road from bwd HQ, not-so-sunny-Blackpool is home to one of the funniest floors we have seen in a long time – the Comedy Carpet! Sat on the front promenade, inbetween the beach and world famous Blackpool Tower, the Comedy Carpet is the Floor-Of-Fame for a collection of famous, memorable quotes by 850 writers […]

Bank Holiday Monday was well recieved this year, giving us a chance to put our feet up and rest after our busy weeking of shopping and enjoying our designs at the Inside ‘Live’ event at Manchester Arndale. The pop-up event was set up to pull out the latest fashion and beauty pages of Manchester Arndale’s […]

We had a great day in Manchester Arndale Centre! Everything came together, and our designs looked fantastic! It is so incredibly rewarding to see the final result be so successful after all the hard work and effort we’ve put into the projects. It all started out as meetings and drawings, and bwd saw the entire […]

An hour to go before kick off! The event is looking great so far! And we can finally tell you about it!!! Head down today to check it all out! Fashion and beauty galore! It’ll be a fashion bloggers dream!

Have you seen an interesting table or fixture in a shop? Are there design flaws in certains shops/cafes/museums/etc that really grind your gears? Is there something you feel most commercial spaces are lacking? Or brilliant use of graphics that has stuck in your mind? We want to hear about them! Leave us your answers and […]

A recent trend in the interior design world, for both home and commercial spaces, is bringing inside inspiration from outside! Whether its realistic and rustic, or a in a stylised, manfactured manner, there is no denying that statement tree fixtures are successfully bringing together aethetics and practicality. Bringing natural elements in to the home can […]

My youngest daughter is attending a fancy dress day at her school and has chosen to dress as her favourite adventure character, little miss Dora The Explorer! Its a wonderful idea, but where is a busy mother supposed to find orange shorts?! Luckily she has an abundance of white PE shorts! The orange dye I […]

We are about to come to the end of one of our projects, with 1 day to go before the event launches! Many different elements of production and design have gone into this project, so we’re very excited about constructing it all and seeing the final space design for the event! Here are bwd, we […]

According to their website, Preston Guild is a historic celebration dating back to 1179. “It is the only Guild still celebrated in the UK and as such is unique. The 2012 celebration will be the first Guild in the 21st century and the first since the granting of Preston’s city status in 2002. Held only […]

I recently conducted a seminar at a business networking event at The Lakeside Hotel and Spa at Newby Bridge, and had a really good time doing it. I met some really great people from different businesses too. A couple days later, I recieved a hand written thank you card from Michelle, the event organiser. Hand […]

During a trip to Manchester I found a gorgeous pink window display in the Mulberry store. When you have a huge budget and a simple product (in this case, a handbag or two) you can get creative! We love the huge pink flowers against the simple white background, and the simple black line drawn ladders […]

bwd is a design consultancy specialising in commercial interiors, and “commercial interiors” means a wide variety of things these days. A really exciting project we have been lucky to work on in the past is a series of branding and ‘welcome’ graphics for Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The graphics are printed over walls and windows […]

We are busy busy busy at team BWD but we’re working on some really exciting projects, and one of them is about to drop soon! We are keeping our lips sealed about it, but keep your eyes and ears open as something fabulous is about to pop-up in the middle of a major Manchester shopping […]

We came across this gem in the middle of Manchester! Forget ice cream vans, we are loving the bacon sandwich van by Pork on your Fork! Imagine coming across this the morning after the night before, or first thing on a Monday morning – such a wonderful idea. The use of a big red London […]

We came across these fantastic colourful fixtures by Etobic and fell in love! These Iglum are great to look at, and give fantastic storage and display opportunities for retail spaces. Etobic are a great little company, based in Ontario in Canada, and deal with some of the problems we end up facing ourselves here at […]

Even when I’m taking a holiday, I can’t stop finding inspiration, and interesting little things that grab my attention! While on a trip in Santa Cruz, we visited Tenerife Espacio de las Artes. The fantastic building is home to several exhibition halls, a library, and the Photography Center of Tenerife Island. “This is not only […]

The Darwin Centre is a great example of how combining simple, contemporary design ideas with the museums historical aspects can be really fun and effective. And we love the little details, like the funky desk and the “extinction sucks” souvenir lollypops!

This project from 2011 was completely different to our Cheshire Oaks 2010 project, as the audience for the space was completely different. It was great fun using our creativity to create something contemporary but still fun, and it was fantastic to see families using it and enjoying it! [all images by bwd]

Back in February 2010, we had a great time working on Cheshire Oaks Visitor Centre. The design was simple but affective, and we got to work in a great location too! [all images by bwd]

As a first post to our blog, Creative Interpreters, I’d like to say thank you for visiting and introduce to you our company! Here at bwd we help clients to re-design, refresh and refurbish their workplaces in both public and private sector organisations. We describe our team as ‘multi-disciplined’ as we bring a collective range […]