Meet the Makers: The Story behind Black Fox Metalcraft (Jenny)

An interview with Jenny; designer, blacksmith, sign writer, and welder at Black Fox Metalcraft.

1.    What’s the best / hardest thing about working at Black Fox Metalcraft?

The best thing is that every day is so varied, I never get bored. One day I’ll be researching and sketching a bespoke weathervane design, the next I’ll be in the workshop TIG welding or blacksmithing, another day I’ll be gilding and signwriting. Then, there’s work to package and send out, and I built the website myself too so there is always that to keep up to date with new designs, photos and blogs. It’s a lot to take on but I love the challenge of having to be so multi skilled!

The hardest thing to be honest is how much the internet has changed in the past few years; at the moment we have a few companies mass producing work in china & trying to pass it off as a hand made quality British craft. Competition is healthy for business but I cannot stand dishonesty and there is very little we can do about it. The sudden rise of AI means that producing websites, writing content and creating images can be done in minutes, so these people do not have any actual skills at all, and can therefore sell low quality items at a fraction of the cost of ours, and it can be difficult for an untrained eye to tell the difference online.

2.    How did you come to set up Black Fox Metalcraft?

After university I was doing part time bar work alongside freelance set design & building. I’d done an Illustration degree, but was getting more into the practical, building side of things – it turned out I was pretty good at woodwork and loved playing with power tools. So taking an evening welding course seemed like a logical step (to me, anyway!) And that’s how David and I got together – he loves playing with broken old cars so wanted to learn to weld. After that I got my first welding job, but was made redundant when the family I worked for had a massive falling out. So, we decided we could do it better on our own – we both knew we wanted to work for ourselves, so at the age of 26, while David was motorbiking around Vietnam with two friends, I set up Black Fox Metalcraft. 

3.    How do you manage with bringing up preschool twins and running a metal workshop?

They do nursery 3 days a week which is obviously a huge help, but on days when the girls are home, I tend to take them for a long bike ride with our Border Collie Bryn, or maybe a swim in the morning – they’re very active outdoorsy kids so running some energy off them early on really helps! I’m not a massive fan of sitting them in front of the telly just so I can work, so I tend to set up an activity like Lego, drawing or something messy like potions on their big tray & they can play quietly near me while I paint or gild. Like any siblings they have the odd fight, but it’ usually works pretty well.

We’re very lucky in that we can be so flexible, I really enjoy especially in winter getting up stupidly early and sitting by the Aga with a brew, getting my emails and design work done for the day before the twins even wake up, and if we have loads of welding on, David can be in the workshop until midnight. It’s a bit exhausting sometimes, but worth it because it means we can be there for the kids, and enjoy loads of family time together. 

4.    What do you get up to when you’re not working?

If I’ve got the energy once the girls are in bed, I like to go on a bike ride. The valley we live in is stunning, and the long summer evenings need to be made the most of! I’ve started to get back into kayaking too, my parents looked after the twins for a night recently and we went up to the river Tay and did a river trip to see Beavers, it was incredible. As a family we love camping - we're doing up an old camper van (admittedly mostly David so far!) so next year we should have some exciting adventures to look forward to.

I’d love to be more creative in my spare time, I have loads of craft projects in mind but when I’ve spent all day making and designing things for our customers, I don’t seem to have any creative energy left for my own projects!

5.    Is there a piece of work or project you’re most proud of?

Loads! If I had to choose just one, I'd say I'm most proud of a pair of bespoke village signs we did for Cobham and Sole Street in Kent- they were a challenge from a design point of view as they  involved putting together loads of very different elements, take local flora and industrial history for example. Plus with these big projects there are often multiple people's opinions to take into consideration. They are totally bespoke and involve many hours of work, but I think challenges like these make us better at what we do. 

6.    What direction do you see the business going in over the coming years?

I’d really like to get back into the blacksmithing side of things. When the girls were born it was something we scaled right back to the essentials as I wasn’t able to manage it on top of newborn twins, but I’ve got a few ideas for new products I’d love to add to our portfolio. I’m thinking of taking a bit of a refresher course to improve my skills as blacksmithing is such a fun part of the job. It’s not the sort of thing that AI in China can rip off either, so maybe future proofing from a technology point of view would be a good idea!

If you have any questions about Black Fox Metalcraft's weathervanes, hanging signs, or a bespoke metalwork project you'd like to discuss, feel free to contact us via phone or email.