Cruise and Ferry Review - Summer/Spring 2020

1 5 2 INTERV IEW Restoring a sphinx Richard Waterworth talks to Richard Humphreys about Peninsula Contract Furnishings’ recent work aboard AIDAmar P eninsula Contract Furnishings provides large-scale and contract upholstery, and various other interior repair and restoration services. The company recently completed a refit onboard AIDAmar – a sixth Sphinx-class cruise ship, built at Meyer Werft for AIDA Cruises, and is the sixth in the series. Onboard AIDAmar, the Peninsula Contract Furnishings team worked alongside the crew to help restore over 2,000 individual pieces of furniture. “Restoration has always been at the centre of what we do, whether it is reupholstery, leather maintenance, French polishing or any of our other services, we feel it is always better to try and preserve what we have by way of repair, redesign and restore,” says Richard Waterworth, managing director of Peninsula Contract Furnishings. “Not only does this generally work out to be more cost effective for the client, it also has a massive environmental benefit. Roughly around 1,000 times more carbon dioxide gases are produced in the manufacturing and shipping of a new piece of furniture, compared to restoring it. It also reduces landfill and preserves the world’s natural resources that are becoming less available.” The company has also recently added decorating and tiling to the list of services it offers. Delivering the most cost effective and environmentally friendly solution to any project is of great importance to the company. On AIDAmar, Peninsula Contract Furnishings has prevented the disposal and replacement of nearly 400,000 tiles in the passenger cabins by removing individual damaged tiles where needed and replacing them with the ship’s original stock. This process prevents needless product disposal and makes considerable savings for the client. “We started out in reupholstery over 20 years ago and recently went on to start Peninsula Contract Furnishings as a way to bring together the best of interior restoration trades,” says Waterworth. “From reupholstery, we then took the natural step into French polishing and leather maintenance and repair. Since then we have brought in other trades so we can offer a more complete internal restoration package while still offering the same high standards we have prided ourselves on since we first began.” CFR Richard Waterworth (right) onboard AIDAmar, where Peninsula Contract Furnishings has been involved in the restoration of over 2,000 individual pieces of furniture