About us

I'm James. I studied joinery and painting and decorating at college, then spent years being the family's go to, the one who could fix that, for anyone who needed a hand.

Since then I've worked a number of jobs, most recently for a large furniture maker, surrounded by machines and technology built for speed and scale. It taught me a lot, but it wasn't for me. I wanted my hands on the wood, not a screen telling a machine what to do. So I left, and started doing this properly instead.

My heart is in building. There's nothing quite like turning raw materials into something that didn't exist before, made properly, made to last. Right now that means restoring pieces that deserve a second chance, taking something battered and bruised and bringing it back to stunning and beautiful, alongside the repairs and odd jobs that never quite make it to the top of anyone's list. In time, my aim is to spend more of that time building bespoke pieces from scratch, made to measure for the people who order them.

I started McCaffery & Co with my partner, who's the operations guru behind the scenes, booking in work and helping choose the pieces we take on and make over. Between us, we make sure every job, and every piece, is looked after properly from the first message to the final result.

I'm not qualified in gas, electrics, or plumbing, and I never will pretend otherwise. Those need a properly qualified trade, and I'd rather say so honestly than put you or myself at risk.

Based in Manchester, covering Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas. New to doing this as a business, not new to doing the work.