Family-run since 1985 · Brighton, UK

Forty years of making things properly.

The Cutting Room is the modern face of A.A. Taylor Limited — a family-run Brighton manufacturer that’s been designing, cutting and finishing bespoke acrylic displays, cases, signage and POS for British businesses since the year the Sinclair C5 launched.

40+Years in trade
1Workshop, Brighton
0Catalogue products
UKDelivered nationwide
A.A. Taylor started as a small Brighton joinery shop in 1985. Forty years later, the same family runs the same workshop, on the same street. The work has changed shape — from doors and windows to displays and cases — but the way of doing it hasn’t.
— The Taylor family & team
Our story

Four decades, one workshop

1985

A.A. Taylor opens on Shaftesbury Place

The original A.A. Taylor — a small joinery and woodworking shop in central Brighton. Doors, windows, staircases, custom carpentry for local builders and homeowners.

Late 1990s

The first acrylic work

Local shopfitters start asking for acrylic display cases to match the joinery we’re already making for their fit-outs. We buy the first solvent-bonding equipment and start cutting acrylic alongside the timber.

Early 2000s

CNC routing arrives

The first CNC router gets installed. Production of repeatable acrylic components becomes possible at volume. Brand agencies start using us for POS rollouts.

2010s

Museums & expo work

The display case side of the business takes off. We build vitrines for regional museums, gallery cases for travelling exhibitions, expo cases for trade-show stand builders.

2020s

The Cutting Room launches

We launch the trading name “The Cutting Room” for the modern bespoke side of the business — same workshop, same family, dedicated to acrylic and display work. Live quote tools, instant DXF pricing, online specification.

Today

40 years on, still bespoke

We make bespoke displays, cases, signage and POS for British businesses, schools, museums and brands. Same workshop, same street, same approach. Every job designed and made for the client. No catalogue, no off-the-peg, no “system”.

How we work

Bespoke means bespoke

There’s no catalogue, no system, no off-the-peg fixture you pick from a printed brochure. Every job we take on is designed for the specific client, the specific brand, the specific space and the specific product going on display.

That sounds inefficient until you realise it’s the only reasonable way to do this kind of work. A retailer’s counter isn’t the same dimensions as another retailer’s counter. A museum’s plinth isn’t the same height as another museum’s plinth. A school’s honours cabinet doesn’t hold the same trophies as another school’s. You either bespoke it or you compromise it.

Same person, brief to finish

One of the differences when you work with us is that the person quoting your job is normally the same person making it. There’s no “sales team” passing the brief to a “production team” via internal email. The brief stays with one person — usually Lawrence — from first conversation through to delivery. Questions come back faster, changes happen quicker, mistakes are rarer.

We’re small enough that this works. We make enough volume to justify the equipment, but not so much that we lose the thread of any individual job. Forty years in, that’s the size and shape we’ve settled into.

Made on the bench, not in a meeting

The cutting, bonding, finishing and packing all happen in the same Brighton workshop. We don’t outsource production. We don’t subcontract bonding to a unit in Manchester or ship parts overseas for finishing. If you visit (which you can, by appointment), you’ll see your job on the bench being made.

What we care about

The shorthand version of what we tell new clients before we quote anything.

i.

Bespoke means it

No catalogue, no off-the-peg. Every job designed for the client.

ii.

One workshop

Brighton. Same building, same team. Visit anytime by appointment.

iii.

Quote within a day

Email enquiries answered same-day or next working day. No exceptions.

iv.

Built to last

Some of our 1990s display cases are still in use. That’s the standard.

Frequently asked

About the workshop

How long has The Cutting Room been operating?
A.A. Taylor Limited was founded in 1985 and has operated continuously from the same Brighton workshop ever since. The Cutting Room is the modern trading name for our bespoke acrylic, display and signage manufacturing. Forty years and counting.
Where is your workshop?
11–13 Shaftesbury Place, Brighton BN1 4QS. A ten-minute walk from Brighton railway station. Visitors are welcome by appointment.
What's special about how you work?
Bespoke manufacturing, no catalogue. Every job designed and made for the client. Same person specs, makes and ships the work. No middlemen, no account-managers.
Who are your typical clients?
Roughly even mix of agencies and shopfitters (about 40%), retailers and brand managers direct (about 30%), museums and schools (about 20%), and private clients (about 10%). Trade clients across the South of England, retail clients UK-wide.
Do you take on small jobs?
Yes. One-piece minimum. We've made bespoke pieces for private collectors and 5,000-unit runs for national retailers in the same week.
Are you a registered company?
A.A. Taylor Limited is a UK registered company (registered in England), VAT registered, fully insured. Bursar-friendly invoicing for schools and procurement-friendly for institutional clients.
Visit the workshop

Come and see how we work

Walk-throughs are welcome by appointment. See live jobs in production, handle materials in person, meet the team. A ten-minute walk from Brighton railway station.