Meet the team

Anthony

Anthony is one of our Directors and our Head of Restoration, overseeing the transformation of our stock from purchase to sale. He is a talented cabinet maker and his love of working with his hands came from his Grandfather, who taught him the cabinetmaking trade from a very young age. On a normal day you will find him browsing auctions looking for hidden gems, or in his wood workshop, but he can turn his hand to many other things, from spinning metal and painting stained glass to carving marble.

Benji

Benji is from Kosovo, and works on the restoration of marble and stone. In Kosovo he trained to be a doctor but had a change of career when he arrived in the UK. A self-confessed perfectionist, he can make chips and cracks disappear into the natural striations of the stone. He is just as comfortable using our enormous stone saw as using fine chisels to carve the most elegant of details.

Charlie

Charlie joined the team to assist with the enormous feat that was moving our 50 year old business to the new showroom. We couldn’t bear to part with him, so he now keeps our gallery in order, and assists Darius and Lee with lighting for their photography. He has become taken with metal polishing, and loves to return metal objects to their former glory.

Darius

Darius as Head of our Office ensures that everything runs smoothly, especially our complicated IT systems. He is part of the Sales Team and is also responsible for photographing our ever expanding stock of lighting and accessories. He has a great eye for detail, and captures our lighting especially well. With his degree in conservation he is adept at offering advice to clients on how to care for antiques! In his spare time he is currently studying accountancy, so his eyes are always on our finances.

Laura

Laura is one of our Directors. Day to day, you’ll find her liaising with clients to help them find exactly what they need, whilst also searching for new items to add to the website. She styles the print advertisements and gallery shots for Lee to photograph, working with him to make sure the pieces look their best. Laura also puts her art history degree to use when researching stock and writing our monthly newsletter, exploring the history behind some of our rarest and most fascinating pieces.

Lee

As our Head of Photography Lee photographs all of our chimneypieces and is responsible for the shooting of our adverts. He loves to create drama in all he photographs. After he graduated with a degree in photography, he went on to work on advertising campaigns for various large companies including some in America. Along with Darius he oversees our IT systems. Lee has been with the company over 20 years - we do buy him a new camera every now and then to keep him happy!

Mitin

Mitin is our Accountant, and has worked with Westlands for almost 30 years during which time he has seen the company evolve into what it is today. He is a calming and steady presence in the office taking everything in his stride and is a font of wisdom on all things fiscal. He also advises us in our decision making, ensuring that everything is in order, especially the administration and recording of the day to day business of purchases and sales.

Naim

Naim is from Kosovo and has recently joined the team. He can turn his hand to anything, and works to restore our lighting and metalwork ready for sale, carrying out fiddly re-wiring and the reassembly of numerous elements! He is always ready to lend a hand and even helped rebuild the roof of our new showroom!

Sam

Sam is one of newest and youngest members of staff, having moved from Stroud to join the marble workshop. He is being trained by Benji and Anthony to use the tools necessary to restore and re-build fireplaces using traditional tools and methods. Previously he trained in woodwork but loves the opportunity to work with marble in all its variation.

Tony

Tony is our wood restorer and has been a cabinet maker for over 35 years. He never ceases to leave us in awe of the quality of his work, and uses many traditional tools and techniques to repair or modify wooden and a variety of other items in our collection. His most impressive restoration to date is almost is certainly the restoration of an enormous Regency urn, where he carved new serpent handles which had been entirely missing.