An interior design company based in Cheddar hosted a conference last month to offer advice to students and start-up companies.

Artichoke held the conference at its headquarters with a range of speakers attending to talk about the business side of running an interior design company.

This included senior lecturers and creative directors, as well as finance and business directors.

The conference was set up as the company looks to ‘support and guide the next generation of furniture makers and architectural joinery experts’.

With all 65 attendees charged no entry fee for the event, Andrew Petherick, Artichoke’s business development director, said he was “delighted with how the day went”.

He said: “Artichoke was fortunate to have had great advice from a prominent business leader when the company was launched thirty years ago.

“This advice helped put us on a sound financial footing, and we’re delighted to be able to offer the same support to the next generation.”

All who attended received free products to help with their work, in addition to the knowledge they gained from those speaking at the event.

The conference is now set to take place annually due to its initial success.

By Jamie Grover