About Stuart
After a degree in mechanical engineering, I took an MA in Product Design.
My first job was designing for a major global manufacturer of packaging - think drinks bottles, make-up applicators, and biscuit tins. Shortly after the Millennium I spent a few years as a management consultant, working on IT projects around London. Bought a flat. Refurbished it, and worked out I could add an extra toilet in a corridor. It was better than it sounds.
The next logical step was to sell up and move to Switzerland with my wife Rosie, where I helped found a high-end ski chalet rental business. While there, we bought and renovated a 1960's apartment near the top of a mountain, adding bedrooms and toilets along the way. A 3-hour round trip down to the DIY store in the valley sharpened our planning skills.
Rosie and I, now back in the UK with a baby in tow, bought a little seaside townhouse, which we fixed up. I added a toilet at the side of the kitchen. Again, better than it sounds. Moved to our current house, which back then was a rather tired 1960's dormer bungalow. Started looking for places to add toilets.
After the 'market adjustment' of 2008, the luxury holiday world changed somewhat... so we started a small online custom furniture and giftware company, called Cleancut Wood. I made the products, Rosie got them sold. This project involved some large CNC woodworking machinery in the front room of our newly-bought fixer-upper. Over the next years we completely rebuilt this house, adding many toilets.
We developed the business into a couple of physical retail stores called Custom Gift Studio, based in a succession of converted pop-up shop trailers (one with a toilet!) at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet and at the shiny new Chester Market.
We wound that operation down a couple of years ago for personal reasons and since then I've been concentrating on finishing our house (we are now at a firm 97%), assisting other build projects locally, and setting up my online mentoring service 'The Self-Builder's Friend', where, among other topics, I suggest places people can add new toilets.