Meet The Team
Daren Millman:
Head Cabinetmaker, Technical Tutor & Master Craftsman
Daren runs the tuition and has done so at Rowden for nearly 20 years. Obsessed with woodwork since early childhood, Daren undertook a traditional four-year apprenticeship after leaving school. He embarked on a career that’s taken him from London to New York and Dubai. He has worked at the top of fine furniture making in many workshops, earning his Guild Mark at Rowden in 2007.
Challenging and encouraging in equal measure, Daren delivers advanced practical training at Rowden at the bench and in the daily lectures.
He leads in pushing all our students to be the best makers they can be. His attention and focus inspire most who come through Rowden. We know Daren as one of the best tutors and makers there is.
“Daren is amazing, he is one of those quiet, calm people that never gets flustered and always seems to have an answer to the problem”.
Ed Wild:
Art & Design Tutor
Ed Wild is a Devon Guild of Craftsmen member and a national award-winning furniture designer-maker. Before his career as a fine woodworker, Ed was at Lancaster University, where he taught undergraduate and postgraduate students.
He is a demanding teacher who helps each student find their capacity as a designer and maker. Ed’s tuition bridges both the practical and the theory-driven aspects of our courses.
Beyond the bench, Ed teaches artistic drawing and guides students in the processes necessary for accomplished design. In our experience, drawing can mean the difference between being a run-of-the-mill or a great maker. Being able to draw is an essential part of what we do and is an integral part of your fine woodworking course. Under Ed, your drawing skills will improve. That, in turn, will inform and enable your visual vocabulary; thus, your design skills will improve too. He is patient but unwavering in his commitment to excellence in design.
Duncan Roberts:
Senior Cabinetmaking Tutor
Duncan is another maker with experience at the very highest level. He has been making furniture at the cutting edge of our industry for over 15 years, creating pieces in royal palaces, on superyachts, and for billionaires. His skill has taken him all over the world, and his experience in 21st-century craftsmanship is unrivalled.
With Duncan’s guidance, students can expect to gain a range of up-to-date commercial insights in meticulous detail. He provides the support to ensure students have space to push their creative boundaries without fear while balancing against the pragmatic reality of commercial making. He coaches students with patience and kindness, helping them surpass their own expectations in their year at Rowden.
Precise, driven, and lightning-fast, he is a critical cog in the Rowden wheel and offers an incredibly rare insight for anyone serious about becoming a professional maker at the elite level.
Jon Greenwood:
Cabinetmaking Tutor
Jon is often the first tutor you will spend time with at Rowden. He will move you from novice to meeting our standard with hand tools and machines. Jon will show you how to cut a dovetail, mark out mortice and tenon joinery, glue up panels and a wealth of other fundamental skills. He will introduce you to the machining environment and ensure you are competent with these hazardous tools.
Jon came to Rowden after a time with a world-renowned commercial workshop nearby, making for sheikhs and heads of state. He is the guardian of the quality of handwork at Rowden. Jon’s guidance will get you to that tight joint and polished surface.
Jonathan Walter:
Business Tutor
Jonathan has a wealth of experience both at the height of traditional business and in furniture making. Before becoming a cabinetmaker, Jonathan was Vice President with a major investment bank where he worked in the city of London, New York and Brazil. He changed his path in 2002, retraining as a cabinetmaker and coming to Rowden in 2007. Jonathan runs both Bark Furniture in nearby Bude, as well as Mallo Surfboards.
He is pragmatic, personable and an excellent maker. With Jonathan’s experience and guidance, Rowden students have the best possible opportunity to take their new skills into a commercial setting with comprehensive knowledge and understanding of how the industry works.
MATTHEW LACEY:
GENERAL MANAGER
Matthew joined this workshop after 15 years of overseeing creative workflows and relationships. Passionate about craftsmanship, he is meticulous and pragmatic in equal measure. He manages our development, operations and processes. His efforts ensure we maintain the standards associated with Rowden Atelier and that the workshop continues to thrive.
Sarah Squires:
Office Manager
Sarah runs the office and oversees many of the non-teaching duties, notably supporting students before, during and after their time at Rowden. She has over 25 years of experience in office management across creative education and the arts, including at Bath Spa University. Sarah brings a unique combination of creative and technical expertise and is a critical cog in the Rowden wheel. You will see her most days keeping order around the workshop and, possibly, sitting in on a lecture or two.
PHIL COOK:
CAD TUTOR
Phil has an in-depth knowledge of 3D CAD and how this is applied and deployed in creative work. Working as a product designer, he has overseen hundreds of designs from concept to production and Rhino 3D is an integral part of his project work. Phil has been delivering advanced Rhino training for over 15 years. Phil teaches our CAD intensive as part of the Twelve Month course, as well as a wide range of creative and furniture specific businesses including Waywood Furniture, Joseph Walsh Studio, Foster + Partners, UAL Central St. Martins, Heatherwick Studio and McLaren Automotive.
David Savage:
Our Founder
"Design is complex. It involves uncommon skill and judgement, but these are not talents reserved for the fortunate few. They are acquired … with effort"
David Savage’s philosophy has influenced the work of all the team. A lifetime of experience in bespoke furniture, David moved from his Bideford workshop to the rural setting at Rowden in 1995.
He was an accomplished artist, furniture designer, writer and inspiration to all who followed his work. He continued to design outstanding furniture whilst building the foundations for Rowden to become the renowned school it is today.
David was careful to preserve the ‘meaning in the work’ and felt it vital that the team at Rowden epitomised this sense. He felt each individual had to live the ethos, the excellence, and the objectives of Rowden Atelier. He directly trained Ed Wild, Duncan Roberts, Jon Greenwood, Matthew Lacey, and Jonathan Walter.
Daren Millman worked with David as his most trusted craftsman for over 15 years. After joining in 2003, Daren revolutionised the training at Rowden.
In the last decade of his life, David slowed his involvement with training Rowden students, deferring to Daren’s expertise. He retired from teaching entirely by 2016 and sadly, he passed away at the start of 2019. He had spent his final years concentrating on writing; about Rowden, its contribution to fine woodworking, and his philosophy of craftsmanship. His training in the Arts and Crafts lineage and his moral position concerning craftsmanship underpin our ethics and frame how we treat one another and work at Rowden Atelier.
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