Lewes workshop looks back on five successful years of making designer kitchen fronts

Jesse Byron-Russell, 46, is the man behind Cutting Edge CNC, which he founded in 2013, having spent six months hand-building a CNC (computer numerical control) machine to automatically cut, drill and shape material.

This led to the creation of Plyzen in 2021, a small manufacturing workshop at Upper Stoneham Farm that specialises in pieces to fit IKEA kitchen cabinets.

Jesse told this newspaper: “Originally, we (Cutting Edge CNC) cut precision parts for furniture makes, interior designers, architects and product designers – some fairly broad industries really. But then we diversified during Covid when our business was hit to offer some products directly to consumers.”

Jesse said people were contacting the business to ask about home office equipment because they were working from home a lot more. This led to the business supplying customised desks.

Jesse explained that Plyzen was created to represent the side of Cutting Edge CNC that sells finished products directly to customers. He said this was a ‘remedy’ to the business being hit by the pandemic, as well as a new opportunity to adapt to consumers’ changing needs.

The way it is set up allows customers to buy cabinets from Ikea, and then come to Plyzen to select their doors, drawer fronts, cover panels, plinths, hinges and handle positions. Everything is made to order at the Lewes workshop – from pressing laminates to CNC machining and hand finishing – and the finished products then go out to homes across the UK.

Jesse said: “The customer who would ideally like something quite customised and quite hand-made gets that look and gets that quality but doesn’t get the full bill.”

He said: “It’s a really good half-way house.”

Jesse grew up in Brighton and went to school at Lewes Priory from 1992. He went on to study business studies as a first degree, and then product development as a Masters, at the University of Brighton at the School of Engineering.

Jesse said he ‘bumped into’ CNC technology and became ‘obsessed’ with the machinery, having had a life-long interest in both carpentry and technology.

He said: “I was working for test engineers for an electronics company and saving money and keen to go it alone. So I took the plunge and rented a shed, a very small workshop in a shed barn, on the same site we’re on now. It was pretty much the size of two car garages – really tiny but it was enough space for me to build a CNC machine, which I did on a shoestring budget.”

He continued: “What was quite magical about this was it was a shed barn with five other furniture makers and they were intrigued by this machine I was making. Before it was even ready to run, I already had a list of projects for the people I was sharing the building with. It ended up being the perfect setting really.”

Jesse said the whole experience of building his own CNC machine over six months was ‘crazy’. He said: “It was a combination of looking up things on YouTube, being on forums and late night sessions welding control boards together. I look back and it was like my ‘mad professor’ phase of the business.”

Jesse said feedback on Plyzen’s cabinet fronts has been ‘excellent’ and said the team like to celebrate five-star reviews with a pizza. He said: “The reviews have been really good, I think we’re at about a 4.9. We’ve got 63 Google reviews, which isn’t a lot but I would rather have quality over quantity and they are real and they all matter.”

Looking back on the past five years of Plyzen, Jesse said he is really proud of what he and his team have achieved and the products they have made. He added that the business also tries to make responsible decisions when sourcing materials. He said it only buys FSC-certified timber products and aims to reduce waste wherever possible.

Plyzen is at units 20 and 21 of Upper Stoneham Farm in Lewes. People can find out more at plyzen.co.uk.