Max McMurdo

Max McMurdo established reestore ltd in 2003 when he became uneasy at the consumption focused ways of the traditional design world. Having graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in product design and visualisation Max had soon followed his boyhood dream and was designing cars in Cologne, Germany. He noticed that German culture was way ahead of Britain in terms of re-use and recycling. Max returned to the UK and set up reestore with the purpose of designing and manufacturing a range of high end desirable furniture items created from waste destined for landfill.

Max was keen to show that “eco friendly products do not need to be made from mud and hemp, they can be contemporary, stylish and desirable as well as taking the environment into consideration”. By 2007 reestore had won several design awards and featured in many galleries and exhibitions however it was barely covering the overheads, Max decided to pitch reestore on BBC's Dragons' Den where he secured investment from Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis.

With their investment and input reestore has grown from a hobby fuelled by passion to one of the UK’s most respected and renowned designers and manufacturers of upcycled products. reestore now have a client list that includes The Body Shop who have purchased over 200 bath tub chairs for their stores worldwide, completed several installations for Google’s head offices globally and recently won gold at the Chelsea Flower Show with Kate Gould Gardens.

Max blames his success on his parents who taught him the core values of consumption and re-use from a very young age, "make do and mend was an integral part of my childhood" Max states with pride. "I was always wearing socks that had been darned or a handed down Pringle jumper with sewn on elbow patches, my dad was a war time baby so you looked after what you had and fixed it if it broke!" "Mum would never get to use washing up liquid from the bottle as I'd decant it into a mug so I could turn the bottle into a rocket or space ship!" Max still heads up the business with support from a skilled team of designers and fabricators. Having featured on George Clarke's Amazing Spaces in 2012, Max is now sharing his time between managing reestore, designing lots of fantastic new products, sipping lattes in his upcycled shipping container office in his back garden and most recently as a TV presenter on Channel 4.