George MacLeod-Whiting and Matt Fanning are designing and crafting furniture and objects for cafés and hospitality spaces that are easier to use and anything but traditional.
The day starts with coffee for George MacLeod-Whiting and Matt Fanning, the talented design duo behind Proffer. Their base alongside the Korokoro Stream in Wellington means there’s plenty of choice for their daily caffeine before they sit with their ideas and the plans for the day.
By mid-morning, the workshop is humming with machinery. Materials are neatly stacked to one side, while prototypes take shape across the space: menu systems in progress, table bases mid-assembly, and new serving trays awaiting final refinement.
The workshop is in full action all day. At the heart is a CNC machine that has been custom-built for Proffer.
“We don’t just design a single product,” says George. “We are also designing the manufacturing process at the same time. We design a system around each product so that we can adapt those products to our customers’ needs.”
This approach means that, rather than one-off custom pieces, they can craft tailored outcomes without a premium price tag.
“Part of that is buying the right machinery so that we can do a lot of different things, very, very easily. We put a lot of the customisation elements into our software so that when it comes to actually making it on the machinery, the machinery can just do its job, and we know what the costs are going to be ahead of time, and that’s really important,” adds George.
“It’s about creating the system so that we can make something in the materials that people want, with the process that they need.”
It’s easy to see the passion they have for what they do. Not just the finished pieces, but the thought and work that goes into designing the product and the processes.
The way George and Matt design furniture and menu boards has been shaped by their careers in hospitality. George once helped create and operate a pizza restaurant in the UK, while Matt spent years managing bars in and around Wellington.
“There’s always that knowledge of having to move really heavy tables. So it’s like, well, can we make it lighter? Let’s make it better.”
From adjustable menu systems that eliminate the need for handwritten chalkboards to modular table bases that can be easily configured, each product has evolved from their experience and ideas, built and improved to make processes easier in real-world use.
“We try to only bring products to market that we think are a valuable alternative to what already exists.”
As George gives a tour of the workshop, there are prototypes made from colourful linoleum, through-coloured MDF and metals and timber veneers; some materials that are often overlooked being used in new ways.
“It’s about being willing to look elsewhere and champion materials that maybe aren’t getting as much attention as they deserve,” says George.
“We really like materials that are honest to what they are. We try to avoid plastic laminates, particularly faux timber ones. All of our timber products are genuine timber veneer.”
It’s less about using premium materials and more about letting materials be what they are. They can be used, touched, worn in and then restored when the time comes.
Proffer’s journey wasn’t always focused on these smaller items. One of their favourite projects was the front of house fitout, including the counters and custom bread racks, for Baker Gramercy. And before hospitality fitouts, Proffer originally started as a signage business.
“We shrank down a little bit. We took our old CNC into a little lock-up garage and just started iterating new products. We had the pegboards already and then we started developing what is now our table system and some of our other menu display holders,” shares George. “And then it was last year we took the next step. We bought the new machine, we moved into this workshop and we’re ushering in the next phase, which is really a broad swathe of furniture offerings and display menus.”
This change has brought that freedom to create and refine. To build the processes that then build each product. It’s a rhythm that George and Matt have come to enjoy: arriving in the workshop, machines humming, the space to sit down and build on ideas and solve the next problem.
George and Matt’s story is a reminder that thoughtful design doesn’t start with a finished object, but with a way of working. A willingness to question how something is made, to refine it, and to build systems that allow good ideas to evolve. What began as a shift away from full fit-outs has become a focused practice, one grounded in iteration, material honesty and real-world use.
Each piece that leaves the Proffer workshop carries that thinking with it. Designed to adapt, to endure, and to feel at home in the rhythm of hospitality spaces, their work reflects a balance of precision and practicality, where every detail has been considered not just once, but over and over again.
If you’re inspired by makers like George and Matt, ArchiPro makes it easy to discover the designers and products shaping thoughtful, well-crafted spaces. Explore projects to see how considered furniture and materials can define an interior, or start a project board to collect ideas for your own space.
