it started with a dream..

In 2015, childhood friends Malcolm Bourne (a.k.a Barri) and Nathan Palmer (a.k.a Archi) founded Joseph Studios together. Before joining together on this venture, Malcolm had been working in property renovation with his company Dreamcoat and Nathan was running his company Nathaniel Joseph Interiors (NJUK), making furniture and bespoke kitchens. They united with the same dream and vision, which was to invest in people and offer opportunities to those who were often overlooked, and not given a chance to succeed. As part of this, they partnered with a number of social enterprises looking at job-creation schemes.

In the following few years they learnt the ups and downs of mixing fair business with social enterprise, ultimately using the building trade and the Joseph Studios workshop to train and employ those struggling with long-term unemployment.

Their workshop in Barton Hill quickly became a hub for more creative projects. It wasn't long before Malcolm and Nathan decided that this was a place where people of all ages could be trained up to design, problem-solve and produce awesome products! Through its volunteering and trainee programmes, Joseph Studios has started helping more people gain life skills and practical training.

Joseph Studios is a work-in-progress, and it’s evolving into something so much more than they had first envisioned. This is a journey that is still organically unfolding, and they are excited to see where it leads.