Network May 2017

Household Services
Focus on
It may feel like you’ve been in
your job forever, but Lisa
Canning’s Romford company has
been in her family for at least
eight generations – if not longer.
Lisa runs furniture business Abbey Antiques/The
Abbey Group, in Maldon Road, with brother Lee
Cannings, which can be traced back to their
ancestors in Germany in the early nineteenth
century. But the siblings believe it could have
started life as long as 200 years earlier. Mumof-two
Lisa said: “My ancestors were cabinet
makers from Alsace-Lorraine and moved to the
UK, where they changed their name from
Herrman to Harman at the outbreak of the First
World War. My mum remembers hearing as a
child about ancestors from 300 years ago who
were in the trade.”
Lisa’s mum Anne Cannings, 69, was recruited
as a secretary for the company by her father at
the age of 17. Anne said: “I come from a long
line of wood craftsmen – we’ve probably got
sawdust in our veins. My great-grandfather,
Arthur Charles Harman, was a traditional
cabinet maker alongside his four brothers
based in Old Ford Road, Hackney, and was well
established amongst the large shops. He was
well respected as he was a true cabinet maker
and was an expert in his field.”
Widow Anne remembers the business’ first
Romford factory, opening in Moss Road, before
it was lost in a devastating fire in 1979.
“Everything went up in smoke,” she said, “but
we worked at home, from barns from
workshops till we opened in Maldon Road. I am
so proud of the family heritage, and it means
the business can never fail, we can’t let it. There
are too many people upstairs judging us.”
But twelve years ago, centuries of family toil
could so nearly have come to an end when the
shop faced closure after cheap furniture
imports from China saturated the market. It
was then former City worker Lisa, 42 who had
previously no interest in the trade, decided she
couldn’t let so much history be lost. The former
personal PA turned the direction of the business
from furniture making to restoration. “I knew I
would have to take over the involvement of the
company one day but it originally had no real
interest to me,” she admits.
“My only love for it was the history. I was still
enjoying the high life, but when it came to the
crunch I was happy to step up to the task.”
Now Lisa’s children Lavinia, just turned nine,
and Cameron, soon to be seven, are preparing
themselves to lead a ninth generation in the
business. “They do a little hand-sanding and
staining,” said proud gran Anne.
“they are our future.”
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