Business & Economy
North East interior design studio nurtures emerging talent
November 15, 2023
Multi-award-winning interior design studio Bernard Interiors has collaborated with CGI specialists NVision Studios to support its expansion into the design industry through a comprehensive mentoring programme.
With a satellite office in London and headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne, Bernard Interiors has been praised as a “true success story”, by Cameron Irvine, NVision Studios’ creative director.
Bernard Interiors has a covetable residential portfolio and an established pipeline of projects in the commercial sector, working with names including Audley Villages, Retirement Villages Group, and Yorkare Homes, making its managing and creative director Jen Bernard an ideal mentor for NVision Studios.
Michael Hall, 24, and Cameron, 25, founded NVision Studios in 2021 as a design studio specialising in property CGI, after graduating from the University Centre at Newcastle College in 2021 with honours degrees in interior and spatial design.
Since then, they have engaged in numerous projects, aiming to establish themselves in the North East design industry.
Their collaboration with Bernard Interiors on several of these has played a pivotal role in shaping their professional journey, leading to valuable mentorship from Jen.
Speaking about the collaboration, Michael, NVision Studios’ managing director, said: “Our experience with Jen and the team at Bernard Interiors has been seamless from the outset, thanks to aligning personalities and mutual drive for design excellence.
“The discussions we have had with Jen have been enlightening, covering topics from business best practices to self-care for entrepreneurs.
“Jen is an inspiration, having harnessed her talent and brought her business from a vision at her dining room table to a prominent national name in the design sector.
“We’re looking forward to learning more from her and implementing her advice.”
The mentorship programme with young businesses is not new for Jen, having assumed the position of a professional practice lecturer at Northumbria University in 2019. She continues to advocate for emerging interior designers in the North East region.
She said: “After graduating, many interior design and architectural students from our region look to London to start their careers and as a result, we lose lots of emerging talent to the capital.
“One of my ambitions when I established Bernard Interiors back in 2008 was to ensure graduates had opportunities here in the North East to pursue their careers, working on world-class design projects.
“We’re proud to fly the flag for design in our region and welcome opportunities to help local designers develop their skills and experience in an established and welcoming environment.
“It is a pleasure to work with Michael and Cameron, and I wish them every success with their business.”