Hotel reupholstery case study: The Townhouse, Manchester

Client: The Townhouse Hotel, Manchester
Industry: Hospitality – hotel brasserie and bar
Service: Commercial reupholstery, contract fabric sourcing, fire safety compliance
Scope: 70 chairs across six seat styles, plus a ~70ft curved booth run
Fabric partners: Cristina Marrone and Agua Fabrics
Fire compliance: BS 7176 Crib 5 throughout
Outcome: Full compliance paperwork, zero brasserie closure, sample chairs approved before the full order

Guests notice tired seating before the management dashboard does. That was the brief at The Townhouse, a Manchester city-centre hotel whose brasserie had taken years of covers, spills and constant turnaround.

Valley Upholstery stripped, refoamed and recovered 70 chairs across six styles, plus a full curved booth run, in fire-rated contract fabric from two specialist mills – without closing the brasserie for a single service.

This case study is for hotel, restaurant and bar operators who need the room looking right, the fire file clean, and the doors open.

The challenge

The seating mix was not a single SKU. Small dining chairs, large egg-style chairs, modern winged chairs, open-back chairs, low-arm chairs and a long curved booth all had to finish to one standard.

The hotel needed a partner who could:

• Recover a mixed furniture set so zones still felt designed, not patched.
• Meet BS 7176 Crib 5 on every face – the standard hotels, restaurants and other public-access premises are held to.
• Trade through the works – no multi-week brasserie shutdown.
• De-risk the budget – prove fabric, colour and comfort before ordering seventy-plus recoveries.

The solution

Contract fabric from two specialist mills

Agua Fabrics supplied hard-wearing faux leathers for the small chairs, open-back and low-arm styles – inherently rated to BS 7176 Crib 5 as manufactured, so no extra treatment delay.

Cristina Marrone supplied the decorative faces for winged and egg-style chairs. Those fabrics were chosen for look and hand, then sent for certified flame-retardant back-coating so they hit the same Crib 5 bar as the faux leathers.

Result: varied seating zones that still read as one scheme, with one compliance standard across the lot.

Fire safety first: BS 7176 Crib 5

In hotels and restaurants, fire rating is not a nice-to-have. Insurers, fire risk assessors and local authority expectations all point at BS 7176, with Crib 5 as the highest-severity ignition test most contract work is specified against.

Every fabric on this job was certified to that standard before it met a frame. Treatment records sit in the handover pack with the care instructions.

Samples first: sit in it before you buy the room

We recovered one chair of each style before the full order. The hotel team could sit, see colour under real light, and sign off comfort and finish in situ – not from a postage-stamp swatch.

That single step removes most of the regret from a commercial recover. You approve the product you are actually buying.

The process

1. Site survey and seat audit – measure, photograph and map each style to fabric and construction.
2. Sample chairs – one of each style recovered and approved first.
3. Fabric and fire treatment – Agua faux leathers straight to cutting; Cristina Marrone faces out for certified Crib 5 back-coating (typically 2–3 weeks for that step alone).
4. Strip and rebuild – full strip-back, high-density foam where needed, frame repairs before recover.
5. Staged collection and delivery – batches timed around service so the floor never empties.
6. Handover – fabric specs, fire ratings and care notes in one pack for the client’s file.

The results

• 70 chairs across six styles, plus a ~70 linear foot curved booth, to one finish standard.
• Crib 5 compliance documented for every face.
• Zero trading downtime for the brasserie – staged logistics, not a full strip-out.
• Decision de-risked – sample chairs approved before the bulk order.
• Life extended on existing frames with new foam and repairs instead of wholesale replacement.

“The team at Valley upholstery are perfect! We had a load of our chairs for my hotel lounge re-upholstered and they are now back and completed and look like brand new! Would recommend to anyone. Will definitely be back in touch if we need anything else done.”
– Natasha Fletcher, Manager, The Townhouse Hotel, Manchester (5-star Google review)

Frequently asked questions

What fire standard applies to hotel and restaurant upholstery in the UK?
Public-access seating is typically specified to BS 7176, with Crib 5 as the common high-severity bar. It covers the complete construction, not fabric in isolation. We supply the paperwork with the job.

How long does commercial reupholstery take?
Scope and fabric path drive the calendar. Inherently rated fabrics move faster; decorative faces needing certified treatment usually add 2–3 weeks. Staged collection keeps the venue trading either way.

Can we see a finished sample before the full order?
Yes. One chair per style first is standard on larger hospitality runs. You approve real comfort and colour before the full budget lands.

Do you work around live trading hours?
Yes. Multi-trip collection and delivery around service is normal for hotels and pubs that cannot close.

Ready to refresh hotel or restaurant seating?

If your brasserie, bar or dining room seating is due a recover, send photos, seat counts and any fire-spec notes. We will come back with an itemised commercial quote and a schedule that respects covers. Related: hospitality upholstery, pub seating and banquettes, the commercial upholstery hub, and similar phased refits such as The Black Bull and Preston pub seating.