The beginning of November marks the official end of Myer Halliday Design Ltd. It is the end of an aspiration for a business which was never economically realised. At its best we created an iconic range of work which was much in demand and made valued connections with customers in the United Kingdom, the USA and Japan.

Becoming a limited company was about growth within limits. I grew up with an affection for industrial design and for manufacturing. As I was developing my business practice I confess I had a secret desire to become a factory. As an individual maker I believed that the more consistent and repetitive in my making I could be, the ‘better’ the work I made was. Becoming more factory-like seemed somehow like a natural extension. On the other hand we were also starting to make sales in the US. At that time I had a real fear about our legal liability if there were any problems with our products (we were starting to make and market our candles).

Becoming a limited company was a way of focussing our efforts as a business and now a few years later I am officially coming to the end of that path. So, what happened and why stop? The answers are simply that the costs and effort required to make our work outweighed what was being recouped. After years of work and expense I realised that the business was not self-sustaining and so I made the decision to close it.

There is sadness at what did not fully come to be but there is also some relief at the opening up of horizons. It is for sure, an uncertain time. How do you create a new life? How do you find new ways of expressing yourself? How do you learn the skills and find the people and the resources that you need to do these things?

Right now, I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I am beginning to explore the possibilities. One of my hopes is to be able to share these explorations with you, however, uncertain and partial they might be.

I am excited and hopeful about this. There is possibility and potential and yes, in a way it is unlimited. So whilst it may be the end of MHD Ltd, it is also the beginning of whatever is next.

Let’s find out what that is together.

Nov 5 Limited No More.