Mr. White (of Bailey and White Timber Company) and Mr. Newton (a skilled furniture maker) opened White & Newton in Portsmouth in 1924, making contemporary furniture. The business grew to employ over 400 staff at its peak. During the 1960s, under the design direction of the talented Arthur Edwards, the firm produced stunning high end furniture often defined by its clean modern lines and distinctive designs.

The company favoured the use of teak as a staple design material but also used exotic timbers such as rosewood for its high end aesthetic. White and Newton furniture was a hit with trendsetters of the day, and many of the timeless designs are collectible today.

White & Newton were a very forward thinking company – for example, they had a 50:50 profit share whereby half of any profits went to the shareholders and the other half was shared between the workers. During the war, like many other factories that had skills and machinery working with wood, White and Newton became a subcontractor to Airspeed, producing parts for Horsa gliders and Oxford Trainers. After the war, White & Newton returned to furniture manufacture and were successful throughout the 50s and 60s. But as ‘flat pack’ started to arrive and cheap imports made UK manufacture less competitive, White & Newton started to suffer, and eventually closed in 1982/83.