Five Minutes With...Mark Boddington

The founder of fine furniture-maker Silverlining gives a quick-fire Q&A about his day-to-day.

Entrepreneurialism runs in the blood of Mark Boddington - his great-great-grandfather founded Boddington’s English Beer. Forty years ago Mark Boddington set up a fine furniture crafting business, Silverlining, at the age of 21. From humble beginnings in Cheshire, the name is now sought after among the UHNW community and celebrities including Madonna, Kevin Costner, Tom Ford and the late David Bowie. Boddington shares his day to day in a quick-fire Q&A. 

What is home life? 
Home is rural Shropshire, surrounded by sheep and rescue Shetland ponies. I live with my wife, Tara, and our two teenage children, Demelza and Orlando and three Jackhuahuas. 

What is your morning routine? 
As soon as I wake, I check my iPhone. I know I shouldn’t.  My wife makes me a cup of tea religiously at 6.45am on weekdays and at weekends I step up. I shower using Kiehl’s shampoo and conditioner followed by a splash of Tabacco Toscano by Santa Maria Novella cologne. Breakfast is prepped by my wife; a mix of various berries and fruits, whole oats, sunflower, flax and pumpkin seeds, chia, chocolate nibs, kefir, ginger juice and yoghurt, and a glass of room temperature still water. 

What are your style signifiers? 
I love Tod’s loafers for everyday comfort and a Brioni shirt for cut, colour and cloth. But, most importantly, I strive for good manners… the rest means nothing without them. 

What would we always find in your fridge? 
Parmigiano Reggiano: good on its own or with the simplest fresh pasta. A bottle of Monbazillac wine. Indian limes, Green & Blacks dark chocolate and Breton butter. 

Where in your home are you happiest and why? 
In the kitchen, as it’s the centre of our family and has a beautiful view.  

What would you save from your house if it was on fire? 
After my family and pets, my wife’s collection of John Minihan photographs. Minihan is famous for taking the iconic image of Lady Diana Spencer taken at a London kindergarten as well many portraits of people from the arts including David Hockney, Richard Burton, Yves Saint Laurent, Samuel Beckett, Van Morrison, Francis Bacon, William Burroughs, Al Pacino and Jimmy Hendrix to name a few. John also took a picture of my wife Tara who is an artist and our daughter Demelza in Holland Park.  

What book are you reading? 
Arise to Conquer by Wing Commander Ian Gleed DFC. 

What was a good recent gift you received and one you gave? 
I received a Peugeot Maestro u’Select Pepper Mill: wonderful to handle and an understated functional design. A recent much-loved present I gave to my wife was an original 1947 Pierre Bonnard exhibition poster found in Vence, France. She adores his work.  

Best recent holiday?   
My wife and I returned to Ravello, Italy, where we were married, and for the Terrazza dell’Infinito Villa Cimbrone view. 

Where is still on your ‘bucket list’? 
Chile and Argentina for the landscapes, the people, food and most of all the lack of noise and light pollution.  

What would be your perfect meal? 
I would start with some canapés: wild mushroom tartlets and buckwheat salmon blinis with sour cream and dill with a glass of Pol Roger Champagne. For a starter it would be freshly picked par-boiled courgettes, filled with hollandaise sauce, and topped with grated parmesan, finished under the grill until golden brown. The main course would be pan-fried turbot fillet with brown butter and caper sauce, served with new potatoes and petit pois and a glass of Le Montrachet Burgundy wine. Dessert would be a baked 85 per cent dark cocoa chocolate and Fabbri Amarena cherry soufflé. A cheese course would round it off: Pant-Ys-Gawn goats’ cheese paired with Convento da Serra Elvas plums.  

What is the best advice you’ve received? 
My sister told me: do what you love to the best of your ability. That is why I became a furniture designer/maker. 

If you weren’t doing what you are now what would you be doing? 
I would be a chef with my own restaurant as being a chef has similar traits to my journey in life. You must be passionate about what you do, put the hours in, have an innate sense to constantly improve and be your own worst critic.  

How do you spend a perfect Sunday? 
Very casual and slow. No alarm clock, no iPhone, I spend the day in flip flops, shorts and old shirt, walking with family and dogs, and perhaps a bit of tennis with my kids if they are home from school. 

What would be your one luxury on a desert island? 
A Damascus steel knife for its beauty and sharpness. 

What is your happy place? 
I love driving my 17-year-old Maserati GranTurismo designed by the late Jason Castriota of Pininfarina.  

This article originally appeared in Billionaire's Art & Design Issue. To subscribe click here.