From Trainee Designer to Design Director
Becky joined the business in 2001 as a trainee carpet designer, beginning a career built on a lifelong passion for creativity, art and design. Growing up in the South West, opportunities in creative roles were limited, so when she saw an advert for a trainee designer position, it immediately stood out as the perfect fit.
Unlike many creative careers, there is no formal course or qualification for becoming a carpet designer. The role is learned entirely through hands-on, on-the-job training. Becky developed her skills through practical experience, learning the technical and creative demands of designing for traditional woven carpets.
In 2024, after building extensive expertise in the industry, Becky became the Design Director at Axminster Carpets. She now brings more than 25 years of experience to the role.
One of the aspects Becky enjoys most about her work is the variety. Every project is different, and she has the opportunity to collaborate closely with interior designers and customers on bespoke projects across both commercial and residential sectors. Becky also creates both traditional and modern collections, working with a wide range of clients, designers and architects. She reflects on how the role has helped shape her personally too. When she first joined Axminster, Becky describes herself as quite shy, but working closely with clients and regularly collaborating with new people helped build her confidence and brought her out of her shell.
For Becky, the most rewarding part of the job is seeing her designs come to life. There is a real sense of achievement when a design works well for a client and is then woven on the loom. What begins as an idea in her mind becomes a physical product that people can walk on, experience and appreciate. It is equally satisfying for her to come across a carpet she has worked on in public spaces and recognise her own work in the finished environment.
Becky is also keen to challenge common misconceptions about traditionally woven carpet design. Many people assume that modern technology means the computer now does most of the creative work. While digital tools help make the process more efficient, the designs themselves still need to be created by hand. Creativity, technical understanding and design skill remain central to the role.
She also highlights how specialist carpet design truly is. A significant amount of technical planning and problem-solving is required to ensure a design can be successfully produced on a loom. Understanding these limitations and possibilities is a crucial part of the designer’s role, and one of the reasons traditional carpet design remains such a specialist and highly skilled profession.