Meet the Square Roots Team: Mauro from Manzano

Producing Square Roots’ high-quality handcrafted furniture is far from a two-man show.

While founders Justin and Ed source the best sustainable French oak available and perform the alchemy on finishes that set their products apart, they couldn’t ship their furniture to the world without the support of a dedicated and professional team.

Italian technical manager Mauro Zamaro has been part of that team for the last two years, lending Square Roots his nearly four decades of woodworking and machining experience to ensure that nothing leaves the factory without meeting the company’s – and his own – exacting standards.

                   

“My town was once known as the ‘capital of the chair’”, Mauro says when speaking of his hometown of Manzano, in the far northeast corner of Italy.

Beginning his journey with timber at the height of the region’s fame for producing some of the best furniture in the world, his philosophy remains simple: ‘When my eyes are happy, I’m happy.”

                   

Sharing a passion for quality craftsmanship with Justin and Ed, and boasting an instinctive eye for detail refined by 38 years in the business, Mauro’s first job was painting and sanding the timber chairs his father used to make. From there he spent nine years learning ‘everything there is to know about timber’ from a Mr. Fernando Cantarutti – a man he credits with instilling his dedication for producing only the best – before spending 20 years in production at one of Italy’s biggest furniture exporter’s, G.L.A.P. Sedia.

Meeting Ed after beginning a ‘new adventure’ in Asia via work for Italian firms in China and then Thailand, Mauro talks about Square Roots biggest advantage.

“The most important thing about Square Roots’ is their focus on quality. Whether it be for the US, Europe or Asia, this is always the first, second and third consideration. This is what makes Square Roots a good company to work for. Also, they are investing in the right things, including people and machinery, which continue to improve their product. I like this about the Square Roots brand.”

For Justin and Ed, Mauro came along at just the right time.

“We came across Mauro at a time when Square Roots was looking to improve the sophistication of our wooden chair designs. We had become successful table makers, but to connect with quality retailers, we needed to offer them dining chairs of comparable quality,” said Justin.

“Mauro’s honest and no-nonsense approach is perfectly aligned with our core values. He is an inspiration to our whole team and has been responsible for improving the skills of a large number of our staff on the job.”

Ed underlined Justin’s thoughts and recalled Mauro’s first visit to the factory.

“When Mauro first came, he announced after an hour that ‘this is my factory!’ He was already covered in sawdust, adjusting machines and beaming happily. It was pretty clear that we had found a good match.’

To find out more about Square Root’s full range of handcrafted timber furniture for the home or office go to sqroots.com  

Square Roots Management Team