Locker & Riley

Locker & Riley was founded in 1982 by joiner Clive Locker and Michael Riley, after Locker rescued 7,000 historic woodblock carvings from destruction and spent two years tracing their origins back to a fibrous plaster company that had closed in the 1960s. That research became the foundation of a new business dedicated to reviving traditional decorative plasterwork skills. Jon Riley has led the company since 1992, building a team whose craftspeople collectively hold over a thousand years of combined technical experience.

The practice specialises in fibrous plaster and lime plasterwork: cornices, ceiling roses, friezes, panel mouldings, corbels and arches, produced through traditional modelling, moulding and casting techniques alongside bespoke design and surveying services. Their work spans hotels, theatres, livery halls, private residences and flagship commercial interiors, with particular expertise in recreating historic enrichments from archive references and reinstating decorative schemes lost to fire, decay or inappropriate later alteration.

Locker & Riley work closely with architects, main contractors and heritage bodies on Grade I and Grade II listed buildings, balancing painstaking conservation of original fabric with the practical realities of modern fire protection, lighting and building services. Their portfolio includes the Gilbert Scott Restaurant at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, the London Palladium, the Dorchester Hotel and the Plaisterers' Hall livery hall in the City of London, and they maintain working relationships with Historic England, the King's Foundation and Sir John Soane's Museum.