Blenheim Place might be 300 years old but thanks to Susan Bradley, it is about to be re-invented as a funky accessory. The Summertown-based designer is well known for her brightly-coloured 3D bookends in the shape of iconic objects and buildings such as London taxi cabs, red double-decker buses, a red telephone kiosk, Battersea Power Station and the Statue of Liberty.

The latest addition to her portfolio is a 3D bookend of the palace, with the Duke of Marlborough’s ancestral seat immortalised in a choice of fire engine red or black.

Outlets including John Lewis, Heals, Paul Smith and the Victoria and Albert Museum admire her accessories, furniture and lighting products enough to stock them and she has won a number of accolades including the runner-up spot in this year’s Giftware Association’s Gift of the Year Awards.

She designs from a studio at her north Oxford home for clients that include Harvey Nichols, Ritz Carlton Hotels and Christian Louboutin, and is scrupulous about having all her products manufactured in the UK — something that is relatively rare in the home accessories market.

She explained: “It is very important to me. Ethically, I like the idea of money going back into UK economy and from a practical point of view, it is easier to build relationships with suppliers if they are not on the other side of the world.”

Some of the manufacturers she uses are in Oxfordshire but she declines to name names, explaining that her competitors would be delighted to discover that information.

“I see some of my suppliers on almost a weekly basis. And that face-to-face contact is valuable. Some are the same people I worked with six years ago when I launched my first prototype.”

She moved to Oxford from London with partner Simon four years ago. They chose to settle here because he was born in Oxford and has family in Abingdon, but there was another reason, as she pointed out.

“We wanted to be able to get in and out of London easily whenever we needed to for work, or to see friends, so being based here is ideal.”

After a stint in the web design industry, Ms Bradley studied furniture design at a London university, graduating in 2004 and launching her own business shortly afterwards.

She explained: “My work has evolved over a number of years. I started with outdoor wallpaper which was largely conceptual. I liked the idea of taking something from inside and using it outside.

“At the time, I was living in a London flat where the garden was so overlooked on all sides, it felt as though you were in a public space. So my idea was to make it more comfortable and personal by creating this outdoor wallpaper.”

She found her designs were increasingly well received — winning acclaim from the British Council, Design Museum Milan and the German Design Council.

She added: “As things took off, I began to focus on other products, particularly using metal for tables and shelves and doing the reverse — taking things you might expect to see outside and bringing them indoors.

“But although my work has its roots in something conceptual, because I have studied furniture design, it is important to me that it has a practical side.”

She enjoys the client liaison element of running a business and unlike many creatives, is at ease discussing her work.

“One of the best bits is meeting clients. That is really nice and it is when all the new-ideas-thinking happens,” she said.

Two years ago, Ms Bradley teamed-up with Modern Art Oxford on a project that brought together schools, museums and artists to inspire students to be more creative.

She is working with sculpture, wall art and signage at a school in Milton Keynes between now and next summer and has just shown her work at a major exhibition in Lincolnshire.

Her designs recently appeared on TV’s interiors series House Guest and she is regularly feted in glossy magazines such as Vogue, Elle and the Architects’ Journal.

So is she concerned that the recent spending review and future cutbacks will affect her?

“There has been a credit crunch or a recession for the past three years and yet my business has never been better,” she pointed out.

“I have some big public art commissions lined up and my bookends ranges have really taken off but other people in this industry aren’t doing so well.

“I know quite a few interior designers and architects who have seen projects cancelled, so it is mixed out there.

“But it is not all doom and gloom. And maybe it will make people re-evaluate what they are doing which is not always a bad thing.”

Name: Susan Bradley Design Established: 2004 Founder Susan Bradley Number of staff: One

Contact: 07905 484542 Web: www.susandbradley.co.uk