Extract from LI Interview2015"Richard McLane, Bisca’s founder and Design Director, is a time served blacksmith from a local farming family, graduating from Northumbria University with a first class honors degree in Design, before setting up Bisca in 1994.At University Richard experimented with combining elements of steel, glass & timber into his designs, although tutors preferred students to specialize in a single medium. It’s this expertise that creates architectural masterpieces and has put Bisca at the forefront of staircase design and manufacture.He learned to weld at the age of 10, and helped to build go karts, grain silos, stock pens, farm buildings and tree houses. His introduction to fine engineering was gained through watching his father building gliders and auto-gyro’s.Like many students of design, Richard’s first foray into business was with a successful range of elegant handcrafted furniture and homewares, commissioned by clients such as Theatre Royal and Chez Max. Today, Richard’s ethos of quality, craftsmanship, timeless design and fastidious attention to detail is reflected in a thriving business. As well as the UK, Bisca work worldwide and have recently installed commission is Dubai, Russia, Saudi, Sweden, Jersey, Isle of Man, Isle of Anglesey, Bahamas and Lagos. Richard says “I am lucky to work with a fantastic, hard-working and creative group of people who will attempt, and carry off, projects that other companies baulk at. Two recent examples were bronze panels for a building in Russia, and a wheelchair escape ramp for a special needs school.Both clients admitted that exploring all possibilities before chancing on Bisca, no other company was even willing to consider their project - that’s not bad going for a small manufacturing company in the heart of North Yorkshire"

Richard’s agricultural background instilled a down to earth common sense surrounding issues concerning sustainability and renewable energy. His introduction to Biomass came in 2004 during a holiday in Denmark and he returned looking for an opportunity to contribute to clean energy development. As head of design on a construction project during 2006 /7, Richard had the opportunity to introduce Biomass to North Yorkshire designing and installing a medium scale boiler (250kw) and district heating system. It was also during 2007 that he met John Westmacott and became a partner and Design & Engineering Director of Land Energy.In Wales, Richard was involved with the acquisition and redesign of the old welsh biomass site, with a production level of 30 tonnes per annum before selling the factory in 2009. For Land Energy Girvan, Richard has overseen the concept and detailed design for the factory between 2008 and 2012. The factory is currently undertaking a design upgrade to take the production level from 60 tonnes to 90 tonnes per annum.