Cherry Tree FurnitureExecutive Recline Extra Padded Office Chair (Black PU Leather)

I purchased this office chair for my wife. It was a replacement for the uncomfortable and cheap low-back chair she has been using whilst working from home during the lockdown. She has recently been informed that she needs to work from home until Christmas. With this in mind, we decided to invest in a better chair - one that would give improved back support, and generally provide more comfort for the eight hours a day she needs to sit in it. She didn’t want to pay anymore than £90 - so that was a challenge! I spent ages trawling through those available on Amazon, but most within our price range seemed to have just too many negative reviews attached to them. There were all kinds of depressing faults with them: shoddy build quality, damaged covers, difficult to assemble, faulty mechanisms, stripped threads where bolts needed to be attached etc. After much digging though, I came across this Cherry Tree Furniture Executive Chair, it's a big seller, it looked good, it had a fairly wide seat, could easily take my 15 stone should I ever use it, and had many complimentary reviews on it - so I duly ordered one. The price (including delivery) came in at just under £90.It arrived one day later than the confirmed delivery date - so that wasn’t an issue. All the components were contained in one large cardboard box weighing 19.5 Kg. Inside, everything was neatly and securely protected. After taking all the items out, I confirmed to myself that nothing was damaged and that all the listed parts were there. It was then a case of referring to the easy-to-follow instruction leaflet. I never take chances, so I tried all of the screws (total of 10) in all of the threaded holes to make sure they screwed in okay. I then blew out any dust in those holes before commencing to assemble. I'm known as being rather pedantic, so I even put a smidgen of grease on each screw. One word of advice is to make sure you get all of those screws loosely in their threaded holes before you start tightening them up. I took my time, and reckon I single-handedly had it fully assembled in around 15-20 minutes - and it went together like a dream.My wife and I are very happy with this chair. It's comfortable to sit in, the arms are nicely cushioned, the PU leather is soft and pliable, and the controls for elevating/lowering/reclining work smoothly. This actually looks and feels like a more expensive office chair. Only time will tell as to its long-term reliability. This is one of those purchases that I generally give an update on after six months usage - so watch this space...For now, I have no hesitation in recommending this product to those on a similar budget to ours. Really, for the price, this takes some beating. Many thanks for checking out my review, I hope you found it of use.

If 'completely' satisfied, why 'only' 4 stars for durability? That's me hedging my bets, really, as I've only had the chair for 2 days. I think it is REALLY well made, tho', and cannot foresee any durability issues arising any time soon.Why 'only' 4 for 'support'? Well, 4 is pretty darned good - and it is very comfy and supportive - but there is always room for improvement such as adjustable lumber support etc - ie it ain't 'perfect', but it is lovely...There are LOTS of chairs out there in this price range, and I'm sure many others are equally good, but we ultimately chose this one due to the largely very positive reviews and its aesthetics. We are not disappointed.FEATURES: This chair has a significant advantage over most others in this price range of having an independently reclining backrest which is controlled by a gas ram and operated by the button on the side of the seat base. To operate this, first make sure the WHOLE seat is locked in its upright position (by pressing INWARDS) the height-adjusting lever, then press in the recline button whilst reclining your body back on the backrest - it will move smoothly and remain in whatever position you want when you release the button. (This button operates the gas ram via a cable - it presses on the control button on the end of the gas ram and, if this doesn't work easily - see if that needs adjusting; it's exactly like the cable control on a bike brake lever - you adjust the length of the outer cable. Easy.) To return the backrest, simply lean forward (to remove pressure on the backrest) and press the button - it'll hiss back smoothly...The WHOLE chair can also 'rock' backwards by pulling OUTWARDS the height-adjustment lever, and then you can adjust the tension in that 'rock' - ie how easily it is to lean back and make it 'rock'. You CANNOT lock the whole chair in this recline - it works against spring pressure, so just gives that nice relaxing rocking motion that's so pleasing now and then!Finally there's the height adjustment, again via a gas ram - pull the height-adjustment lever UPWARDS and the chair will smoothly drop if you are sitting on it. Raise yer bum and pull again and it'll smoothly glide back up.ASSEMBLY: No issues at all - it's common sense. The only tool - a hex key - is supplied. One teeny issue was initially trying to align one of the armrest screw holes; the armrest has 2 screws through the seat base, and one in the backrest ('cos it needs to pivot on that one). The screw 'receivers' on the backrest & base are raised round collars so the armrest actually fits neatly over them and locates there before the hex screws are bolted down. I found one side tricky to align at first - when I got the armrest over one collar, the other one was fractionally not lined up and wouldn't fit over. After a few attempts, I tried it the opposite way around; I positioned the other one first - blimey the second one now went on ok.AESTHETICS: Lovely finish to the PU 'leather' - it isn't that nasty shiny heavily-overgrained pseudo-leather plastic at all, but a lovely matt/satin, delicately grained soft finish which looks superb and could easily pass for real leather. Although soft, it also feels nicely thick so I have no worries about durability. All the other components were very solid and very well finished - it really does look like a high quality chair; there is no signs or indications of 'cheapness' at all.Any 'CONS'? Well, it was bought for my mum-in-law who plays on-line Bridge, and - whilst she absolutely loves the chair - she did wish that the backrest could be slightly more vertical so as to still be in contact as she works the keyboard - (she leans forward when 'dealing' cards... :-) )That has just lit a lightbulb - the bracket for the end of the gas-ram is very easily removed and if I drill a couple of extra holes in it I'll be able to reposition it, say, a quarter or half-inch further towards the back of the seat base - that'll push the backrest forward. It won't matter if it's slightly TOO upright then as - of course - it's adjustable using the side button. Where's my drill...