Jonathan Matthews trained in "furniture making and design" at Rycotewood College, Thame, Oxfordshire. After training he initially worked for Viscount Linley in Cheltenham. He then moved to Weymouth, working for a local cabinet maker.

In 2002 he started his own firm, J.M.Designs, in a workshop outside Dorchester. This firm of furniture makers use hardwoods, veneered boards and specialise in marquetry work. They have undertaken many individual and varied commissions from Scotland, Leicestershire, London and of course Dorset.