Alasdhair Willis: I think the rise and the speed of the rise is down to a number of factors. I think one is to do with timing; the timing was just right for something like this to take place. There has been nothing for a number of years in this country that has effectively promoted something that it does very well; produce very good talented designers. And there certainly hasn’t been anything for an even longer period of time that has manufactured them, and represented them on a manufacturing level. So the interest is there because it hasn’t been done, arguably, for a very long time.

First of all people thought, ‘can this happen? Can they make a success of this? How are they doing it?’ So there was a great interest there. Obviously when you work with some of the big name designers you immediately attract a high level of attention, because you are working with world-renowned designers and architects. Also the way we have launched, promoted and marketed the brand is done in a very considered way. We have approached everything in a very targeted way.

The launch of the brand, and the press we have chosen to work with, have been specifically targeted. There has been no wastage; it has all been very focused. All of these things lead up to what is a very concise and clear message. One area companies can fail with on the launch of their brand is failing to get the message clear; its result is that people aren’t quite sure who are they, what they do, what area they fit in, who they represent. With us it was clear from day one.

Mark Holmes: We considered our strategy very carefully and the timing was essential for our present success.

Alasdhair: It also helps to throw a good party that sticks in people’s minds, something to talk about. Especially within an art, design, creative world. If you have something that people walk away from, or crawl away from…

Mark: With a smile on their face…

Alasdhair: It will give them some good memories of your company.

Mark: We want to inspire and we want to motivate. Especially to get new designers excited about careers in the furniture industry.

Alasdhair: We want to make people feel like there is something happening here. That this something, whether you want to refer to it as a movement, an ‘ism’, however you want to phrase it, its something new and exciting happening here. With our launch in London, just over a year ago, we wanted to create a watershed; a moment in design time where people would look back on that event and say, well that really kick-started so and so’s career and it was the start of looking at a certain approach.

We liken it to what Hirst did with Frieze for the Britart movement and the world of art. To create a moment where you can trace back to that and say, it was from then on that this new wave of designers, or approach to design, took place.

Mark: I think whether it is artists or designers, if they see there is an industry there for them to participate in it is incredibly motivating and inspiring. That happened with the Frieze show that Alasdhair has spoken about, hopefully it will happen with us as well. In terms of showing that there really is an opportunity and an industry out there for new designers.

Alasdhair: And lifting the profile of design as well. We know that the world of fashion and the world of art always take the headlines in terms of press. We’ve got so much to be proud of in terms of the designers and architects who are working in this country we want to play our part in raising their profile.

Mark: We joke about the party angle, but it is actually quite a considered business move in terms of promoting the company. Yes we get mentioned and get huge interest from the standard design media. But actually what we end up doing is extending the interest in our company, and furniture in general, through to the wider media. It actually generates a new market for our product and furniture in general.

Alasdhair: Our aim has been from day one, and it will continue to be while this company continues to exist, to be here with the philosophy of nurturing and discovering new designers as well as working with established designers. It is absolutely imperative to the makeup of this company. It works so well when you start mixing established designers with younger designers because they feed off each other really well and it creates a very interesting and productive atmosphere.

Mark: It’s great to be there at the beginning as well, at the start of a potentially really exciting new design language, and to be able to be in a position to nurture it. We have a policy of working with our designers year on year, and as Alasdhair says as the relationship builds it gets stronger and the understanding becomes clearer. It is a very satisfying way to actively generate new designers.

 

Mark: There are many ways. We approach them, they approach us, we see them at a show; there are no standard ways. I think it is important for us to be seen as accommodating and welcoming to new designers. Certainly a designer shouldn’t be afraid to approach us. We are here and if it is a good product, they are doing good things or interesting things, and we see hope in their designs, there is a good chance we will end up working with them.

Alasdhair: You have to go around the shows and the studios in the same way an art dealer would go and do his or her studio visits. We were discussing this the other day, how this country, and in this case London, is such a competitive marketplace for creativity. People that make it to the top, I’m afraid this is the way it works, are even better because, even though there is a great deal of talent underneath that is still interesting and valid, the ones that do start popping up have just had that ‘something’, whether it is determination or a great design, there is something else that lets them fight their way to the top of this competitive pile. Its our job to make sure we pick them off, while at the same time make sure we scavenge around underneath and make sure we don’t miss somebody there who is a genius but has just locked themselves away.

Mark: Not everyone is this sort of savvy promotional expert that you usually see at the forefront of design shows. It doesn’t necessarily go hand in hand with design talent, so you really do have to scour.

Alasdhair: When we talk about the PR and how we manage that side of things it is really important that as a company we have set ourselves up as something beyond just a traditional manufacturer. We take on this role of having much more of an active interest in their careers and representing them in way that is closer, again, to the way things are done in the art world. We have to take on board the individual, as much as the individual’s design, and work out with them the best way of marketing that person.

If they are a very quiet, reclusive type of individual, it is in no one’s interest to try and push them into the pages of Hello magazine. There are other individuals who flourish in that environment with that exposure. It is about making sure we are being true to the individual; that is what is key.

Mark: Both in the marketing and the development of their ideas and designs, it is the whole package that we try to tailor to the individual.