In 1992, Martin Ephson and his business partner Tom Helme acquired a majority stake in the heritage paint brand Farrow & Ball. The pair—Ephson had a background in finance, and Helme was the decoration advisor for the National Trust—wanted to help breathe new life into the struggling company. “There were only 11 people employed in the business, and everything was a priority in terms of reorienting it and setting it on the path to becoming something quite significant,” Ephson tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast.
The duo remained at the helm for 14 years, transforming the brand from a small team working out of 6,000 square feet in Dorset, England, to the company well-known today for its 60 showrooms across the globe, powered by a team of around 400 employees working out of a 60,000-square-foot facility. They ultimately sold the brand to private equity house European Capital in 2006. (It’s now owned by Hempel Group.)
Ephson and Helme’s journey didn’t end there; after taking several years off, the business partners reentered the industry in 2012—this time with the launch of a brand-new fabric brand, Fermoie. “[In the textile industry] there are fewer and fewer mills, which means there’s less choice of substrates or materials. The enjoyment of printed fabric had started to disappear, and we felt that we would like to bring [it] back,” says Ephson. “The [appeal] is in the texture. It’s in the balance of a lot of the subtleties that are being rubbed out by volume production. We thought that in the mainstream market, there was an opportunity to present things in a little more exciting way.” As the brand has grown, it has gained representation in a number of showrooms across the States, and recently entered the wallpaper category.
Elsewhere in the episode, Ephson discusses what brings U.K. companies to America, how Americaj design was and will always be influenced by British design, and why wallpaper and color are back and better than ever.
Crucial insight: Ephson believes in leading employees with clear communication and by keeping their best interests at heart. “[Make] sure that people who work with you share the vision and understand the goal—to do that you need to keep the goals accessible and reasonable,” he says. “You look after people, and people will look after your business.”
Key quote: “Wallpaper’s back, and long may it last. I think we’re in a moment where color and pattern is back, which is a good thing.”
This episode is sponsored by Loloi. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The Thursday Show
Host Dennis Scully and BOH editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen discuss the biggest news in the design world, including the latest on housing, how to get hired in a slowdown, and whether designers are finally paying attention to accessibility. Later, designer Billy Cotton joins the show to talk about his newest collaboration.
This episode is sponsored by Eichholtz and Renewal by Andersen. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
