Twenty Five Years of Furniture Fusion

When I look back over the 25 years since founding Furniture Fusion, it’s not the furniture I remember most, but the people. There are a handful of individuals without whom I genuinely do not think Furniture Fusion would still be here today.
 

Michael Attenborough, together with Amrit and Jasminder Singh at Radisson Edwardian, gave me my first meaningful order and, more importantly, their trust. That relationship led to many more projects and helped keep the wheels turning during those uncertain early years. 

Harry Gregory at ARA Design probably taught me more than either of us realised. He was always incredibly generous with his time, advice and encouragement, and entrusted us with some of our first export work into Jordan. 

Interior Designer Noel Pierce had what I can only describe as a punk-rock attitude to design. I remember sitting with him while a client asked him to choose between several fabrics. Within thirty seconds he had made his decision. The client looked slightly surprised and asked “Is thirty seconds all you’re prepared to give this?”

Noel simply smiled and replied “Twenty-five years and thirty seconds” - I have never forgotten that. Good judgement often comes from decades of experience. 

One of the very first designers I ever worked with was Abi Perry-Jones. Twenty-five years later we’re still working together. I don’t know what price you put on loyalty like that, but I know how grateful I am for it. 

Andy Thorne, who at the time worked with Tulip Hotels, was always really open to me badgering him with phone calls and he always gave me opportunities to quote on his projects. We worked together there and then when he moved to Hilton Hotels he put a lot of trust in us delivering a large roll-out across multiple sites. Hilton Hotels became the first major hotel operator we worked with, and I’m incredibly proud that, whether directly or through the many talented designers they appoint, we continue to work together today. 

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the designers and procurement managers in Scotland. For whatever reason, Scotland has always been a very special part of our journey. We’ve been fortunate enough to work on some fantastic projects there over the years, and even today it remains one of our strongest markets. Somewhere along the line I fell in love with Scotland itself, perhaps helped by a lifelong appreciation of some of its great bands from the 1980s, but it was the people who made that relationship possible. 

It really began with two individuals. One was Bob Fitzgerald, a designer based in Aberdeen who sadly is no longer with us. Bob was one of the most energetic, enthusiastic and enjoyable designers I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Together we delivered a number of bar and nightclub projects across Aberdeen, and I still look back on those days with enormous affection. 

The other is Alastair Roy, who at the time was working with Apex Hotels. Alastair gave Furniture Fusion a significant opportunity through projects in Edinburgh and Dundee, and those commissions opened the door to many more relationships with designers and hotel groups across Scotland. Twenty-five years later, we are still fortunate to be working with practices north of the border, and I will always be grateful to Alastair for the confidence he showed in us when we were still a young business.

One thing I absolutely must acknowledge is the incredible team I have been fortunate enough to work alongside over the last twenty-five years. For the most part, I’ve been surrounded by talented, hardworking people who understand not only what we do, but why we do it. They embrace the philosophy that has always underpinned Furniture Fusion: never stand still, never become complacent, and always strive to create a better experience for our clients than we did yesterday. Like any business, we have had challenges and our fair share of mistakes, but we have always tried to learn from them and improve. 

That willingness to keep evolving has only been possible because of the people around me. I may be the face of Furniture Fusion, but behind me there has always been a team of people whose dedication, professionalism and commitment have helped shape the business into what it is today. Many of them have gone far beyond what their job descriptions demanded, and for that I will always be grateful. 

Perhaps that is another lesson twenty-five years has taught me. Businesses are never really built by one person. They are built by countless conversations, shared ideas, mutual trust and the collective efforts of people all pulling in the same direction. I have simply been fortunate enough to have some remarkable people on that journey with me. 

Looking back now, I realise this story isn’t really about furniture. Furniture has simply been the lens through which I’ve watched twenty-five years of changing fashions, changing technology, changing culture and changing expectations. The things that matter most have remained remarkably constant: relationships, trust, curiosity, doing what you say you are going to do and treating people well. If there is one lesson I have learnt over the last quarter of a century, it is that whilst trends come and go, integrity never goes out of fashion. 

Whatever the next twenty-five years hold, I hope Furniture Fusion continues to evolve, continues to embrace change and continues to work with talented people who challenge us to be better. 

If, in another twenty-five years’ time, somebody looks back on Furniture Fusion in the same way I look back on those timeless Beatles songs, as something that stood the test of time because it remained true to itself, then I will consider that to be our greatest achievement.