RSS feedsWith the look of the country house increasing in popularity, Fabricsandpapers.com has seen its sales hit around £150,000 a year. But the internet retailer, which specialises in selling fabrics, wallpaper, lighting and design accessories from leading British design houses, is on the hunt for more investment to help push it beyond this year’s expected £200,000 turnover.
Fabricsandpapers.com is the brainchild of design-director Emma Vans Agnew, who originally trained as an interior designer with upmarket Colefax and Fowler. Returning to work once her children were at school five years ago, Vans Agnew spotted a gap in the market for selling top-quality fabrics and wallpapers over the internet. As Vans Agnew says: ‘Most top designers do not sell direct, preferring to deal only with interior design shops.
‘With the British country house look in vogue worldwide, I saw a market to provide a retail service to people who did not have access to these suppliers, or were lacking in time to search for such retail outlets.’ Cashflow is said to be ‘excellent’, with payment by credit card made before delivery, and the company does not carry any stock itself.
Because of the growth in the business, Vans Agnew is looking for more staff. ‘We have been going for five years and employ three part-time staff. I do a lot of the site updating myself, but as I am self-taught we really need a technical designer on a part-time basis. We are also looking to take on a new full-time employee.’
In addition to staff, Vans Agnew is looking for more investment. ‘Currently, we have used cashflow to finance the business and have a small bank loan in place. Realistically, we need a further £50,000 to take us to the next stage and are looking to raise this privately, or via a business angel.’
But there are a couple of issues. The first is the risk from copycat sites. ‘Fabricsandpapers pioneered internet sales of upmarket fabrics and wallpapers,’ explains Vans Agnew, ‘and we are now seeing copycat sites offering discounts on recommended retail prices.
‘We are trying to persuade manufacturers to get tough with these companies by ceasing supply to avoid a price war. The most prominent potential victims will be high street retailers, but we could also suffer.’
The second issue is that some of Vans Agnew’s suppliers are still not switched on to the technical requirements of the site and did not really understand what the company was about at first. ‘Early on, it was hard to persuade manufacturers to supply us with their goods. They were not technologically aware and could not understand our business model. We now have companies approaching us, recommended by other manufacturers and their own experiences of internet shopping, which is a great leap forward and a complete turnaround from the early days. We still need to scan all fabric and wallpaper items ourselves as manufacturers are loathe to commit to this task, or their quality of scanning is poor.’
As competitors start to take an interest, Vans Agnew realises she needs to stay one step ahead, which she believes can only be done by expanding products and services, and by raising the profile of the site.
But Vans Agnew is confident she can succeed: ‘Broadband, faster PCs, and familiarity and confidence with internet buying is boosting retailers such as ourselves. The web has come a long way from just being a place to sell books, music and holiday packages. As more people turn to DIY interior design, there are more magazines, TV programmes and books dedicated to it. I would like to offer the same on the internet.’
What does the future hold? Vans Agnew wants to attract a financial partner to help grow the company, and to expand the business into furniture. ‘Ultimately, we would like to sell the business, but that has a five-year horizon.’
MAIN CHALLENGES
• Raising finances for expansion
• Maintaining position of strength while copycat sites undercut them
• Hiring technical designer to maintain site
