Following a stint as a handyman and trained in many diverse crafts, Tristan Titeux founded fitted furniture business Empatika in 2003. Today, the company designs and builds bespoke furniture to meet its varied customers’ demands. Victoria Noakes spoke to Tristan to discover more about the business’ roots and its plans moving forward ...
Having made the decision to move to France and “live off the land”, Tristan Titeux trained himself in many different areas to give himself the best chance of success – from basket making, upholstery, welding and car restoration to permaculture, pottery and carpentry. However, when his plan didn’t quite come to fruition, Tristan was left wondering what exactly his next step should be.
“Since I was very ‘handy’, my step-mum suggested I advertise and a handyman, so I put a 50-pence advert in my local newsagents,” says Tristan.
“I used to ride around Notting Hill Gate on my bike with a bag on each side of my rear wheel – full of tools – with a screw box on top and a rucksack. I fixed anything to do with wood and never said no to any job, and that led me to build my first fitted bookcase. I now have a team of carpenters making my designs in people’s homes.”
Empatika specialises in designing and building bespoke fitted furniture for private houses, and has a growing network of carpenters throughout the UK. The company produces items including large bookcases built wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling, built-in TV units made to fit around equipment, plus wardrobes and other furniture designed in a minimal, contemporary style.
The company’s furniture is easy on the eye whilst being packed full of storage, and is inspired by clean and modern design – with the idea that the less lines and bumps, the better it disappears into the wall.
“People are buying new houses and flats at the moment, and none have any decent storage in them. Understandably storage takes up space and makes rooms look smaller, but if it was designed in the homes in the first place, it would be much better. We often have to make compromises to get exactly what the customer wants in small flats and houses, whilst in larger houses there is usually more opportunity to work to customers’ specific requirements,” Tristan explains.
“TV units seem to be something people really want, and they don’t mind spending a considerable amount of money on them because they are the feature of the living room. They need to be designed both beautifully and practically to work well with the room and to fit the customer’s belongings in – there’s a lot to think about with media units as so much goes inside them that needs to be catered for.”
“I fixed anything to do with wood and never said no to any job, and that led me to build my first fitted bookcase”
Empatika is dedicated to doing everything it can to be as sustainable a business as possible, with Tristan stating that “this is the direction the world has to move towards, and Empatika wants to be at the forefront of this movement”.
For each customer he deals with, Tristan plants trees and buys an acre of rainforest, and is keen to promote the use of sustainably-grown wood and natural paints. In addition, he has designed and built some specifically eco-friendly fitted furniture ranges – StramStraw, FlexiStraw and Project Marco – and is currently creating an eco range of mirrors made from sustainable, waste and recycled materials, for an online mirror company.
With the internet becoming a harder place in which to compete, with more and more companies presenting impressive offerings to keep up with, Tristan cites the importance of Empatika being a small business with the ability to quickly adapt and respond to new situations. As such, Tristan has confidence that Empatika will continue to grow and succeed.
“It is very easy to make changes to anything we do – we’re constantly re-evaluating everything we do and acting on it very quickly. Being a bespoke company, we are used to that because each job is always slightly different. I think of the work we do as a never-ending, constantly-moving target, but I get bored easily so constant change suits me quite well!
“Looking ahead, I want to continue to do more pioneering eco-furniture projects, but my main aim is to spread Empatika out more across the UK, to promote its sustainable ethos as much as possible, and to become a recognised leader in the sustainable fitted furniture field.”
