When fire ravaged Besp-Oak Furniture’s Coventry showroom in January, it wasn’t long before owner Steve Mosley responded with his characteristic vigour, redesigning – and in some places rebuilding – the damaged areas from scratch. Paul Farley paid the supplier a visit during its two-week open house event in July, and discovered that one of the UK’s best trade showrooms just got a whole lot better …
On the morning of Friday 9th January 2015, Steve Mosley glanced at the security monitors above his computer, noticing that several cameras were out of action. Immediately spotting the signs of a fire, Steve evacuated his staff, and watched as the lower portion of his six-floor showroom – and the stock within – burned. Fire crews finally extinguished the blaze after three and a half hours, leaving the building heavily damaged by fire, smoke and water.
For Besp-Oak Furniture, the timing could not have been worse. The fire, sparked by an undetermined electrical fault, started just a few days before the January Furniture Show, and a few weeks before Spring Fair, both important platforms for the company. Coupled with that pressure was the discovery any insurance payout would not be high enough, or be delivered quickly enough.
Steve responded with a typically bullish attitude, and began planning the construction of a brighter, more modern showroom that would better reflect the diversity and quality of the company’s growing product offer. “I immediately decided I’d make a positive out of a negative,” he says, “and I’ve stuck with it.”
The July open house event, timed to coincide with the Solex outdoor furniture exhibition taking place at the nearby Birmingham NEC, sees staff hurriedly putting a few finishing touches to the new showroom, which will, Steve assures me, be complete by the next at-home in September – which will follow the supplier’s appearance at the Autumn Fair and Glee trade shows.
Despite a few loose ends, the showroom’s development over the past six months – all planned and overseen by Steve – is a remarkable achievement. New frontage above the door hints at the more contemporary look of the brand within, and the space is almost unrecognisable in its new guise. A whopping 53 ranges are housed across the six floors of the 31,000 sqft showroom, which, somehow, never feels cluttered.
On the ground, a split-level floor opens the space to the more intimate basement, the open spaces punctuated by wooden room dividers to create distinctive areas for each range.
Besp-Oak’s titular oak offer has been widened significantly in recent years. Visitors will find everything from reclaimed, rustic, painted, industrial, vintage and shabby chic furniture, lighting and accessories to flooring, Christmas and historical memorabilia, rugs made from recycled materials and free-standing rattan hammocks.
The huge range of products on offer – available through either wholesale or container channels – covers every base, and then goes yet further. Steve takes an individualistic approach to product sourcing, so visitors should expect to encounter unique and often surprising items, from wall-mounted bicycle stands to easel-mounted blackboards and mirrors, wooden larders to vintage film cameras, numerous hall storage solutions, and much more in between.
An additional revelation comes with the knowledge that Besp-Oak sells every item present – even the aforementioned room dividers, inspired by the trend for pop-up stores, which are ideal for retailers looking to present their own in-store roomsets.
“Before the fire, we’d often find ourselves dressing the showroom using accessories and furnishings from nearby high street shops,” explains Steve.
“I realised that if customers were ever going to see us as a truly one-stop-shop, we’d need to fulfil every one of their demands ourselves, and I think we’ve managed to do that here. Everything you see, from the artwork to the flooring, we sell – I don’t want anyone going elsewhere to buy stock when they can get it all right here!”
New highlights include seats sporting UK-manufactured leathers and tartan fabrics. The real star of the show, however, is Vancouver Petite Expressions, a new oak-topped painted variant of Besp-Oak’s bestseller, available in three finishes and six fashionable colours – a palette inspired by leading kitchen brands – and offering interchangeable handles.
“Everything you see, we sell – I don’t want anyone going elsewhere to buy stock when they can get it all right here!”
A portion of the showroom has been painted to co-ordinate with the range, which Steve expects to be a hit in the coming months.
The offer is more flexible than previously, the brand leaning forever closer to the freedom of selection its name promises.
Combine the showroom and range expansions with a new website and £140,000 back-office software system (“the most important thing any business can implement,” says Steve), and it’s clear that Besp-Oak has not simply faced down adversity but has positively superseded its former self.
“It’s our widest selection of furniture ever,” says Steve. “We’re offering multiple finishes, colours, handles and more – including a handful of quite ‘out-there’ designs – all at great value. You can mix up to 500 items on one container alone.
“This week, we’ve had back-to-back customers through the door so far, and everybody’s been very impressed – some have even placed much bigger orders than previously, so we must be doing something right! Being without a showroom for so long has hurt, but we are very much back in business now.”
Besp-Oak's open house event is open until 17th July.
