Offering an extensive collection of outdoor living, dining and lounging furniture and accessories, Suns Lifestyle strives to be a one-stop shop for outdoor living. Co-founded by Reilly Gray in 2019, the family-run business transitioned from wholesaler to D2C brand, and now offers a full suite of services from its Brentwood HQ and showroom …
How did Suns Lifestyle came about?
Suns Lifestyle was founded in 2019 as a joint venture between father and son team, Roy and myself, and our close friend Ryan Cranmer. As a trio, we sought to combine my father’s 40+ years of experience in the garden furniture business with Ryan and I’s eye for design, detail and digital to bring something new to the UK outdoor living market.
Starting with a curated collection of high-quality, weatherproof furniture, and our signature product – the louvred aluminium pergola – we had initially gone out to wholesalers to pitch our collections for the summer of 2020.
The pandemic very swiftly changed our business approach, and with outlets closed and people suddenly finding themselves at home in the spring, we pivoted and set up the D2C luxury outdoor living business you now see today. And what started out as a team of three, I am proud to say is now a strong team of more than 30!
How has being family-run shaped the business?
Being a family business is incredibly important to us all. It not only guides the decisions we make for the better, but ensures we place emphasis on our people – because they truly are our people! There is a real sense of pride in how the business has grown and evolved over the last few years, and we wouldn’t be where we are without the graft behind the scenes. It makes us different, because we don’t sell anything we wouldn’t happily place in our own, or our families’ and friends’ gardens! We know our product inside out, and its quality we’ll put our name to.
We offer an excellent, robust professional service because we know that’s important to our customers and we want to see them season after season as they develop and enjoy their outdoor spaces.
How do you balance business with family life?
During peak spring/summer it can feel intense, but that’s the nature of what we do. There are three generations working within the business – from our grandparents (who are vital to the lounge furniture ‘comfort’ test) will come and see new products, to my mum, who’s a trained florist and makes the showroom look spectacular! Milo the dog is a regular feature in the office, and if we need to mud-test a new weatherproof fabric, he’s a more than willing model too!
From operations to product development, the whole family is very involved, because they all care and want the business and our collections to be the best they can be – but we try to make sure there are opportunities to take stock and relax as a team.
Your products are designed to withstand the elements – how does this affect their development, testing and selection?
It can take years to bring a product to market. We’re sticklers for detail, so to make the cut, a product needs to be spot on and not a copy of anything that already exists in the market.
We’re lucky that we have over 5000 customers’ experiences to draw upon for feedback, so we hone our services and product each year. Garden furniture has typically been a seasonal, fairly bland category, and we’re delighted to see a shift towards people enjoying their outdoor spaces all year round. For us, the materials have to be fully weatherproof, and the construction has to be seamless to enable our customers to use their gardens to the full, whatever the weather!
Luxe Electric Retract pergola, Blenheim single-wall outdoor kitchen and Portofino lounging collection
Why have your pergola collections been such an important focus for the business?
We were the first to launch aluminium pergolas in the UK consumer market. There were gazebos and cheaper variations, but nothing like the manual and electric louvred or retractable options you see in our collection now. Aluminium pergolas are brilliant and, if constructed properly from 100% high-grade aluminium, they won’t rust! Plus you can choose your shade and shelter with the twist of a handle (or touch of a button on our electric models).
There are so many options for use too. Placed over bifolds, they regulate heat and glare in the summer without impacting light, or have them freestanding over an outdoor kitchen zone for an all-season entertaining space.
You just introduced the All-Electric Luxe pergola collections and Blenheim modular outdoor kitchen, both of which are fully customisable. Why is there such a focus on customisation for outdoor living?
Every garden and landscape project is different, and a truly luxurious space means creating something exactly the way you want it. Our collections do not compromise on quality, so why should customers compromise on configuration? We see a lot of cheaper pergolas and outdoor kitchens on the market now, so for us, it’s important to keep innovating and referencing customer feedback to develop new, practical products that are seamless to use and that look great no matter the season.
Our new Luxe pergola collections can be configured as L- or U-shaped builds, giving customers greater flexibility. The Blenheim modular kitchen is the same – simply build up your units to the shape and size you want, and choose your cooking zones, from Kamado egg cookers or premium gas griddles to classic Italian Fontana pizza ovens. However you’d like to cook outdoors, we have the kitchen for you.
Customisation is so crucial for this, as it allows customers to create something that is truly unique to their needs and requirements, and we think that’s so important, as it brings luxury, versatility and functionality to the highest level.
What’s on offer at your Brentwood showroom?
We recently developed our showroom into a 7000 sqft outdoor inspiration space. Initially, we only had a small offer on show, but we know seeing is believing, and to really get a feel for our collections and why customers love it so much, you have to see in person!
At our showroom, you’ll find our pergolas and outdoor kitchens as well as our luxury dining, lounging and accessories collections. Everything you need to create the ultimate outdoor retreat at home is here. As well as that, our family, our team is all here, and one of our experts is always on hand to talk through your garden plans and help with recommendations and ideas.
What’s your favourite product in the collection, and why?
It has to be the new Luxe retractable pergola. Looking at how we started with our manual louvred Maranza pergola (which remains our bestseller), I’m so excited to have launched the Luxe collection.
It’s been years in the making, but it realises so much development and customer feedback in one. The customisable sizing is brilliant, and the construction makes it so simple to use, whilst the integrated lighting and side screen and panel options take it from a humble pergola to a complete, all-season haven that’s a joy to relax in.
What’s next for Suns Lifestyle?
We’re really enjoying inviting customers into our new showroom space and seeing how they react to the experience. Looking ahead, our focus will be on building on the collections we’ve developed so far to launch new, exciting and innovative products for 2025 and beyond. We’ve invested in our team, infrastructure and systems this year, which stands us in in great stead for future scale and growth – watch this space!”
