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PHM Interiors have opened a showroom within Newcastle’s Bang & Olufsen: bdaily goes behind the scenes with Director Paul Harrison

Paul is a Design Craftsmanship graduate, specialising in the design and manufacturing of hand made furniture. With over 20 years’ of experience, Paul now owns his own business, PMH Interiors, with wife Michelle; creating the finest hand crafted interiors and furnishings for private, trade and some commercial clients.

PHM Interiors have recently opened their own lifestyle showroom within Newcastle’s Bang & Olufsen store.

What key challenges has your company recently faced?

The toughest challenge we faced as a company was achieving growth during the recession. We first secured funding to facilitate this growth, and through making careful business choices, including adopting a strategy across 2009-10 of investing capital, considering our options and taking things one step at a time, we’re now in a great position for the future.

What is your biggest achievement over last 12 months?

Our biggest achievement this year was definitely opening our new showroom in the Newcastle Bang & Olufsen store in August. Everything inside was designed and made by us, specifically for the space, and really shows off the talent of the small team of craftspeople we have in our workshop. Bang & Olufsen have been excellent to work with as well, and the pairing of our two brands gives clients a unique and exciting offer.

What is your main focus for coming year?

Now we’ve got a great show space in a central location, it’s our aim to use it to its full potential. We want to meet lots of new clients there, giving them a tangible example of what we can do for them, as well as building on our trade orders. Over the last five years we’ve moved or expanded our workshop three times, and as our business grows we will also continue to investigate the cost/benefit of relocating our workshop to an even larger premises.

If you had to choose one top piece of advise for someone just starting out in business or is currently operating within your industry sector what would it be?

Be flexible with your business plan. It only serves as a guide as you can’t predict what’s going to happen months or years down the line, so be prepared to diversify and adapt as things change. Also remember that good staff are your most valuable asset. Their commitment to working extremely hard and delivering the high standard expected of your product are vital to the stability of your business, so look after them!

Can you share with us your view of the current landscape of business in this region or generally and where your organisation sits within it?

The past twelve to eighteen months have been an uphill struggle, but it finally feels like for us, that we’re reaching the top. Looking across the region at the interiors and design industry there are signs of recovery, with new businesses cropping up, and others expanding like us. We believe if the product you have to offer is good, there’ll always be people out there willing to take that step and let you create something special for them.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jonny Marshall .