Meet the Mitchells

David Mitchell started his framing business back in 1971 to support his artist father, Reginald, who originally sold his work on Bayswater Road alongside Hyde Park.

From left to right: The Mitchell family Lucy, Spencer, Janet, Lee, Tracy and Amy

Other artists soon started to admire how Reg’s art was presented and wanted the same treatment – hence David Mitchell Picture Frames was born!

Today, it is a thriving family firm that currently employs five of David’s sons and daughters, with 20-year-old Harry the first of the next generation to join the company. There are another 10 teenagers waiting in the wings – so there is certainly not going to be a recruitment problem!

Lee Mitchell (51) has been at the helm for eight years now and has ambitious plans for expansion. From modest beginnings he has grown the business significantly with a reputation for sports shirts, memorabilia and film posters, in particular. James Bond themed material has seen especially high demand.

Commercial sales have also grown steadily and now account for around 40% of revenue so Lee is looking to grow the trade side with galleries, photographic retailers and market traders – and he will soon need bigger premises. “I am also noticing an increase in demand for neon colours – brighter mouldings and brighter mountboard too.

“Artglass is the other big thing for us. It’s great that Larson-Juhl sells this – it’s ideal for galleries who are happy to pay a premium price for premium quality glass. Area sales manager Derrick Hicks introduced us to Artglass – which basically means we can make more money without doing more work!

Value has always been at the core of the David Mitchell offer but as Lewisham has benefitted from more and more investment in terms of residential property, more money has come into the area and Lee’s customer base has expanded and grown too.

“We are now getting a couple of hundred commissions a day,” Lee explains, “and while 80% of our customers go for black and white frames, some of the more affluent consumers want gold and more ornate mouldings.

Spreading the word

“Local business has always been our focus, relying on word of mouth, but we definitely benefit from Google reviews and my brother Spencer is active on Instagram – which is a modern-day word of mouth, I guess!”

There are exceptions, however, and one artist, although now based in Scotland, still brings all her work to David Mitchell Framing.