Recipe for business success: How Anthony

is where this Home talented team’s heart is

We meet a local family-run interiors company who are cornering the market when it comes to creating beautiful bespoke kitchens and cabinetry

Photos Rose Bainbridge E leven years ago Helder Paulo was working as an apprentice for a small carpentry company based in North London making bespoke, high end furniture. Having set his sights on running his own business, the former professional footballer from Portugal was keen to learn all he could about the trade.

Helder, who now lives locally with his family, regularly put in 12 to 14 hour days, which resulted in him learning lots of specific skills and valuable knowledge on how to run an independent business.

When his boss, who had worked in the industry for over 40 years, decided to retire he offered Helder a partnership in the business in return for a small investment. Helder’s wife Bianca has a background in finance, so she was able to ask all the right questions to ensure that Helder was getting the best deal possible before investing in the company.

“After a few months the deal didn’t actually go through,” Bianca tells me.

“So we decided to take the long route and risk doing something by ourselves. We thought ‘well if something goes wrong then we only had ourselves to blame!’”

The first step involved Helder equipping himself with all the necessary tools – quite literally – as well as a van. He began by doing jobs around London, taking on everything from carpentry to fitting doors and floors in order to get himself established.

“Flooring wasn’t really something he had a passion for but as you can imagine when you are starting your own business you can’t really be picky,” continues Bianca.

“When Helder got bigger projects for doing things like fitted furniture he would hire a small workshop in Battersea to do the job. I still remember finishing my job in the city, taking the train and going there to help him paint the furniture! Saturdays and Sundays were spent with the two of us painting and I actually became quite good at it!” laughs Bianca.

After four years of working as a sole trader Helder decided to make the dream of running his own business a reality.

QUALITY

Almost two years ago he and Bianca pooled their professional resources and established Anthony Paulo Interiors with the idea of carrying on Helder’s passion of creating beautiful and unique furniture.

“The company is named after our son Anthony, and also Helder’s

grandfather whose name is Antonio,” explains Bianca.

“He introduced Helder at a very young age into working with wood, not carpentry but tree cutting and processing, so you could say that even though Helder chose many different career paths throughout his life, he was always drawn back to his roots.”

The couple started by renting a 700sqf unit in Edenbridge with just one apprentice doing a couple of projects here and there, but six months later they found themselves needing to take on bigger premises in order to accommodate their fledging business.

The lionshare of Anthony Paulo’s business comes from the commercial sector. “We have had a variety of commercial projects from restaurants to total shop refurbishment to offices, most of which have been in London,” says Bianca. Brands they’ve worked with include the independant food retailer COOK, and the Hand Bag Clinic in Chelsea.

Locally, Anthony Paulo Interiors has been involved in the new Whelan Homes’ luxury town houses on St John’s Road, something Bianca says they would like to do more of. “This is an area we want to do more in and with our new, bigger factory we hope that we can approach more developers and give them the confidence that we can supply them with our products on time.

“Today we are a team of eight with numerous projects all going on at the same time, including a

When you commission something for your home you are not just buying it, you are becoming part of the Anthony Paulo family.

number of big commissions for clients who are refurbing their entire house. We can take those types of projects on because we offer the full package of fitted furniture – kitchens, integrated wardrobes, libraries, TV units – we end up having our work featured in most rooms in people’s houses!”

EXPANDING

In January this year the couple further expanded their business by opening a shiny new showroom in Crowborough which, despite everything that has happened this year, is now open.

“After many years supplying our kitchens and furniture to interior designers, architects and other kitchen companies, we just thought to ourselves ‘well if we can make it why don’t we show what we can do to the general public too?’”

Bianca says that there have obviously been challenges to their business but, despite the ongoing Covid crisis, for the most part they are still getting lots of commissions.

“We are going through a challenging time but I think that’s the same for most businesses. Happily we are still very busy with projects and we are getting lots of enquiries from people looking to do improvements in their own home instead of moving.”

Bianca adds that since the showroom opened in Crowborough they have received great feedback from locals which bodes well as the plan is for Anthony Paulo to expand further.

“We definitely want to roll out our brand across the UK and will look to open a few more showrooms in the near future. We’re currently in discussions to move to a bigger factory with

Bianca and Helder Paulo

5000sqf in order to deliver projects more efficiently and meet the growing demand for our kitchens and bespoke fitted furniture.”

The husband and wife team are both company directors with Bianca looking after the financial side of the business, while Helder oversees quality control. He has managed to take a step back from the workshop and let his carpenters chisel away to create Anthony Paulo’s specialist designs – although it appears that he still likes to get involved every now and again with the manufacturing.

“Helder often still rolls up his sleeves and helps the guys out. Elvio Fernandes is our senior manager – who is also known as the people motivator! If you see him in the morning you can be sure that he’s going to make you smile!”

Bianca is just as complementary when it comes to the rest of her staff.

“We have a great team in the workshop and a wonderful showroom designer in Matthew, who loves to talk! If you visit our showroom you can be sure you’ll spend more time than you predicted because he loves to chat! Everyone who works for us has an important role to play in the business. We love giving people the opportunity to be part of our amazing journey. Giving jobs to people and knowing that we are making a difference to their lives.”

Bianca says that it’s not just her staff who regularly make her and Helder happy – it’s the company’s many clients too.

“One of the things we love most is seeing customers’ faces when their kitchen or any other rooms we’re working on in their house come to life. Basically we are changing people’s lives and that makes us so happy when we see they are.

“Every project is different so it keeps us and the team on our toes. Every one is like a prototype so it’s always great seeing the end results. We regularly get jobs thanks to word of mouth recommendations which means we must be doing something right!”

One of the few negatives the couple has experienced running their own company thus far focuses around recruitment.

“It is hard to find skilled people to do our kind of work – and who are also passionate about what they do. My husband is very passionate about what he does and if he’s at the workshop and sees something is not up to his standards then you can be sure he will make sure it is done again!

1. Make sure you use all the space you can 2. Choose a colour that you won’t get bored of 3. Don’t save money on handles, a truly bespoke kitchen deserves the right quality handle

What are the current trends people are choosing for their kitchen right now?

Most people are going for the Shaker style kitchen, but choosing darker shades of blue or grey to offset the traditional look. We also have had a few projects with mixed colours so the cabinets are one colour and the kitchen island another

Why do you think it’s important to invest in bespoke cabinetry?

Many people don’t understand the high cost, but you are paying for an item that will last you many years. Having something bespoke, makes it your own and the quality is genrally better than items that are being produced in big quantities

Are there any designers or artists who constantly inspire you?

We actually follow a lot of designers on Instagram and just love all their work. Combining multiple ideas gives us inspiration on projects and helps us to be within the latest trends and offer innovative things to clients, which

“We have a saying in our company: “We are here to build Ferraris – not Fiats! Everyone who works with us has to share our vision and know that we are not in the business of mass production but that of making high end furniture – no disrespect to Fiats by the way!”

Although Anthony Paulo Interiors has opened up its work to the general public they still continue to work in the commercial sector as Bianca says ‘there is always something different’. But she loves a personal brief from private clients – especially when they’ve done their homework.

“When someone has done all the research and created mood boards

always helps the business and makes who we are great.

How important is social media to your business and why?

Social media is very important for every business right now. It’s the best way to get your name out there and for people to see what type of work we do. We try and update our social media regularly so our followers can get an idea of our day-to-day. We also think it’s a great way to bring in new business and let people know who we are.

or has a load of pictures of what to think outside of the box and try they want it just makes everything new things which in turn gives our so smooth. Not having an idea clients a special and utterly what you want makes the job bespoke service. challenging but having said that we “Most of our clients have become are always happy to help a very good friends and we’ll client get to the right often spend hours vision.” asking their opinion Although the couple boast clients from all over the “We want to roll out our brand across about new ideas we might have. And usually we always south east, they are the UK and open a few end up taking very keen to get to know the residents of Crowborough, more showrooms in the near future” something good on board. When you choose a kitchen Tunbridge Wells and from us or beyond and welcome commission something readers to pay them a safe and for your home, you are not socially distanced visit. just buying something, you are

“We bring fun and innovative becoming part of the Anthony ideas. We are a company that likes Paulo family.”