PROMOTION
hristian Hawley was enjoying the relaxed vibe of Melbourne’s bar and restaurant scene when he had the ‘lightbulb moment’ that was to launch a new career selling classic and contemporary furniture, lighting and accessories online. Having sold his IT company in 2000 and taken a gap year with his girlfriend (now wife) Debbie, he only knew for certain that he wanted a new career challenge that he could give his heart and soul to. Sheffield-born Christian recalls: “I needed to find myself, I always wanted to go into business and do something... it was just a question of what. Those three months living in Melbourne were incredible. I loved the lifestyle and the look surrounding it and just thought, I’m going to sell these iconic designs.” Today Christian is CEO of Nest.co.uk and that background in IT seems not so much a false start as a key factor in the development of a business model that saw Nest.co.uk becoming pioneers for the interiors industry online. Christian started by visiting trade shows in Milan, Paris, Stockholm and New York, something he still does every year. “It sounds ever so glamorous but you are just in an exhibition hall trying to establish a place where you feel the world is at from an interiors perspective.” Not everything fell into place immediately however. For four years Christian tried to sell his home furnishing dream via a conventional retail shop on Ecclesall Road. “When people came in they thought we were wonderful but there weren’t enough of them and it was probably too different at the time. But this only gave me further drive to succeed. “When we started, selling online was very much in its infancy but by embracing new technology we could take 100 brands and 20,000 products to market. There is no way that any size of store could have contained all those things. But on your computer at the click of a button, someone anywhere in the world can buy.” There is still a physical presence in Sheffield with a delightful store just off the Parkway with lots of samples. This year, Nest launched their home interior consultations. A service completely free for anyone within a 30-mile radius, where one of Nest’s 35-strong team will come along, get a feel for the home and the client’s wishes, and offer expert product advice. That team includes MD Toni-Anne Dunleavy who started as a Saturday girl
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Design guru Christian Hawley
Debbie Hawley with sales team product specialist Ashlee Sanderson
Design destination SHEFFIELD-BASED NEST.CO.UK HAS ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS THE GO-TO PLACE FOR COOL AND CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE AND INTERIORS. AND IT’S ABOUT TO GET EVEN BETTER. ten years ago and proved to have fantastic empathy with the customers and staff. The perfect addition to help grow Nest to what it is today. Expansion plans for 2019 include a radical overhaul of the website, a year in the planning and set to be launched very soon. With faster speeds, new filtering and the same breadth of variety and choice. Simplicity is the key – making the buying process as easy as possible and allowing the quality of the designs to shine. Meanwhile Christian seems to have found the perfect platform for passing on his love of beautiful design to the public. “Every year I search for the best designers around the globe, whether they work for manufacturers or themselves. It could be a well-known name or a student fresh out of university who has come up with a remarkable idea.
“The beauty of the design community is that it is always evolving. Someone somewhere, perhaps in Denmark or London, will be designing a new chair or light right now.” Whether it’s a beautifully-made Italian sofa, a design classic like the Charles & Ray Vitra Eames Lounge Chair, the Flos Arco lamp designed by the Castiglioni brothers, or the current top-selling butterfly chair by Cuero Design, you can be sure that Nest.co.uk will only sell originals from licensed manufacturers. Whether you click on the website now or pop in to the shop, make Nest.co.uk your design destination. Nest.co.uk 9 Parkway Rise, off Parkway Drive, Sheffield, S9 4WQ Tel: 0114 243 3000 www.nest.co.uk