028 REPORTER
Below Perfect for dinner parties with family and friends, this cushioned Elisa small bench is incredibly comfortable
Right The Aosta is an elegant, contemporary silhouette with clean lines and unmistakably Ercol design cues
What experience prior to joining the business do you bring and how important was it to gain? I studied history at SOAS in London, focusing on near middle eastern, Mongol and environmental Chinese history, which was purely out of my own interest in the areas. I’ve run a record label in my spare time, putting out about 50 records on vinyl over the last decade, it was an experimental label with a very niche cult worldwide following. It’s currently on hiatus as I’m too busy, but I hold it close to my heart. I knew I was joining Ercol for life, so I decided to follow my passion for music for a while before I got serious about furniture.
Why did you decide to work at Ercol? I decided to work at Ercol because I felt like I could make a difference and help push the business into exciting new directions. I wanted to be able to reintroduce Ercol into the international markets that we had once exported to in large quantities in the 60s and 70s, and that in turn has led Ercol to the
contract markets. Also, before I worked for Ercol, I worked at various trade fairs and external events I was constantly hearing peoples stories of their experience and life with Ercol, the dining set given as a wedding present to their grandparents, the amazing 70s fabrics an aunt had on her sofa, the vintage pieces found in a skip and then made good again, the vintage pieces found in Margaret Howell stores, the vintage pieces used in restaurants and cafes around the world. It’s dificult to put in words just how much life, history and personality Ercol has, and so for me it was really important to be a part of the company’s life and future.
Was there always an intention or desire from either you or your family to succeed your father in the business? Is it an important factor for Ercol? I’m the youngest of three and I have no cousins on the Tadros side of the family, so we are a very small family in the business. My siblings
are both a bit older than me and I could see them going their own ways and making their own careers away from Ercol. Yet I didn’t have any pressure from my dad about joining Ercol. He wanted me to decide what I wanted to do with my life and if that involved Ercol then that would be great; if it didn’t, then fine. I think he was extremely happy that I did decide to join the company. After I joined, I never really thought about succeeding my dad as chairman I was more focused on understanding the business and then developing the role and part of the business I was focused on. I knew that at some point we would start talking about gradually evolving my position to gain the experience to be confident in successfully following on from him.
What were your job roles within Ercol, before taking on the chairman position? I joined Ercol and started an initial three years of training, I worked on the factory floor for a
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