textiles The art of pivoting
Launched just under three years ago, UK home textiles and floor-fashion specialist Esselle Ltd has not had the simplest start. Brexit and COVID-19 saw the business refine its offering to meet the needs of a changing market - Housewares editor Bryony Andrews speaks to Suraj Lalvani, CEO and founder at Esselle, to find out more.
and Sisal finishes. Doormats aren’t exactly sexy, but they are essential and there’s a lot of movement within plastic-free, vegan, ethical manufacturing. In the last quarter we’ve seen a lot of interest within this market. Our latest initiative is all around recycled plastic. We offer a wide range of rugs and accompanying textiles, all made in fabulous textures, made solely from recycled plastic bottles. We are really keen to see how the UK market reacts to this, given our success with this overseas.
What are the top trends in home textiles for 2022?
Tell me about your product offering - what sets you apart? We consider ourselves a floor fashion specialist, with a core strength in manufacturing. We span multiple product categories - rugs, runners, bathmats, artificial grass and more - but doormats are our bread and butter. We estimate 1 in 4 households in the UK have our doormats. While we manufacture our own brands (Home Essentials, Pride Of Place, Mud Stopper, Splendid Home and Naturelle) we also lend our expertise to licensors and private labels. In fact, supporting retailers under their own labels has grown to be about 65% of the business.
Can you give me a brief overview of Esselle’s history and your role at the business? Esselle started in 2018 as a manufacturer and wholesaler of floor fashion products, produced in our factories across India and imported into the UK. My family has been in manufacturing and trade across a number of different industries since the 70s, and when an opportunity arose due to supply chain issues between India and Europe, I used my background in Indian manufacturing to launch Esselle. In our first year, we secured business with some of the UK’s largest retailers, pushing trade north of the 7-figure mark. Fast forward 18 months and we opened a 50,000 square foot warehouse. Given the ever-growing trend towards online shopping habits, we predict we will outgrow this facility within the next 12-18 month period.
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How have Brexit, COVID-19 and resulting market changes affected the business? For Esselle, it has forced us to pinpoint exactly what our value proposition is to customers. The business has evolved - we don’t just import, we now design, customise, store and ship products directly to customers or ship by pallet. We offer in-store merchandising - we even load shelves in-store and manage stock levels. We essentially offer end-to-end category management for floor textiles. We’re a one-stop shop for everything flooring.
Your Naturelle collection meets a number of consumer trend touchpoints - natural fabrics, eco-friendly - can you tell me a bit more about it?
Naturelle is all about natural components and eco-friendly methods. It’s got a minimal, back- to-nature look in a range of Seagrass, Jute
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Sustainability is obviously a huge trend. Another trend is the momentum shift in the UK towards prioritising quality. The UK market is moving away from price to be more similar to the German and French viewpoint, which prioritises value over just price. The move towards online retailing, which has of course been massive due to COVID-19. However we are wary of going fully online - bricks-and-mortar retailers and garden centres still attract an important older demographic. Online selling also doesn’t offer the same value for retailers, which is why we as a business haven’t gone fully online. We do however support retailers who want to move online and stock our product. No order is too small - we can be flexible.
What can the housewares industry expect from Esselle for 2022 and beyond? I am excited and optimistic for the future - we have invested in our teams and infrastructure and our objective for the next 12 months is to double our turnover. Our objective for the next five years is to see our products in every housewares retailer in the country - both online and bricks-and-mortar.
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