Confidence and style

Oct 21 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

MIDDLESBROUGH furniture retailer Barker and Stonehouse has opened its latest £1m-plus store, defying forecasts for a downturn in high street spending.

The eco-friendly 25,000sq ft store on Nottingham’s Giltbrook Retail Park is the eighth Barker and Stonehouse outlet to open.

James Barker, managing director of the family-run business, was bullish about the store’s prospects.

“Nottingham is a very stylish city and the natural choice for our next location,” he said. “A store like ours, which is very design-led will bring another dimension to the current retail landscape.

“We put a lot of time and effort into choosing the right site and firmly believe Nottingham is the perfect location.”

Earlier this year, the firm established the UK’s first ethical trading scheme for UK retailers of mango wood furniture. The scheme builds a sustainable trading route with Indonesian communities, but closer to home, Barker and Stonehouse has committed to supporting small suppliers in the Tees Valley.

Among the store’s more unusual features is a bespoke staircase, modelled on a famous 1930s staircase in the De la Ware Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea and constructed from Corus Steel at DBS Fabrication in Newton Aycliffe.

The store’s green features include high levels of insulation to stabilise the temperature, dedicated recycling facilities and a super efficient lighting rig – leading to a 50% cut in normal energy usage.

To complement the staircase, Barker and Stonehouse commissioned a huge porcelain chandelier by lighting designers, Diffuse and a four and a half metre wall of preserved bamboo as three dimentional ‘wallpaper’.