Neil and Sophie Harrold, the co-owners of Surbiton-based Simply Bathrooms, believe their combined expertise in high-end interior design and installation gives them the perfect business model. Tim Wallace gets the full story.
Simply Bathrooms isn’t your typical high-street retailer. For one thing, until fairly recently, owners Neil and Sophie Harrold were running the entire operation from a home office. But despite their unconventional approach, they’ve hit on a perfect business model. And maybe there’s a message there for those who insist that without a showroom, or an e-commerce strand, a bathroom retailer is unlikely to survive.
Simply Bathrooms now operates from a small studio in Surbiton, employing 2 designers and several installation teams. But what’s really working for them, they say, is that Neil comes from a high-end construction and installation background, while Sophie has mastered the interior design side. It’s that nicely balanced feel to the business that they believe gives it a unique edge.
“We didn’t feel like the showroom model was right for us; we wanted to be more dynamic,” Sophie explains. “We didn’t want to be tied to certain brands or have big roomsets that constantly needed updating. So we went for a much more design-driven model. We have more of a meeting space here. It’s a bit more funky and the emphasis is on the point of difference in the designs we do.”
Key to their strategy, Sophie explains, is the individuality, creativity and attention to detail behind every bathroom: “All of those things knit together to make us trustworthy. That’s important because it’s hard to find specialists that know bathroom design and installation inside out. It’s the hardest room in the house to do and it needs that knowledge and experience.”
Originally, Sophie saw working in the bathroom world as just a hobby. But when Covid hit, her regular trips to far-flung destinations as an interiors buyer for Marks & Spencer were rapidly curtailed. That meant she could offer more help to Neil, who had recently left his senior role with a construction business and taken the Simply Bathrooms side of the business with him as part of the settlement.
Another big contributor to their success, the pair say, has been to introduce the Virtual Worlds design package. The decision came after a friend said he loved the bathroom they’d done for him but that they needed a more professional way to present their ideas. It was a big investment for the business but a real turning point.
When Sophie returned to full-time work after Covid she brought in a designer to run that side of things. They were still working out of the home office, but by now they had a clear strategic direction. The idea is to give clients more time and to focus on fewer projects, but offer higher-quality design and installation than their competitors.
“It’s only a year since I left my job to do this full time,” Sophie smiles. “We’re equal partners and it works really well. There are only 6 in the office full-time and then a part-time person for finance and marketing, and 4 or 5 installation teams and project managers.”
The company will work to any reasonable budget but has an average order value of around £20,000-25,000. The Surbiton base is handily placed geographically, with easy access to the affluent Surrey neighbourhoods, and to central London where they work with a wide range of architects and interior designers.
“We’re mid- to high-end and looking for a discerning design-led customer,” Sophie says. “People come to us having seen us on Instagram. We’re not afraid of colour and our designs have a bespoke element; not necessarily bright or bold but with unique features. We don’t want to devalue our brand so we don’t use Hansgrohe and people like that where it’s 10-a-penny. We don’t want bathrooms that look like everybody eles’s.”
To that end, the company prefers to work with suppliers who are less widely distributed. These range from Lefroy Brooks, Arte Form and Parker Howley to stone and tile specialists like Ca’ Pietra, Lapicida and Minoli.
The pair admit that even in London and the Home Counties, the market has become highly challenging: “It’s like going back to the days when you had to fight for work,” Neil says. “In the last year or so we’ve heard a lot of stories about people going under or being really quiet.”
The pair also take pride in creating a family vibe throughout the team. They apparently enjoy a range of benefits including flexitime and a healthy holiday allowance: “We pay our installation teams well,” Sophie says. “They’re good guys and a lot have worked for us a long time. They know we’re working to higher standards. You can’t get that with transient teams who go hand to mouth looking for who pays them the best.”
Turnover is around £1.8m – an increase on last year following a 30-40% growth spurt the year before. But from humble beginnings there are now bolder plans afoot. By next February, the growing company hopes to move into a much bigger premises set over 3 floors with offices, a meeting room, and a showroom area to invite customers. A new website is also imminent.
After that, the pair would like to expand their kitchen offering, which currently stands at only about 5% of the business. Furniture is currently sourced from Howdens although the company can also provide bespoke cabinetry from its own suppliers.
Perhaps surprisingly given the business model, Neil also seems keen to eventually launch an e-commerce side to the bathroom business, but notes the risks and agrees that it would “need the right people” to run it. “We’re not just going to go out there into a saturated market with product which won’t offer a point of difference,” Sophie says. “We want to keep to our values and an e-commerce arm would take time and crafting. I don’t think we’re quite there yet. For now, it’s about getting into the new office, scaling things up and getting the growth. Then in the next 2 years we can look at new opportunities.”
