Holden Decor is one of the leading wallpaper companies in the country for production and design and I decided to pay them a visit.
Upon arrival I was shocked at how an unassuming warehouse in Darwen has been able to become so successful.
Upon arrival I was shocked at how an unassuming warehouse in Darwen has been able to become so successful.
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00:00 Hi, my name is Sam, Digital Reporter for the Lancashire Post, and today I visited Holden Decor,
00:07 which is one of the biggest wallpaper companies in the country.
00:10 I went to speak with the Managing Director about how an unassuming warehouse in the middle of Darwin has been able to become so successful.
00:19 So I jumped on the next available train to Darwin, which is where the Holden Decor warehouse is located,
00:25 and once there I went to speak to Managing Director Neil Durden.
00:30 So, my name is Neil Durden, I'm the Managing Director for Holden Decor, we're based in Darwin in Lancashire,
00:37 and we're a wallpaper company, we've been a company for over 30 years now,
00:44 and we sell wallpaper to the UK, to the European, and to the rest of the world markets.
00:51 We're based in Darwin, in Lancashire, and we operate from our premises,
00:58 which we have a warehouse, we have a sales office, and we have a big design studio.
01:03 We're owned by a large multinational group, which is called Grandeco,
01:08 and they purchased our business around three years ago today.
01:12 The group today, or the business today, is famous for being very design and very trend-led,
01:20 which means that we take all the latest fashions, and we translate them into wallpaper designs
01:25 that people can use in their homes, in their offices.
01:30 The way that we take those designs, we attend lots of trend shows in Europe, and also in the UK,
01:37 and we see what the hot trends are, and we translate them into wallpaper designs.
01:41 And some of our best-selling designs today have been selling for 5, 10, even 15 years,
01:48 so we've been very successful at identifying trends and making those trends into commercial wallpapers.
01:55 And you've been based in Darwin for well over 30 years now, and it's regarded as the heart of wallpaper production.
02:03 Would there ever be any plans to relocate in the future as the business expands?
02:09 There are no plans today. We are a large local employer, and we're very proud of that, and we're stronger for that.
02:16 The culture of the company is built around people who live together, who work together, and who socialise together,
02:22 so we have no plans to move the business.
02:25 We are owned by a multinational, and they have no plans at this point to make any changes to what we do.
02:30 We've been very successful, and we're in a growth phase, and we have the capacity to grow from the business that we're based in today.
02:39 That's great. And I guess just on a final note, how has it felt to see the company experience a rapid rate of success?
02:47 It's been really, really satisfying to see some of the plans that we've built be successful.
02:55 We've grown our business with lots of customers like B&Q and Wix, but also we've grown our European business,
03:01 and we actually opened an American business as well in 2023.
03:06 So when you're on a growth phase, everybody's excited.
03:11 When you come into work, there's new and interesting projects to work on.
03:15 The sales numbers are great, the profit numbers are great, and there's a real buzz around the business.
03:20 And it's enabled us to bring new people into the business as well, and they've added their own skills and experience to help us grow.