YPIE Blog – week one, day two – Ercol and Hypnos

Today Greg Young of Herman Miller writes about the Young Professional Industry Experience group’s visit to Ercol and Hypnos.

This morning we visited Ercol in Princes Risborough. We met Ian Peers, operations director; Dylan Freeth, designer; and Edward Tadros, chairman, who gave us an overview of the business and what makes their brand unique. Ian talked us through the manufacturing side of the business and gave us a full factory tour. He explained how their products go through the factory from start to finish and demonstrated the process required to bend and manipulate the wood to create the unique and bespoke shapes seen in their furniture.

We then had a walk around the show room with Dylan, who explained to us the overall design process. He outlined the three main categories: traditional, contemporary and retro, and explained how they apply these to UK and international markets.

It was clear by the end of our trip that the communication between departments was good, which made the whole production process more efficient. The company has seen a transition from large demand for a small range of products to smaller demand for a much larger range of products.

In the afternoon, we were welcomed to Hypnos and given a brief overview of the company, its values and the market they operate in.

We then went on a factory tour and saw the entire process from material deliveries to the finished mattresses and divans. Seeing this process first-hand made us appreciate that the beds really are ‘handmade’ from start to finish. There was a real emphasis on maintaining quality throughout.

One of the key points made to us was that Hypnos is a business created and owned by the Keen family. Therefore, important decisions can be made very quickly as there isn’t a long chain of command that decisions have to go through. He also stressed the difference between the UK markets and those abroad. For example, height adjustable beds are very popular abroad, but in the UK they aren’t a very good seller.

Hypnos has been on an upward growth curve for the past five years and has won countless awards during that period. Despite this, Richard stressed that they are always looking forward and seeing which direction and market they want to target next. He particularly stressed his desire to target young people, as they believe their current primary buyer is 35-65.

They want to put more time and emphasis into their social media platforms to better access that market, however the inability for young people to buy new homes means that selling high end furniture to this demographic may prove very challenging.