Luxury bespoke furniture and interior design brand Linley, founded by Viscount David Linley in 1985, attracted Nazir Razak first as a customer, then a shareholder in 2014. In a Skype interview from Linley’s London office, they speak about reaching the 30-year milestone, injecting new vigour into the company and future plans.

It is not every day that one encounters a British nobleman who made a name for himself as a carpenter, with a Londonbased luxury bespoke furniture and interior design business to boot, but that is precisely what Viscount David Linley has accomplished for himself.

Established in 1985, his company, Linley, while predominantly a bespoke business, also offers an exquisite range of ready-made furniture and accessories for the home and office at its showroom in Pimlico Road, on its dedicated website as well as Harrods department store. Linley’s furniture straddles tradition and modernity: It evokes the regal elegance, splendour and craftsmanship of the past — intricate wood marquetry and woodworking are particular specialities — but has a decidedly contemporary flair.

Linley’s unconventional career path owes much to the practical and creative upbringing that this son of Lord Snowdon and the late Princess Margaret — sister of Queen Elizabeth II — enjoyed. “I have two very creative parents. My mother was very involved in visual arts and she used to take me to museums,” the 54-year-old furniture maker and interior designer says in a Skype interview from London. “My father was a photographer primarily, but also an architect and designer who made things all the time. So, the culture in the house was one of creativity — we used to have amazing writers and actors over for lunch. My childhood was made up of… not in terms of academic prowess, but in terms of if you made something, you got enormous amounts of kudos.

“I started making, first of all, lots of things in pottery and I studied under great masters of pottery. And then it developed into mechanical objects, cars and motorcycles… I went to scrapyards where they basically gave you an old car and we took it apart to see what made it work. In those days, cars were much simpler than they are today. So, it was quite a practical upbringing. My father was always saying, ‘Go mow the lawn or cut down this tree and make a tree house.’ It was very creative. When I was in school, I had a very good relationship with a design teacher from whom I learnt about design.”

Linley was enrolled at Bedales School, which places emphasis on arts, crafts and drama, and it was here that he developed an avid interest in woodworking. His penchant for the craft was nourished further at the School for Craftsmen in Wood (now called Parnham College), where he honed his skills under the tutelage of master artisan and designer John Makepeace. Linley says of his former mentor, “He basically set about a sea change in people’s thinking towards how furniture could be regarded in the art world. In the second year, we were encouraged to set up our own business. In 1982, I started out on my own and worked in a very, very cold workshop in Surrey and created my first pieces with an artist friend of mine. We carried on there until 1985, when we opened the first London shop in New King’s Road. The Venetian collection of furniture and desk accessories was launched at Christie’s on Oct 1, 1985, the first commercial enterprise they allowed to launch there, which was very exciting.”

Sir Roy Strong, the then director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, called Linley’s furniture “antiques of the future”. Indeed, a piece of Linley furniture is an investment to hold on to and leave for the next generation.

Elaborating on his design philosophy, Linley says, “I find classical inspiration in architecture very important because, for starters, it’s been around for a great deal of time. We can learn from that, and understanding proportions from architecture is also quite important… Design is all about the fitting in of the environment, the choice of materials, the finish and the ergonomics — the fact that a desk should be beautifully made but impractical is nonsense to me. You must make things that work well and have the long-lasting nature of being made by hand or using the finest materials. In our case, we tend to use wood, not totally, but we have made wood our primary material. It’s the se lection process of finding the best available timber and the best available inlays that makes Linley’s pieces unique.”

Linley founded on private commissions
The company was founded on private commissions and they remain the bulk of its business today. Through its 30-year existence, Linley has created numerous special pieces for clients the world over, one of which is an architectural bed surround based on a row of Georgian townhouses and matching side tables for Elton John’s master suite. “It was a landmark opportunity for us to really show off our marquetry skills,” says Linley. “Elton had a big sale a few years ago, and it was the one thing he didn’t sell. It’s very nice that things we made for people — this would be 1986/87 — are still being cherished and kept, which is great.”

Another commissioned piece of note is the humongous boardroom table made for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is 26.8m long and three metres wide and is supported by 56 legs. “It is an enormous thing. That’s what they asked for, so we had to make the proportions beautifully, which is hard… In all of these [projects], what brings people who commission desks or valet stands or what ever it is, is that pursuit of excellence, with a sense of humour. You might find a delicious secret drawer somewhere… It’s been a unique process that’s an enjoyable one — something that’s beautifully made by hand that will last as long as an antique, if not longer.”

Linley names the cabinet incorporated with French porcelain brand Sèvres as another outstanding piece. “Sèvres and I got together on a train in the Far East and we started talking about ideas of how we can reunite great cabinetmaking and French pottery — they haven’t done it for 100 years. It was a great opportunity for us to explore the finesse of traditional 18th-century cabinetry and techniques and 18th-century ceramics. It was really very complex, highly detailed, and it took us a year to make. It’s in the Wallace Collection in London, which is famous for its Sèvres collection,” he says.

How does Linley define good design? “It’s a very difficult question to consider because it has so many facets. Good design can mean a good hospital bed or a fantastic iPhone. Design encompasses so much of our lives. I take design to mean something that functions well and something that lasts a long time. I’m not into things that you buy and throw away. I like to create something that has longevity, using good natural materials wherever possible, utilising traditional craft techniques.

“We’re all led by design throughout our lives — what choice we make for our eyeglasses, our clothes, everything is about design. I think Linley has always stood for good design and that we try to design things well. We bring in designers, we have our own in-house designers and we also exhibit designers. We are encouraging, utilising and manufacturing good design. I think it really is something that a lot of other companies could, and should, spend a lot more time on. The consideration of everything within your company, your logo… all these things that are transmitting things people can see you stand for, are all choices you can make. Design is really about editing out the myriad choices we have and creating the correct ones.”

In 2015, Linley celebrated 30 years. Commenting on the anniversary, Linley says: “The wonderful thing about telling people it’s 30 years old is [that] they go, ‘How old were you when you started?’ It is an incredible achievement to last this long, particularly in what we do, which is fantastically complicated. It is a huge honour for me to have seen such an enormous change in the company’s journey, from me with my hand tools and workbench in my freezing cold workshop to sitting next to a maestro here 30 years later — it’s an incredible journey. It’s also a continuous journey. We’ve got to 30 and now, looking forward is the most important thing. We’ve attained the milestone. I think it’s a good opportunity for us to take stock, look towards the future, see what Linley can do and how it can expand for the next 30 years.”

Linley has experienced its share of peaks and troughs through the years. According to a 2012 article in The Telegraph, following the ousting of Russian oligarch Sergei Pugachev from Linley’s board after a falling out, the viscount offloaded 60% of his business to British yacht broker Jamie Edmiston, who became CEO. Edmiston, however, bowed out in 2013 and was replaced by a former hedge fund finance director, Anna Sweeting. She subsequently left in December 2014, and Paddy Byng, formerly Asprey’s managing director, was brought on board in January last year as CEO.

This significant change in the company’s top management follows a shake-up in the shareholding. In September 2014, CIMB Group chairman Nazir Razak, together with David Chua, former presi dent of Genting’s Hong Kong business, bought 51% of the company from Edmiston, according to an article in The Sunday Times.

In a joint Skype interview from London with Linley, Nazir says: “I was a small customer of Linley’s for many years. I love the desk accessories. In 2013, I decided it would be interesting to invest in a British brand which I could help expand to the rest of the world. I felt that given my network in Asia, there could be this good East-West combination from a business perspective. I found a friend to look for deals for me and we looked at many.But when the Linley opportunity came up, I jumped at it because I knew the brand and it was something I would love to have a stake in. At that point in time, David was looking for a new strategic partner. We met, had breakfast, he didn’t object to me, and the rest is history.”

First in the order of business was to inject new vigour. “The first 18 months to where we are at today have been about strengthening the business, though I’m not so involved in the day to day. David is chairman of the company but I have my views, strategic advice and so on. One of the things we felt we needed to do was refresh the management team. Five or six of the top leaders of the firm were changed and we’ve also focused on basic things such as supply chain, so we can make a rock solid business from which we will grow. I think today, 18 months on, we’ve got a lot of those foundations in place. We’re going into this next phase, and it’s interesting that [it] coincides with Linley’s 30th year. Now, it’s about getting the brand better known across the world, and diversifying into some other areas as we go forward.”

Ensuring brand stays strong and safe
When pressed for details about what this diversification would entail, Nazir declines to give specifics, saying instead, “At this stage, we already have a wide range of furniture and related products. People are constantly engaging us on partnership opportunities and we want to be very careful because the brand must be protected at all cost. Every decision, in terms of expansion and so on, is studied in the context of ensuring that this brand will always be strong, safe and continue to stand for what it always has. What I can tell you is everyone is approaching us with ideas… But we are holding back and thinking things through very carefully.”

Along with a fresh management team, including new creative director Carmel Allen, who was hired last November, the showroom in Pimlico Road will get a makeover as well. Says Nazir, “The big change to look forward to is a revamp of the showroom. Essentially, we want it to be a real destination for people. We want the showroom to come to life in conjunction with the 30th-year celebration, which we will have in the middle of this year. Our new creative director went around the place and discovered in the basement what turned out to be ovens. Apparently, our showroom was the site of the original Chelsea Bun House… We’re struggling with this whole thing now because we feel a bit of an obligation to do something to honour that.”

Nazir dipped a toe in the creation side of the business for one special project — a valet stand, “handcrafted in walnut and Santos rosewood with grey sycamore stringing and stainless steel detailing”, so reads the description on the website. It retails for £4,200 (about $8,278). “That’s the only time. I doubt I’d do it again. I don’t think David wants me to do that,” he says, laughing. “I wanted to build my own valet stand, and it became too expensive to make just one. So I challenged them. I said, ‘I’m very sure you will be able to sell it’. And it is selling rather well.”

He adds, “I’m very clear about my role here as the strategic shareholder. I’m not on the board, so I help out when management wants me to. I think that’s key. David is the chairman of the company — I defer to him on history, design and the brand. I know my role and I think that makes a good partnership, so we don’t get in each other’s way. Beyond that, I think we’ve developed a good friendship. We enjoy seeing each other. We have other things to do that are day to day, but we’re both very supportive of the team — they feel the kind of empowerment that’s needed to grow this business.”

Linley chimes in, “It’s fantastic for me to have a shareholder this committed, this involved, and this positive and enthusias tic. It is absolutely a breath of fresh air to have Mr Razak here because he understands what we have to do — he’s given us clear perimeters. We know where we’re going, what we’re doing and he lets us get on with it. And it’s a very rare trait of somebody as intelligent as him to understand what we’re capable of doing and what we’re not capable of doing.”

Summer school to teach creative skills
One of the things Nazir is getting behind is the summer school that Linley took the opportunity in this interview to announce. “Thanks to our creative director Allen, we have the ability to teach people skills in the summer school we’re launching this year,” Linley explains. “The opportunity that Linley has as a fulcrum and as a meeting place for creative people to discuss ideas is really exciting. Anybody can join and there will be a small fee. I think there’s a huge appetite for people to do something with their hands. It fulfils a very deep inner part of your soul that needs nourishing and that’s been ignored. While I’m announcing it today, I’ve been keen on the idea for many years. I’m very proud it’s actually happening in England to start with.”

Says Nazir, “The summer school has not been announced, and David just revealed it. It’s a very important undertaking. I’ve always professed that when you do business, you have to think long term and you also have to give back to the community where you do business. This initiative by Linley represents the way we believe in doing business — that it’s not just about making money, it’s about contributing to the community.”

On plans to set up outposts in cities such as New York or Hong Kong, which a Vogue article said is a possibility CEO Byng is considering, Nazir says, “I think what we want to do is to sell to the Far East and all over Asia. That may or may not necessitate a store. Sometimes, our clientele actually prefer the stores to be less accessible, and we have a store online obviously. We are hiring ambassadors for various regions. If you were in Singapore and wanted to see someone about a desk, our ambassador would be there in a jiffy to show you photos of what we do. I think the ambassador is quite an effective model for us, at least for the near future. We have one for the Middle East and one for the Far East at the moment. We look to proliferate that in the US and beyond as well.”

Adds Linley, “I think it’s quite a clever strategy. If you look at the number of people involved in stores, the overheads and the stock, I think this is a much more sensible solution for the time being because we have that personal service, the ability to react quickly, which is good. When an order is finished, say the interior of a house, our craftsmen will travel to the site to create the Linley effect.”

What do they enjoy most about the business? “I enjoy the side of creative things and sales, and let everybody else get on with the other parts. Luckily, he [Nazir] is rather good at it,” says Linley.

“I enjoy how real the business is, especially compared with the one you’re used to seeing me at,” quips Nazir. “Linley today is about the size, manpower-wise, of the CIMB I joined in 1989 — about 70 people. I love being part of this — it’s almost like a family, the atmosphere in the showroom and so on. And I love the reality of it in the sense that the customer wants it, you make it, you give it and you get paid for it.”

Elaine Lau and Petrina Fernandez are senior writers with the Options desk at The Edge Malaysia

This article appeared in the Options of Issue 719 (March 14) of The Edge Singapore.