West Sussex-based furniture brand Maker&Son, established in 2018 by Alex Willcock and his son Felix Conran, has been acquired by the investment group Inc & Co in a multi-million-pound acquisition.
Operating from its headquarters, design studio, and showroom in Balcombe, the company has a strong international presence, with manufacturing facilities in the UK, Ireland, the US, Australia, Asia, and New Zealand, allowing for local production in these markets.
The brand, which was recently valued independently at £55 million, employs 150 staff members. Maker&Son is widely recognised for its viral ‘Sofa Jump’ advertising campaign, launched in 2018.
This marketing strategy is vital for the brand as they do not operate through traditional stores, instead engaging directly with customers through their ‘mobile’ showroom.
Felix Conran, co-founder of Maker&Son, states: “Our vision for the business was to put our products and people – both our team and our clients – at the heart of what we do. With this comes a true sense of British heritage and belonging for our teams, and our clients alike.
“The sale will enable us to continue our vision of creating luxury sustainable furniture. We are delighted that Inc &Co have seen the value in what we have achieved to date and are excited to work with them to write the next chapter for Maker&Son.”
Manchester-based investment group Inc & Co will assume ownership of the full Maker&Son group, including its international operations. The group, founded three years ago, recently announced a turnover of £30 million in its second year.
Maker&Son joins other recent acquisitions by the group, including luxury leather brand KNOMO London, food and beverage brand Chop’d, and King Street Grooming.
Inc & Co plans to expand Maker&Son by launching 20 new regional locations for its mobile showroom over the next 18 months.
Jack Mason, group CEO of Inc & Co, comments: “Inc & Co pride itself on being known for expediting acquisitions in an extremely diligent and human-centric way. We are excited to be joining Maker&Son on its business journey. It is a distinguished brand, with provenance and vision. The fast and international growth to date has proven the strength of the product and we’re looking to expand on this further.
“Inc & Co, much like Maker&Son, is honed on creating and delivering products and services for the modern, sustainably conscious and digitally aware customer. Maker&Son fits seamlessly into the Inc & Co portfolio of brands and we can’t wait get under the skin of the business.”
