Events | 40 Years of Yeoward
Events | 40 Years of Yeoward
This year we are delighted to be celebrating 40 years of William Yeoward!
It all started with one man, William Yeoward, who at the age of 17 moved to London to pursue a career in the world of Interiors and what a journey it's been!
In 1983 he bought his first unit in Ingate place to pursue his own business and the William Yeoward brand was born! Shortly afterwards in 1985 he took the lease on a tiny premises on the Kings Road which he fondly nicknamed 'chipped and cracked' and began selling antiques he had sourced himself and furniture he had restored or bought at auctions. William's keen eye for originality and quality meant this little shop became a magnet and business started to prosper.
William later created a range of china called 'Braithwaite & Scott'. This caught the eye of Tim Jenkins of John Jenkins & Sons, a leading supplier of glass and crystal in the hospitality world. They collaborated and William Yeoward Crystal was born, with Jenkin's expertise and Yeoward's eye they dusted the cobwebs off the fine crystal business in the 1990s and this became a successful global brand and later granted a royal warrant.
During this time William was joined by Sam Kingcome of Kingcome furniture, and the team became two! Sam's keen eye in the world of upholstery and furniture expanded the furniture part of the business and she is still a well loved member of the team to this day.
The 'Palmer' Chair became the first piece of upholstered furniture in the Yeoward collection. It becomes an instant best seller and still takes pride of place in our ‘Benchmade’ Furniture range today!
In 1997 our iconic Alfie Lamp was born, still available in 12 jewel-like colours and more popular than ever.
This was a good year for William as Mike Nicholson joined the team and the William Yeoward delivery service was born. With hundreds of thousands of miles under his belt, there is nowhere he has not delivered to! He even has a William Yeoward Paint named after him 'Mike's Van'. Mike continues to be our transport manager to this day and ensures all our products are delivered with a smile, the brand really wouldn't be the same without him!
William then launched is first fabric and wallpaper collection, which is still sold under license with Designers Guild to this day. William then went on to launch his first book 'Perfect Tables' followed by 'William Yeoward The Perfect Host' both in 2008; 'William Yeoward at Home' in September 2010 and 'William Yeoward American Bar' in 2012. He completed his sixth book 'Blue & White & Other Stories' in Autumn 2017.
2003 saw the opening of our flagship store, 270 Kings Road, and is still home today to 'Willie's corner shop', some time later Adam Smith joined the team and he still manages our flagship store today. His keen eye for detail and adept knowledge of the brand has kept a consistent style and flair across the brand.
Things did not slow down at William Yeoward, with the website launch and the online store opening on 2011, ensuring the business was keeping up to date with the times and still an ever growing part of the business to this day. Later followed the success story of our rug collection and commercial cushions, designs which we are still so well know for today. 2014 saw '…collected' Furniture launch at decorex to rave reviews. With the iconic 'Godwyn' design as the starting point. This was accompanied by Alnwick Bureau and Bickerton Commode, all still in the range today.
With William's battle with cancer in 2016 he appointed our CEO, Chris Grafham, to run the team and to continue to build his legacy and his vision into the future. In 2019 William sadly lost his battle with cancer. His spirit lives on and the brand continues to reflect his flair, originality and style.
In 2017 our 'Concept Furniture' range is launched and continues to be one of our biggest and most successful collections to date. In 2021 we launched the William Yeoward 'Paint Gallery', which was always one of William's dreams so we are thrilled that this now forms part of who we are.
From small beginnings the Yeoward collection of furniture, fabric, wallpaper and home accessories has expanded to become a global brand and is stocked and recognised around the world…and we hope William would be proud.
