GardenSite staff visit Barlow Tyrie’s new Showroom in Braintree

Wednesday 30 October was a very exciting day for Gaby and Matthew who made the 2.5 hour journey from GardenSite HQ in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham down to Braintree, Essex to see our long-standing colleagues from Barlow Tyrie, with whom we have worked closely for over 50 years. The main purpose of the visit was to view their Showroom, however, we were thrilled to seize the opportunity to reconnect face-to-face with the staff who we usually only manage to speak with over the phone or email and share our experiences of business, including the challenges and successes of the last year of our working relationship, and to discuss exciting future business prospects and ventures.

A New and Contemporary Display Site Is Essential for Customers Who Are Looking to Invest in a Barlow Tyrie Furniture Set

Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by UK Sales Manager, Warren Thackeray, who took us into the new area which was beautifully furnished with a selection of the finest of Barlow Tyrie’s collection. They had a wide range of teak products on display from several of their best-selling ranges, including parasols and dining sets. It was a great opportunity for us to see some products that we have not seen in the flesh yet, such as the Cocoon Deep Seating 3 Seater Sofa and Armchair as well as some products that we sell regularly, including the Napoli Circular Tilting 2.8m Parasol and one of their newest products, the Around Lounge Set.

Barlow Tyrie's Modernised Website Will Elevate Sales and Satisfaction

We were then joined by Marketing Manager, Charlotte French, who showed us the improvements that have been made on their website to make the design and visualisation process easier for both trade and public customers. We were most impressed by their new ‘Planner’ tool which allows people to design an outdoor space with furniture on a 2D plan and 3D render, enabling you to see how any piece of Barlow Tyrie furniture would look in your garden (if you upload a photo of your outdoor space beforehand you can quite literally put the furniture in your very own garden to see how it would look in real life).

Hand-Crafted Furniture Being Assembled in the UK

After we had been brought up to speed on their digital advancements, we took a tour of their warehouse where we saw a lot of different components of stock for varying ranges, including arms for chairs and sides for benches. We met a few of the warehouse workers who were in the process of putting together one side of a Barlow Tyrie London 150cm Bench Seat.

We were then taken to see the newest investment, their foam cutting and sewing area. We were shown their top of the range cutting machine which is used to cut foam to size to fit their range of cushions. This is a project that will allow Barlow Tyrie to localise their stock a lot more, which will in turn result in quicker production and lead times.

After a very successful trading season retailing Barlow Tyrie’s timeless teak products both to customers here in the UK and worldwide, we were delighted to have the opportunity to visit their HQ and learn more about the staff and business. We would like to thank Warren and Charlotte again for taking the time to show us around and we are looking forward to continuing our thriving professional relationship for many more years to come!