Heal’s is a well-established name in the UK furniture market and, after a difficult few years, chief executive Hamish Mansbridge is bringing a modern take to the heritage brand for a new generation of consumers.
“What’s this chair famous for?” asks Mansbridge as he takes an Arne Jacobsen chair from the stack and puts it down in front of me. This one I know the answer to – it’s the chair model Christine Keeler famously posed on in 1963 amid the Profumo affair, the political scandal that was the subject of BBC series The Trial of Christine Keeler.
Mansbridge’s enthusiasm for furniture is evident as he bounds around the Heal’s shop floor, pointing out iconic pieces and bestsellers, including a bright yellow velvet sofa that has surprisingly been the season’s biggest hit.
Founded in 1810, Heal’s Tottenham Court Road flagship is also home to a lot of history.
Sitting in the Ambrose Café on the first floor of the store, Mansbridge proudly details how Heal’s was the first to do many things: bring mattresses to the UK, have electric lights in store and even open a modern art gallery on its fifth floor featuring Matisse and Picasso.
“The exhibition was worth over £1bn in today’s currency, so we should have just kept the paintings and got rid of the furniture,” he jokes.
While it may not have reached £1bn, Heal’s has reason to celebrate as it returned to profitability after a tough few years. Since the Westons acquired the business in 2001, it has racked up more than £40m in operating losses.
When Mansbridge took the helm in 2015, losses stood at £5m. But with each year this figure lessened, breaking even in 2018. Heal’s inched into the black with adjusted EBITDA of £1.4m to the year ending September 2019. Revenues hit £30m in the same period.
Looking to the future
Heal’s return to profit comes at an interesting time for the retailer, amid speculation that owners the Weston family may be gearing up to offload the business after receiving takeover approaches for the upmarket furniture chain.
As the owner of department stores Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges, and the majority stakeholder in fashion goliath Primark’s parent company ABF, Heal’s is an odd feather in the cap of the Weston family’s investment vehicle Wittington Investments.
“I think that the world is our oyster, with a little bit of direction and investment”
Hamish Mansbridge
Mansbridge wouldn’t be drawn on whether a sale of Heal’s was imminent. However, he did acknowledge that it was a possibility that had reared its head over the years and that now might be the ideal time for new owners to take the lead.
”We’re clearly at a position where if someone invests in our future, there’s plenty of opportunities,” he said. “We’ve returned to profitability by being careful with money, so now there’s a chance to really make some big investments.”
Whether or not a sale proceeds, Mansbridge insists that he intends to continue on as chief executive for the foreseeable future and take Heal’s through any mooted sale and beyond.
“I think that the world is our oyster, with a little bit of direction and investment,” he says.
“We’ve never, for example, looked at expanding internationally, but it could be a great opportunity because the Heal’s name is so powerful and quintessentially British.”
A new demographic
Mansbridge also has big ambitions for how Heal’s can widen its target audience to include a younger shopper.
Heal’s new campaign ‘Not all things are created equal’ aims to showcase the quality and longevity of its furniture against cheaper alternatives from the likes of Ikea and Dunelm, in the hopes of persuading shoppers to invest in longer-lasting pieces.
Separately, the retailer has also launched its new Brunel range targeted at a younger audience.
Launched in 2016 and consisting of around 50 products for bedroom, living room, dining room and study, each piece is designed to look good in small spaces.
With price points all under £1,000, the aim for the range is for young cosmopolitans to decorate an entire flat in the same theme for a fraction of Heal’s traditional prices.
Mansbridge insists that the range should appeal to both first-time renters and new homeowners, regardless of how deep their pockets are.
However, with prices for a chest of drawers standing at £649, compared to £90 for an equivalent product in Ikea, it remains to be seen whether renters will choose quality over value.
“We live in a throwaway society where many people think ‘Oh, it doesn’t really matter’ when we buy furniture that only lasts a few years, but it does”
Hamish Mansbridge
One possible angle to attract the young consumer is to play on the sustainability of long-lasting pieces of furniture.
Mansbridge explains that the Heal’s approach to sustainability has two strands: firstly, the longevity of its products, and, secondly, its recent recycled materials campaign.
“We live in a throwaway society where many people think ‘Oh, it doesn’t really matter’ when we buy furniture that only lasts a few years, but it does,” believes Mansbridge.
“Heal’s is doing its part by creating furniture that will last for decades, passed down through generations.
“I often talk to customers who tell me about their parents’ or grandparents’ Heal’s sofa or bedstead that now stands in their own home.”
Heal’s also ran a sustainable materials campaign last month entitled ‘Recycled, remade’, celebrating furniture made from recycled products. Featured pieces included a sofa made from offcuts of material from the fashion industry, rugs made from plastic bottles and outdoor furniture made from fishing nets.
When asked if Heal’s has made any sustainability pledges, however, the answer is a resounding no.
Unlike Ikea, which has vowed to become “climate positive” by 2030, Mansbridge believes it’s “dangerous” to make promises it won’t necessarily be able to keep.
“It’s easy for retailers to make sweeping statements and commit themselves to a sustainable ideal, but what happens when they find they can’t reach that goal?” he asks.
Mansbridge believes it’s better for Heal’s to continue with its own quieter contributions to the agenda, through general product longevity and specific environmentally friendly ranges, rather than make a public declaration and risk alienating customers.
Reimagining the store
Heal’s is best known for its Tottenham Court Road flagship, but has recently undergone changes across its store network in order to drive sales both on- and offline, and bridge the gap between digital and physical.
“We’ve successfully digitised our business,” Mansbridge claims.
“40% of our sales are now made online, and this figure will grow as online doesn’t require the same rents and revamps as our physical stores, which are often in expensive city centres.”
Heal’s plans to keep its London flagship, but has reworked its floorplan to capitalise on sales of smaller household items. Previously a showroom, the entrance to the store is now home to a variety of handmade and one-of-a-kind items, such as plates, vases, cushions and throws.
The store houses a cafe, which is full of customers even on a Monday morning, and a small bookable cinema space at the bottom of its famous staircase. Designed by founder Ambrose Heal’s cousin and architect Cecil Brewer, the staircase is one of the most photographed interiors in London.
To mark its centenary, Heal’s enlisted 10 top artists and designers, including Orla Kiely, to decorate the Heal’s cat, which sits on the staircase, to be auctioned off to charity.
Mansbridge himself purchased the cat, designed by artist Zoe Bradley, which now resides in the store and is periodically moved around by staff to pop up as a fun surprise.
Heal’s also runs workshops and events with interior designers and even recreated a number of creative women’s favourite rooms in its 2018 window campaign, including singer Marina Diamandis’ dressing room and author Jessie Burton’s writing shed.
Aside from London, Heal’s new tactic is to use smaller-format “low-risk and low-cost” showrooms in key UK destinations to drive awareness and ultimately online sales.
The most recent examples of this are Heal’s stores in Birmingham Mailbox and Westfield London.
“We’ve opened two new smaller formats, about 5-6,000 sq ft, both in homeware areas in the shopping centres,” Mansbridge explains.
“They’re based on turnover-only rents with flexible leases, meaning we can exit any time, which was a very deliberate part of the strategy.
“They are showrooms to act as advertising space to attract new customers – people will see the Birmingham store, then shop online, merging that online and offline proposition.”
“For us to have improved our profitability against a backdrop of the economic environment we’ve had, I’m even more proud of what we’ve achieved”
Hamish Mansbridge, Heal’s
When asked if the strategy has been successful, he says: “It depends how you measure success – Birmingham on its own hasn’t got high sales, but since it opened we’ve trebled the database in the Birmingham postcode, so that’s a different kind of success.”
Once these stores have served their purpose, Heal’s can then exit and move on to the next city.
While it still clings to its heritage proposition, with elements of its history dotted around the Tottenham Court Road store, Heal’s has come a long way in its rebrand as a digital-first retailer with an aim to attract a wider, younger audience.
“For us to have improved our profitability against a backdrop of the economic environment we’ve had – Brexit and all the uncertainty that created – I’m even more proud of what we’ve achieved,” says Mansbridge.
While Mansbridge acknowledges the investment opportunities new owners could bring, he seems confident that, sale or no, Heal’s will continue on its path to success.
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