History
I founded Garden Trading in The Old Brewery in Burford in 1994, after spending 10 years designing and developing products for some of the leading Retailers at the time including: John Lewis, Habitat, Habitat France, Conran, Boots, Heal’s, Next Interiors and Williams Sonoma, Restoration Hardware, Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn and Smith and Hawken in the USA.
I had recently returned from a business trip to the West Coast of the United States which made me realise that there was a gap in the retail garden and interiors market in the UK, for products that were well designed and practical but not overly contemporary- Classic but with clean lines would be a good description.
I love the feel and uniqueness of a cottage or farmhouse, they can look wonderful with uncluttered modern or vintage furniture and accessories, soothing colour tones, modern wood burners, painted floor boards or sisal, simple kitchens and bathrooms using high quality fittings, but still feel very cosy!
This look and feel can of course also be applied to Town Houses and contemporary homes too, it is a matter of taste!
I think that with the pace of modern life we need an environment that is easy to use, clean and store in. I would admit that clutter is my pet hate but I am definitely not alone judging by our ever growing business and following, many of our products offer some form of a solution.
Always ethically aware, we strive to use responsibly sourced materials from within the EU where possible and only from factories that we have physically visited and audited. All of our products are built to stand the test of time.
Running Garden Trading is a long way from the professional motorcycle-racing career I first envisaged for myself when I left school! I have a great team of people around me who share my passion. I am very proud of what we have achieved. We may have only physically moved 3 miles to our existing premises next to the RAF base in Brize Norton, but we have come a long way.
We are growing Garden Trading (we are trying to keep up with the expansion of our RAF neighbour!) to give our returning and new customers even more choice and the service and standards that they should expect.
We hope that you enjoy Garden Trading and we welcome your comments.
Jon Holloway
Founder & Managing Director
