Enterprise Nation

I think I’ve fallen in love. It’s just a shame that it happens to be with a shower curtain. It’s a shower curtain designed by Balineum, a home based business that’s run by two very talented ladies with a clear sense of style. They have one of the best looking websites I’ve seen in a while and they’re busy selling stock to Selfridges, and across the world.

Balineum was started by Sarah Watson who was joined in the company by Anneli Gascoyne. Anneli takes our questions.

From whose home is the business run?

The business is run from Sarah’s flat in central London, and since joining her in March this year, I now cycle across town every day to join her in the “office”.

Did you have any experience of the bathroom trade when the company launched in 2006?

No, actually neither of us had any prior experience in the bathroom trade.  Sarah’s background is photography production, working with advertising agencies, magazine editors and stylists all around the world.  Her focus is on the Product, Marketing and PR.  My background is in project management around business systems and processes: at PwC Consulting, and then Citigroup.  My focus is on the internal operations of the business.

How do you promote yourself?

Promotion has been from small press placements, customers searching online for our products and word of mouth.  We have been featured in a number of magazines, including Homes & Garden, House & Garden, Maison Française, BBC Homes & Antiques, Evening Standard Homes & Property.  We use Google Ad Words to help with customers online searching.  And we have also been fortunate enough to have been the subject of a number of blogs which have brought us some very positive attention.

Are your sales 100% online, or do you also see through retail stores?

The website launched in Oct/Nov last year.  The majority of our sales are online, and the website is, and will always be, our main focus for sales. We do also take orders over the phone, which has been important for orders generated from magazine articles, and for our work with trade customers, such as interior designers.  Also, since January this year, our products have been sold at Selfridges on Oxford Street, and we have had interest from, and are in discussions with, a number of other retailers. 

Do you pick up international orders too?

Absolutely! At the moment, around 80% of our sales are in the UK. But we very much see ourselves as a European business, and are also more than happy to deliver all over the world.  If only the postal and carrier services would make the process of delivering outside the UK cheaper and more consistent, our lives would be much improved!

I see that you’ll soon be launching a towel range – how will this work? Have you designed them and struck a deal for a supplier to produce them?

Sarah has some really lovely towels that she bought in the US a number of years ago, but we couldn’t find anything like the quality here.  So we specifically hunted down the supplier who made her towels. We then worked on our own designs and colours and have placed an order with that same supplier for towels which we believe will be the most luxurious in all of Europe.

Do you store stock in the house?

Most of our stock is currently kept in the flat.  However, 40m3 of towels would make conditions in the flat more than a little cramped.  So we are soon making a significant change to our storage, and consequently to our order process: We are now in the final stages of selecting a fulfilment partner to store, pick, pack and deliver our products.  We will continue to work out of Sarah’s flat to process orders and run the business, but our stock will despatch from a separate warehouse.

Do you have any plans to move into any designs for the home office?!

Given that Sarah’s bathroom is currently our “showroom”, you could say we are already improving home office designs.  But, the reality is that we believe it is important for Balineum to focus exclusively on the bathroom.  We want our customers to recognise us as experts in linens and accessories for the bathroom, and so don’t want to dilute our brand by moving our focus outside the bathroom. (Sorry!) But we do agree, it does seem surprisingly hard to find affordable, attractive and functional home office furniture, it’s made even more difficult for us as Sarah has banned anything grey or made with wood veneer from her flat!

Anneli Gascoyne talks to Emma Jones.

• Balineum

Shown here are the Catherine and Virginia shower curtains.