Joseph Joseph looks to keep design work "on-shore" as turnover hits £130m

Specialising in contemporary housewares, London based Joseph Joseph is internationally recognised for designing “stylish and technically innovative” products.

Since launching its glass chopping board, the brand has gone on to become one of the fastest-growing companies in the homewares market, selling over 450 products in 100 countries and reporting an annual turnover of over £130m.

Co-founder Richard Joseph says the company has been able to grow sales every year since it opened for business in 2003. He commented: “Our bestselling products are the ones that solve problems or improve the performance of old, outdated products on the market.”

“This can be in a number of different categories like our laundry hamper that allows you to sort your dirty laundry before washing, a folding chopping board that guides your chopped food into the saucepan and a toilet brush that uses hydrophobic material in the head to repel dirt and water.”

Raised in Birmingham, Richard and his twin brother and co-founder Antony grew up in a family with a long history of industrial glass manufacturing and engineering. The family business, started in 1936 by their grandfather, originally produced everything from fridge shelves to cooker hobs before diversifying into glass chopping boards.

Having both trained in product design, the twins “jumped at the opportunity to reinvent” the chopping board, which set them on a path to what is now Joseph Joseph, set to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2023.

The company has won multiple awards for its “unique and innovative” designs including 14 prestigious Reddot Design Awards and two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, presented to them by HRH Princess Royal. But like many other UK businesses, there have been plenty of fresh challenges to the company’s longevity over the past two years.

Richard noted: “Current challenges include increasing costs right through our supply chain, the threat of new Covid lockdowns in the countries where we manufacture and the impact of the war in Ukraine.”

The business is looking at new ways to be more efficient at reducing costs and environmental impacts, including new ways of manufacturing to make the products more sustainable and use less energy in production.

He added: “We have reduced and continue to reduce the packaging and waste generated by our products. We only bulk ship products by sea and not by air.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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