MossTightening the screws on their

competition...

The critically acclaimed

furniture-making duo talk to

The BIP.

BIPPEOPLE

Plant&

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he Roots to Success...

“I think because we are starting and we are positive we’ve had

a lot more interest than we could have had in other years,” ac-

knowledges James Plant, part of the recently formed Plant &

Moss, who it seems are defying the odds by beginning in such a

tumultuous year.

Before the pair’s quirky and distinctly English designs were fea-

tured in a range of national magazines such as House & Garden

and CRAFTS, they were two separate undergraduates at Buck-

inghamshire’s New University who just happened to be taking

the same Contemporary Furniture and Product Design course,

and coincidentally happened to share the same first name and

garden-related surnames.

“It’s a happy coincidence,” he laughs, explaining that the deci-

sion to form their company was not based entirely on this streak

of luck. In fact the decision to go into business together or to

even start separate businesses was not initially high on their

agenda, with the duo beginning their careers by undertaking var-

ious freelance design after graduating in 2008.

“[We] were doing freelance whilst looking for fulltime freelance

positions but there wasn’t much around,” admits James, who

notes how himself and his namesake stayed in touch whilst

working alone. “We’ve both been doing our own projects and

we ended up helping each other a lot on our projects, calling for

advice [all the time].”

It wasn’t until both were exhibiting at London’s One Year On ex-

hibition in Summer 2009, which follows designers a year after

graduating that both received positive press and the decision to

definitely work together was finally made. It was a mix of a

shared aesthetic and a desire to gain creative freedom that in-

spired the collaboration.

“We thought that our style was different from what’s out there

already. We both wanted to work for ourselves eventually and

then the opportunity to do it arose”, explains James. “[Working

for ourselves] gives us design freedom, we don’t conform to

someone else’s standards and we think our products are differ-

ent and interactive.”

There was also financial imperatives that acted as an added in-

centive; “Working as freelance we could perhaps get 3% of sales

and doing it ourselves, although it’s a lot more effort and time

you get a lot more out of it too. There’s more satisfaction as

well.” This increased effort has been rewarded with an influx of

positive press and the invitation to exhibit at this year’s London

Design Festival.

By ensuring that the pair see each design from inception to cre-

ation Plant & Moss are able to offer consumers an ‘element of

exclusivity’ that allows them to break-through an ever-increasing

market.

“We can’t compete on economies of scale,” admits James, in ref-

erence to furniture conglomerates such as Ikea, although their

independence allows them to create pieces that offer slightly

more character than those that are flat-packed in bulk:

“People buy our products because they can’t buy it in the mil-

lions, it’s an element of exclusivity…Our products have narra-

tives built into them so there’s a back-story of the product which

adds value to it, it’s often handmade or batch produced and we

keep all our products designed and manufactured in the UK.”

Initially the pair’s strengths lay entirely in the design world and

it was through recognising the importance of a strong business

knowledge in wanting to succeed that they enrolled onto the

Bseen programme during the Summer.

“We didn’t have much business background so that’s why we

joined up with the BSeen programme to build up [this] knowl-

edge [and] to give ourselves a good business backing as well as

design.”

Enrolled onto the BSEEN programme (Birmingham Skills for En-

terprise and Employability Network) until February 2011, which

aids graduates looking to start a business within Birmingham,

Plant & Moss are able to gain training, mentoring and support in

the crucial first year as a business.

James is a firm believer in looking to those who have already

succeeded to gain precious advice, offering some of his own for

those who are in a similar position; he notes that “Research, re-

search, research”, is the key to a healthy start-up.

“Take as much advice as you can, I can’t think of how many hun-

dreds of hours Iv’e spent researching trying to get as much ad-

vice [as possible]. It’s a process of teaching yourself, a lot of

designers go on to do MAs which is kind of dedicated learning

but by setting up our own businesses we’re actively learning and

hopefully moving forward as well.”

The future currently looks ripe for the new business, who look to

improve on their first year of trading by creating a full collection

for 2011 and building up a client base of new and repeat cus-

tomers.

For more information and to buy their latest designs visit

> www.plantandmoss.com

T- With a plethora of unnerving terms like ‘spending cuts’ and ‘economic crisis’ cropping up much

too often. And yet it’s not all doom and gloom, especially for modern designers James Plant and

Moss whose new furniture company continues to grow. The BIP catches up with one half of the

pair, who admits that starting out in the middle of a recession might have actually worked in

their favour.

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