British luxury brand Addison Ross is growing, rapidly, and family values sit at the heart of it all. Jennifer Sieg sits down with the founders for Ambition A.M.’s latest entrepreneur profile to find out what is in store for its future.
Have you ever thought about how much work goes into those salt and pepper grinders sitting on your kitchen table?
When most people think of innovation, they think of AI and robots, but for David Ross, it’s all about refining a product that most people take for granted.
David founded British luxury brand Addison Ross in 1978, a brand that has since been known for a range of colourful household and gift-giving products – from the debut of its first marquetry photograph frame collection in the 1990s to the launch of their highly-sought-after salt and pepper grinders in 2022.
“For a while I was concerned I was going to be immortalised as a photograph frame, now I’m rather more concerned I might be immortalised as a salt and pepper grinder,” David laughs.
Now four and a half decades later, as I sit with the entrepreneur, his wife Sarah, and his son Harry – who are also at the heart of the business – I realise it’s the drive to innovate that’s helped the family stay in business all this time.
We’re not interested in designing what other people do, we’re trying to be ahead and creative and inventive.
David Ross
It’s that attitude that’s helped the company go from strength to strength over the past 45 years, and it shows no sign of slowing down. Turnover is on track to hit £20m this year, up 40 per cent year-on-year.
Addison Ross is just one of the 4.8m family businesses that make up 85.9 per cent of the UK’s private sector and it’s a great case study of how these small businesses are so fundamentally important to the economy.
Staying ahead of the curve – and high street
Building a wholesale business out of photograph frames was only the start. Since the team began introducing new (and colourful) products and transitions into the mix, the outlook has been bright.
David, who agrees that innovation and change is key to any successful business, says “seamless integration” of ongoing trends and technologies is what has indeed paved the way for Addison Ross’ future.
One of our slightly unique things is we’ve always been ahead of tech.
Sarah Ross
Whether it be integrating fax machines into business operations in the 1980s or deciding to successfully launch its direct-to-consumer model before the demise of the high street began in earnest in 2019, the team behind Addison Ross has experienced it all.
But the efforts have paid off, particularly with direct-to-consumer sales in the US and the UK, which exploded 600 per cent in the first year of operation alone.
“Some companies that saw that boom during Covid-19 have not retained that, you know, their sales have dropped back. We’re very, very fortunate as much as we have actually maintained the growth path,” David adds.
“Our direct consumer sales for instance in the last 12 months have grown by 49 per cent, and then our overall turnover for the company has grown by 40 per cent this year – so quite high percentage numbers – and we’re expecting something in excess of 30 per cent or more for the coming year.”
Establishing a (trusted) legacy
There are many perks to building a family-run business legacy – and, of course, difficulties – but David, Sarah, and Harry are all quick to agree that trust gets them through the toughest of times.
Harry, who came in with a fresh and informative pair of eyes for the tech-focused side of the business, says he’s always had a feeling he would someday join in helping his parents build the brand.
“Growing up, I just had a wealth of sales, experience and wealth of knowledge from just being around that industry, specifically in the wholesale industry in gifting,” Harry says.
“It was either JP Morgan or Addison Ross, and I went with Addison Ross,” he adds, with a laugh.
The “generational” strategy is to create a global family-owned brand, David says, especially as they ramp up their growing seven-figure marketing budget in the coming years.
Harry, who smiles as he admits he’s felt a part of the business since he was 12, says he plans to “stay in the business for quite some time, if not forever.”
“I personally think Addison Ross has the potential to be a global household name [and] British brand and I think the ambition is to create that over the coming decades,” he adds.
CV
Name: David Ross
Company: Addison Ross
Founded: 1978
Staff: 25 (directly employed) and 26 additional (on a contract basis)
Title: Co-Founder, Chairman and Managing Director
Age: 67
Born: Newcastle
Lives: Near Newbury
Studied: Gordonstoun
Talents: To build economics into a design
Motto: Seamless Integration and One Step at a time
Most known for: Mentoring
First ambition: To learn how to create a business
Favourite book: Hairy Maclary from Donaldson Dairy
Best piece of advice: Do not ever give a Personal Guarantee
CV
Name: Sarah Ross
Company: Addison Ross
Founded: 1978
Staff: 25 (directly employed) and 26 additional (on a contract basis)
Title: Co-Founder and Brand Director
Age: 56
Born: Sydney
Lives: Near Newbury
Studied: Melbourne University
Talents: Staying calm under pressure
Motto: More haste less speed, “pace” is my word for the year
Most known for: Colourful Homeware
First ambition: To become an entrepreneur
Favourite book: The Company I Keep by Leonard Lauder
Best piece of advice: Keep up to date with tech and innovation or you’ll be quickly left behind
CV
Name: Harry Ross
Company: Addison Ross
Founded: 1978
Staff: 25 (directly employed) and 26 additional (on a contract basis)
Title: Associate Director
Age: 26
Born: London
Lives: London
Studied: Edinburgh University
Talents: Teamwork
Motto: Turnover is Vanity, Profit is sanity.
Most known for: His man cave in the office
First ambition: To become a Fireman
Favourite book: Dune by Frank Herbert
Best piece of advice: Use Shopify if you are creating a website