Davidson London: Contemporary British-Designed Luxury Furniture

Davidson London is a Great British Brand 2024

By CTH Editors | 3 months ago

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Davidson London is an entry in our Great British Brands 2024 book.

Davidson London: Great British Brand 2024

‘Before Davidson was founded, my parents were antiques dealers so I grew up with the smell of furniture polish. When the company began, we created high end reproduction furniture, which felt like a natural progression from antiques. As time evolved, we branched out into our own designs, making everything to order in the UK. In 2005 we opened our first showroom in Mayfair which is when the brand really took off. Then we spent 18 years at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, designing two collections a year to coincide with Focus and London Design Week.

We have just moved to a beautiful, larger showroom in Chelsea Reach. This allows us to display our extensive collection of products better, host more events and have greater collaboration among the team. After Covid, working from home became the norm and I think businesses are now questioning how to find a balance. It’s a lot harder to maintain a strong work culture when you’re not working collaboratively and it can slow progress down. One of the values within the business is connection – whether that’s with clients, team members or suppliers. Building connections and relationships can be hugely undervalued in business.

I think AI serves a huge purpose for neurodiversity – as someone who is dyslexic, I personally use it quite a lot. I write down my thoughts and it helps me articulate them in a better way. As a Managing Director running a business, if you want people to get behind you, it’s crucial to articulate things clearly. The furniture manufacturing itself is still a combination of machinery and handcrafted techniques. As the brand has grown, we’ve started working in larger workshops to keep up with demand, but even though the production is on a bigger scale, artisanal skills applied by hand are very important.’

Alexandra Davidson, Managing Director

Five Proudest Moments

When Richard and Deirdre Davidson established Davidson in 1986, starting with high-end reproduction furniture, then progressing into making their own, one-off designs.
Alexandra Davidson’s appointment as Managing Director in 2012.
When the brand celebrated three decades of design excellence in 2016.
Launching our ‘Buy Once’ sustainability promise in 2021. This includes reducing our environmental footprint, using blanket-wrapped delivery to cut out plastic, minimising waste, and producing quality furniture to last for future generations.
Launching our collaboration with Kelly Hoppen in 2023, a collection of 12 exceptional pieces, crafted in grey-toned and black timber veneers and high-gloss lacquers.

What I’ve Learnt…

Covid propelled me to be the leader I always aspired to be. I was forced to focus on relationships and numbers, both oxygen to the business.
I love a challenge – the harder the better.
There is power in visualisation. I invest time in visualising where our business is going and it’s surprising what this can achieve.