Farrow & Ball
British paint and wallpaper manufacturer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Farrow & Ball is a British manufacturer of paints and wallpapers largely based upon historic colour palettes and archives. The company is particularly well known for the unusual names of its products.[7][better source needed]
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- 1946[2][dead link]
- Incorporated 18 January 1971[3][dead link]
A Farrow & Ball colour swatch | |
| Formerly | Farrow & Ball (Southern) Limited[1] |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private limited company |
| Founded |
|
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | , United Kingdom |
Number of locations | (29 March 2020) |
| Products | |
| £16,030,000[5][dead link] (2019/2020) | |
| Total assets | £95,295,000[5] (29 March 2020) |
Number of employees | 550[6][dead link] (2019/2020) |
| Parent | Hempel |
| Website | farrow-ball |
History
Products
Paint
Farrow & Ball maintains an updated colour card of 132 colours,[12] plus 12 new paint colours and 3 new wallpaper patterns created with Christopher John Rogers.[13] The company has worked with the National Trust in formulating near-exact matches of colours used in the restoration of the interiors and exteriors of historic buildings.[14][15][16][17]
Wallpaper
Farrow & Ball produces wallpaper patterns made using traditional block, trough and roller methods with the company's own paint.[18]
Books
Farrow & Ball has produced several books; the British National Bibliography contains the following records:
Showrooms and stockists
The company has 63 showrooms[28] across the UK, US, Canada and Europe, as well as a global network of stockists carrying both paint and wallpaper.
In popular culture
Farrow & Ball has been lampooned in the US for its expense and preparation requirements on NBC's Saturday Night Live.[29]
In 2021, Channel 5 broadcast a one episode documentary about Farrow & Ball entitled Farrow & Ball: Inside the Posh Paint Factory.[30]
Corporate information
Ownership
In 2006, American Capital subsidiary European Capital Limited purchased Farrow & Ball for approximately £80 million by way of a management buyout.[31][32] Until its sale to European Capital Limited, Farrow & Ball remained a family business.[8] In 2014, Ares Management bought Farrow & Ball from European Capital Limited for £275 million.[33][34] In October 2020, Bloomberg reported that Ares Management was considering a potential sale of Farrow & Ball.[35] In May 2021, the Financial Times reported that Danish coatings manufacturer Hempel had agreed to purchase Farrow & Ball from Ares Management for approximately £500 million.[36] The sale was expected to complete in the second half of 2021.[37] On 26 August 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) completed the phase one investigation it launched on 9 July 2021 and cleared the merger.[38] Following clearance by the CMA, the sale of Farrow & Ball by Ares Management to Hempel completed on 3 September 2021.[39]
Financial information
| Financial year | Turnover (£) | Gross profit (£) | Operating profit (£) | Profit after tax (£) | Total comprehensive income (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019/2020[40] | 76,574,000 | 54,264,000 | 19,763,000 | 16,030,000 | 16,402,000 |
| 2018/2019[41] | 73,915,000 | 52,100,000 | 18,336,000 | 14,773,000 | 14,773,000 |
| 2017/2018[42] | 73,451,000 | 53,164,000 | 19,770,000 | 15,919,000 | 15,919,000 |
| 2016/2017[43] | 74,934,000 | 54,474,000 | 22,781,000 | 17,854,000 | 17,854,000 |
| 2015/2016[44] | 65,684,000 | 47,221,000 | 18,391,000 | 15,577,000 | 15,577,000 |
