Farrow & Ball Limited
FormerlyFarrow & Ball (Southern) Limited[1]
TypePrivate limited company
Founded
Founders
Headquarters
Wimborne, Dorset
,
United Kingdom
Number of locations
  • 45 company-operated stores[2]
  • 1,491 third-party stockist locations[2]
 (29 March 2020)
Products
£16,030,000[5] (2019/2020)
Total assets£95,295,000[5] (29 March 2020)
Number of employees
550[6] (2019/2020)
ParentHempel
Websitefarrow-ball.com
Farrow & Ball paint

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]

History

The company was started by John Farrow and Richard Maurice Ball in 1946 in Wimborne Minster, Dorset. Both Farrow and Ball had previously been chemists.[8][9][10] The company was the first manufacturer to switch to the production of 100 per cent water-based paints in 2010.[11]

Products

Paint

Farrow & Ball maintains an updated colour card of 132 colours.[12] 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.[13][14][15][16]

Wallpaper

Farrow & Ball produces wallpaper patterns made using traditional block, trough and roller methods with the company's own paint.[17]

Books

Farrow & Ball has produced several books; the British National Bibliography contains the following records:

  • Paint and Colour in Decoration (2003)[18][19]
  • Farrow & Ball The Art of Colour (2007)[20][21]
  • Farrow & Ball Living with Colour (2010)[22][23]
  • Farrow & Ball Decorating with Colour (2013)[24]
  • Farrow & Ball How to Decorate (2016)[25]
  • Farrow & Ball Recipes for Decorating (2019)[26]

Showrooms and stockists

The company has 63 showrooms[27] across the UK, US, Canada and Europe, as well as a global network of stockists carrying both paint and wallpaper.

Farrow & Ball has been lampooned in the US for its expense and preparation requirements on NBC's Saturday Night Live.[28]

In 2021, Channel 5 broadcast a one episode documentary about Farrow & Ball entitled Farrow & Ball: Inside the Posh Paint Factory.[29]

Corporate information

Ownership

In 2006, American Capital subsidiary European Capital Limited purchased Farrow & Ball for approximately £80 million by way of a management buyout.[30][31] 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.[32][33] In October 2020, Bloomberg reported that Ares Management was considering a potential sale of Farrow & Ball.[34] 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.[35] The sale was expected to complete in the second half of 2021.[36] 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.[37] Following clearance by the CMA, the sale of Farrow & Ball by Ares Management to Hempel completed on 3 September 2021.[38]

Financial information

Financial year Turnover (£) Gross profit (£) Operating profit (£) Profit after tax (£) Total comprehensive income (£)
2019/2020[39] 76,574,000 54,264,000 19,763,000 16,030,000 16,402,000
2018/2019[40] 73,915,000 52,100,000 18,336,000 14,773,000 14,773,000
2017/2018[41] 73,451,000 53,164,000 19,770,000 15,919,000 15,919,000
2016/2017[42] 74,934,000 54,474,000 22,781,000 17,854,000 17,854,000
2015/2016[43] 65,684,000 47,221,000 18,391,000 15,577,000 15,577,000

References

  1. ↑ "Farrow & Ball Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Farrow & Ball Report and financial statements for the 52 week period ended 29 March 2020" (PDF). Companies House. 30 July 2020. p. 1. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  3. ↑ "Certificate of Incorporation for Farrow & Ball (Southern) Limited" (PDF). Companies House. 18 January 1971. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Our History". Farrow & Ball. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Farrow & Ball Report and financial statements for the 52 week period ended 29 March 2020" (PDF). Companies House. 30 July 2020. p. 11. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  6. ↑ "Farrow & Ball Report and financial statements for the 52 week period ended 29 March 2020" (PDF). Companies House. 30 July 2020. p. 18. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "Branding colour - how paint companies personalities shines through their paint colour names".
  8. 1 2 Gordon, Ollie (16 November 2014). "US investment firm Ares Management bids for Farrow & Ball in £300m deal". CityAM. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  9. ↑ Expedite, BT. "Our History | Farrow & Ball". www.farrow-ball.com. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  10. ↑ "Farrow & Ball Traditional Papers & Paint - Wimborne White". Farrow & Ball. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
  11. ↑ Woolfson, Daniel (1 May 2023). "We'll go to war with rip-off rivals, says Farrow & Ball chief". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  12. ↑ Senior, Emily (1 September 2021). "Farrow and Ball paint colours in real homes". House & Garden. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  13. ↑ Keeps, David A. (14 April 2005). "It's cool, really". Los Angeles Times.
  14. ↑ Marx, Patricia. "Does the Paint World Need Another White?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  15. ↑ Mead, Rebecca. "The Luxury Paint Company Creating a New Kind of Decorating Anxiety". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  16. ↑ Lesser, Casey (30 January 2019). "The Artist-Turned-Color Expert Who Made the Perfect White Paint". Artsy. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "Wallpaper".
  18. ↑ Friedman, Joseph. Paint and Color in Decoration. Rizzoli New York: 2003. ISBN 0-8478-2593-0.
  19. ↑ "Paint and colour in decoration / Farrow & Ball". British Library. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  20. ↑ Coleman, Brian D. Farrow & Ball The Art of Colour. Gibbs Smith Layton, Utah: 2007. ISBN 978-1-4236-0010-7
  21. ↑ "Farrow and Ball: the Art of Color / Brian Coleman; photographs by Edward Addeo". British Library. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  22. ↑ Byam Shaw, Ros. Living with Colour. Ryland Peters & Small New York/London: 2010. ISBN 978-1-84975-038-7
  23. ↑ "Farrow & Ball Living with Colour / Ros Byam Shaw; photography by Jan Baldwin". British Library. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  24. ↑ "Farrow&Ball decorating with colour / Ros Byam Shaw; photography by Jan Baldwin". British Library. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  25. ↑ "Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper / Joa Studholme, Charlotte Cosby". British Library. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  26. ↑ "Farrow & Ball recipes for decorating / Joa Studholme". British Library. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  27. ↑ "Farrow & Ball - Content". www.farrow-ball.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012.
  28. ↑ "New Paint". National Broadcasting Corporation. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  29. ↑ "Farrow & Ball: Inside The Posh Paint Factory". Channel 5. 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  30. ↑ Barbaglia, Pamela; Berry, Freya (23 October 2014). "Four funds vie for $400 million luxury paintmaker Farrow & Ball: sources". Reuters. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  31. ↑ "Farrow & Ball". www.bvca.co.uk. British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  32. ↑ Godfrey, Hannah (11 May 2021). "Posh paint brand Farrow & Ball bought by Danish company in €500m deal". CityAM. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  33. ↑ "Ares Management Private Equity Fund to Acquire Farrow & Ball". www.businesswire.com. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  34. ↑ Noel, Andrew M.; Porter, Kiel; Balezou, Myriam (22 October 2020). "Ares Weighs Sale of Iconic Paint Maker Farrow & Ball". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  35. ↑ Wiggins, Kaye (11 May 2021). "Farrow & Ball sold to Danish paint group Hempel in £500m deal". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  36. ↑ "Ares Management To Sell Farrow & Ball To Hempel Group - Quick Facts". www.nasdaq.com. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  37. ↑ "Hempel / FBA merger inquiry". GOV.UK. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  38. ↑ "Hempel completes the acquisition of iconic paint and wallpaper brand, Farrow & Ball - Hempel". www.hempel.com. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  39. ↑ Full accounts made up to 29 March 2020. Page 11. Available from find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00999927/filing-history
  40. ↑ Full accounts made up to 31 March 2019. Page 9. Available from find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00999927/filing-history
  41. ↑ Full accounts made up to 31 March 2018. Page 9. Available from find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00999927/filing-history
  42. ↑ Full accounts made up to 31 March 2017. Page 8. Available from find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00999927/filing-history
  43. ↑ Full accounts made up to 31 March 2016. Page 8. Available from find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00999927/filing-history

Bibliography

Friedman, Joseph. Paint and Color in Decoration. Rizzoli New York: 2003. ISBN 0-8478-2593-0.

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