Farrow & Ball

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]

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

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. "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. "Our History". Farrow & Ball. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  5. "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. 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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