With customers flying in from all corners of the world to visit Danish homestore, there is no doubt that Simon Harrison’s selection of modern antique Danish furniture is quite unique. Danish Homestore was started by Simon’s father Roger Harrison who saw a hole in the British furniture market and now 27 years on, father and son have seen how the interest in Danish furniture has exploded since the first shipment.

“Ten years ago it was a different story with only a hand full of dealers. Now there are about 100 and it is a hugely competitive business,” says Simon. “Our competitive advantage is that each piece is  restored to it’s original finish, something learned over the last 25 years, and from speaking to a 94 year old ‘source’ who used to manufacture these classics.”

From value for money to collector’s favourites

Top: Mogens Hansen Leather Suite. Bottom: Roswood desk and armchair by Erik Buch.

Simon’s father settled in Denmark in 1961, married Danish Margot, and started selling British antiques in Vejle. After helping relatives move to Ipswich he was left with their teak coffee table which he put in auction in the UK. It sold for £14, which was, explains Simon, an excellent result. On the next trip over to England for antiques the small van was loaded with coffee tables and teak chairs and in 1986 Roger opened up his first store. Today the large premises in Nottingham are the centre of operations.
“Twenty years ago it was the very basic of good style and value for money that made us a success whereas today we have become a destination shop for style conscious and savvy collectors,” says Simon.
“Today clients come in and browse through 800sq metres of Danish furniture from the every day pieces to the very rare investments. Everything is priced up, has background information and can be found on the shop website. We are doing it the good old-fashioned Danish way, where everything is accessible, and a cup of coffee is enjoyed while discussing chairs,” says Simon.

Global demand

One of the best represented designers is Hans Wegner, of whose work Danish Homestore has, says Simon, “probably the best collection in the UK”. The collection contains everything from iconic wishbone chairs/Y-stol to dining tables, Sofas, cabinets and a very rare lounge chair in oak. Prices on Wegner furniture range from £250 pounds to several thousand pounds for rarer classics.
The furniture from Danish Homestore ends up in homes, not only all over the UK, but abroad as well with the USA, Japan and even Denmark among some of its destinations. But customers are, says Simon, not just collectors and investors but ordinary people too. “What we are dealing with is often the 30 plus homeowners who want something that is uniquely theirs. They are people who seek out something which tells a story and has character.”

Among more specific buyers are film directors looking for the right background setting for a scene, collectors looking for specific investment pieces and companies wanting to have iconic pieces of Danish furniture (Keyhaven Capital Partners).

Investing in the furniture

Back in 1994 one of Simon’s customers bought a Bodil Kjær desk famous as Dr No’s desk in James Bond movies From Russia With Love and Diamonds Are For Ever. The buyer paid £600 for it and enjoyed it for 17 years before selling it on for £12,500!

“You can buy the furniture and enjoy it for maybe 20 years and then when you are ready for a change, you can sell it on and trade up to something even better. A lot of the pieces that we deal with have increased in price over the last 5 years as demand increases,” says Simon. “As Danish furniture is becoming ever more sought after worldwide, now is an excellent opportunity to snap up that Hans Wegner sofa or Hans Olsen bikini chair before they become the subject of museum collections and the vastly rich.”

Turning back time

Simon’s own interest is in the original furniture, and like his father he does the renovations himself. “Sometimes I find a piece that looks like it has been completely destroyed, but I know that I can work that process backwards and bring it back to it’s best,” he says adding: “For me the best thing is to deliver a piece to a client knowing they appreciate my hard work and will cherish the furniture for years to come.”

For more information visit: www.danish-homestore.com

Tuborg has quickly become known among young Brits as a top quality and fun beer

The end of Tuborg’s second festival season in the UK is coming up, and the overall impression from the more than 100 outdoor events is a huge success. One of the festivals to have an exclusive supply deal with Tuborg is the mighty Glastonbury festival; with almost 140,000 people going there every summer one can just imagine how such an event boosts the sales charts!

It is not just the major festivals’ guests who have benefited from Tuborg’s music engagements. Carlsberg UK, which owns and markets the Tuborg brand in the UK, has secured exclusive supply deals and sponsorships with everything from one-day events, such as Escape in Wales, to five day gigs like the Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds festivals. These deals created a very successful first year and consequently expectations were even higher this summer. Tuborg did not disappoint and luckily neither the weather nor the economic climate seemed to affect the appetite for music or beer. “This season has actually been even better than we expected.  The number of people going to the festivals connected with Tuborg has probably increased by ten per cent compared to last year,” says Director of Sponsorship and Media Relations at Carlsberg UK, Gareth Roberts adding:  “One thing about festivals and events such as these, are that they are high on people’s agenda. They are a standard part of their yearly calendar and music lovers will always make sure that they can go to their favourite festival.”

Gig tickets are among possible prizes of Tuborg’s new, interactive web-game Beat the Intro

Preparation, coordination and a bit of fame

Most of this summer’s festivals connected to Tuborg were sold out and Tuborg increased its exposure to festival goers by 20-25 per cent, making volume and sales take another leap from last summer. All in all, Roberts concludes, “it has done very well for us this year.”
Nothing to complain about, therefore, but Roberts assures us that even though Tuborg does have a very strong international brand, the good results have not come easily. Bringing out the equipment, the beer and the staff to cater for more than a million festival and concert guests all over the UK is a major task. “At a festival like Glastonbury with around 140,000 guests, it takes a lot of planning and preparation to deliver a good product every time. One thing that is really outstanding about Carlsberg UK, as a company and what it delivers in the way of music events, is its ability to deliver a good quality beer product on a regular basis. We can cater for huge crowds.” Tuborg may cater for up to 100,000 people at one place and while it takes a lot of coordination and preparation it also gives the brand a special edge. “What we have created, I think, is real demand for not only Tuborg as a prime product and a world beer, but also for the logistics, presentation and equipment which we can deliver as well,” says Roberts.

Continuing the party

Gareth Roberts is the man behind the re-launch of Tuborg in the UK

While the festival season is at its end, Tuborg will, through its partnership with Live Nation and the Academy Music Group, continue to make music events cheerier throughout the year. “Since March 2007 we have managed to get an impressive portfolio of venues and properties that we now exclusively supply to,” says Roberts adding: “Through our partnership with the Academy Music Group, which is owned by Live Nation, we have become the official beer of 12 top venues in the UK from North to South.” Among the venues are the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, O2 Academy Birmingham and the Hippodrome in Brighton.
So if you missed out on this year’s festivals, there should still be plenty of opportunities to combine a musical evening with that special world famed Danish beer.

While Tuborg has just two years on its back in the UK, Carlsberg has been here since 1868 and is the UK’s fourth largest brewer, owning brands such as Carlsberg, Carlsberg Export, Tuborg, San Miguel, Tetley’s, Holsten and Skol.
For more information visit: www.carlsberg.co.uk or www.tuborg.co.uk