JS: Hi Cate, thanks so much for allowing us to interview you for Renaissance Magazine ....before we get started, I’m curious as to what was the motivation behind leaving the corporate world, and starting your own business?

Cate: I studied Economics and then worked in the fund management industry in London for over eight years but I always wanted to go into interior design. I moved into design in London but when I came to Cambridge it was the right time and place to start an interior design business.

JS: Could you tell me about Angel and Blume?

Cate: The business is based in Cambridge. We mostly do interior design projects for family homes. We do a few commercial projects – small shops and restaurants – they’re creative rather than huge projects. We also do a lot of project management for our clients – we organise plumbers, electricians, structural engineers and so on.

JS: What have been some of Angel and Blume’s milestones in your story so far?

Cate: Someone said to me it takes two years to get a business up and running, to get it stable; after five years it gets to a level where you can take it further. We got up and running, we got our name known, and now we get good clients coming to us. We took on a project manager a few years ago and that was a real milestone for the business.

JS: How has the business grown? What have been the primary drivers of growth for you?

Cate: It’s been referrals. You can’t do a really big sell as it’s a personal service – you are going into peoples’ homes and you need a lot of trust to do that. For the first six months we worked from home. Now we have a studio which is a working space that client’s can come into.

Gail knows Cambridge well, so in the beginning we spoke to all the related local businesses so people would get to know us. We went to different shops, we visited architects, we spoke to the Editor of the local newspaper. Now we are at the stage where we get referrals, and clients come to us. We get repeat business – clients may do a room and then come back in a year and want to do more.

JS: What are the marketing strategies that produce the best results for you in terms of new leads and new clients?

Cate: All our marketing is about brand building. We focus on our website, as lots of people search online for our kind of service. We write articles for local and some national magazines. We’ve been commissioned to do some coffee table, interiors books. We also always try to photograph our work so that we have a portfolio of work to show potential clients.

JS: Tell me about your clients – do they tend to want more styling or more design services – has the market downturn in the UK affected that?

Cate: That’s a good question. Our clients may not be moving or extending so much, but interest rates on mortgages have dropped so they have a bit left to do some changes in their homes.

JS: Could you give our readers some growth tips for service firms?

Cate: Work out what the service is and why people would want it. It’s important that people understand what you are offering. Explain what you do in clients’ terms, from start to finish. Don’t make it hard to understand.

JS: Do you have a vision for your bigger future?

Cate: I want to do more of the same with interesting clients and challenging jobs. I don’t want a huge company, but would rather take it forward in small steps. It’s more about interesting projects – that’s the real achievement and the fun part.

Original article featured in Bossmentor Renaissance Magazine September/October 2009 Photography courtesy of Mark Box Photography