How Bevan Funnell began

Barry Bevan Funnell and Pamela FunnelI were in their very early twenties and had been married for just three years. It was October 1945, the war had just ended and the wind of change was beginning to blow following a period of deprivation. British people were ready and able to work hard and bring back a little colour and style into their lives.

Barry was working as a buyer at a retail furnishing store in Hove where, incidentally, the couple first met. He was finding his work increasingly frustrating, as he was very ambitious. So the couple decided to start their own business, making reproduction furniture. They both liked antiques and felt that, whatever the future held, the public would continue to buy furniture. Their furniture would aim to remind people of past days and, in making reproduction furniture, we would not have to cope with changes in fashion.

Fortunately, over the years, they have been proved right. Mr Funnell knew a lot about antiques as he had already been dealing in them, so he continued to buy and sell on the couple’s own behalf, while Mrs Funnell managed the books, the typing and the general running of the office.

They formed a Limited Company, calling themselves “Bevan Funnell”; Bevan being Barry’s mother’s name and they launched them selves into an unsuspecting world with just £50 in cash.

There was no problem getting premises in those days and they obtained a garage in a nearby mews. They started by Mr Funnell buying and selling old and second hand furniture, opening accounts with various retailers known to them from their old days in the business. They were continuingly anxious to produce their own furniture but had no room to do so in their current location in Margaret Street, Brighton. They were, however, already making plans to move somewhere larger where they proposed to make their own range of oak and mahogany furniture and really become manufacturers.

By the time they left Margaret Street they had three large rigid vans, delivering around Britain. They moved to a factory estate in Newhaven. As soon as possible the Mill, Machine Shop and Cabinet Shop were in operation closely followed by the Polishing Department.

Exports to the Continent continued to grow apace and by 1965 they had their own lorries crossing the Channel and making deliveries. About this time Mr Funnell felt it might be a good idea to buy a yacht and use it for business. So they bought a full scale, 60 ft yacht. They then furnished it with as much of their furniture as they could and took it around the UK and abroad, entertaining customers and selling from it, much in the same way that one would use a show-van, but on a grander scale.

Trips were made to Germany, France, Scandinavia, Italy and Spain. They were even approached by BBC Television, who was at that time running a series called “Made in Britain”. They did a programme on the Company, sending a reporter, photographer and crew on one of their visits.

In 1967 and again in 1970, Bevan Funnell won the Queen’s Award to Industry. They were the first furniture manufactures to win it, and the first winners to earn it twice, a distinction held to this day. Also in this period Mr Funnell was awarded the O.B.E.

In the summer of 1976 Bevan Funnell took over premises, almost adjacent to the factory, consisting of a four-storey building with a large building site at the rear. They also had a very large fleet of articulated and rigid vehicles, in all sizes. Bevan Funnell was now fully set up and had marked their territory in the industry across the world.

In 1995, realising that they were not quite as young as they were, and wishing to bring new thinking into the organisation, Mr and Mrs Funnell decided to take more of a back seat and let others help with the travelling. Together they amalgamated travelling round the world on business 34 times. Both Mr and Mrs Funnell were still 'very hands' on and closely involved with all business decisions right up to when Mrs Funnell sadly passed away in the early 2000's followed by Mr Funnell in June 2005.

Bevan Funnell are continually designing and introducing new models into the range. Now, with the introduction of the new Contemporary and Accessories ranges, the company look to keep the success story going…