Ethics and care make eco-furniture store Tree grow well
Growth comes naturally to this eco-furniture store that not only worries where the wood comes from but where careers are heading
It is not only the top executives of luxury brands like Louis Vuitton or Gucci that have trouble with cheap imitations. Managers at eco-chic furniture store Tree also battle unscrupulous copycats.
Tree managing director Kate Babington, a former executive of The Body Shop, says it is the No 1 de-motivator of staff attempting to sell their product.
"When [other companies] copy your designs and then blur the lines by advertising items as ethically-sourced or ecological, then this becomes incredibly de-motivating for staff," she says.
Babington says the staff often find themselves in the position of being educators.
"They often have customers who say they have seen what appears to be the same product elsewhere and question why it is cheaper there," she says.
With a small staff of 45, there is intense brand loyalty from the staff to the Tree brand, which has become renowned for recycling materials salvaged from old furniture, railroad sleepers, boats and bridges. Most of the furniture is made in Indonesia from reclaimed teak that bears the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. This ensures the materials used are sustainable.