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Dundee man who quit job to launch furniture business reaping rewards

The firm is on course for doubling its turnover and has agreed a sponsorship deal with Dundee United

Adam Taylor at the Workspace Design Show in London. Image: Spaces Taylored.
Adam Taylor at the Workspace Design Show in London. Image: Spaces Taylored.

A Dundee man who quit his job to launch a furniture and fit-out firm says the business is going from strength to strength.

Spaces Taylored was launched by Adam Taylor while he was on furlough during the pandemic.

Adam, who runs the business with his wife Claire, has been delighted with the success of the firm so far.

He said: “When I launched the business, I saw an opportunity for change. I wanted to build a better life for my wife and kids.

“We never imaged we’d be where we are today, but I’ve never worked so hard in my life.”

Last year Adam outlined its plans for £500,000 sales.

Adam said in the early days, the firm was “riding a wave”, but after a successful first year, he put a plan in place to help grow the business.

He said: “I went in blindly with my heart without a clear strategy but when I realised it was a good opportunity and I was right to do what I did, it made me refocus.

“We’ve put things in place to help us grow – and we have doubled our turnover and taken on four staff.”

Opportunity knocks for Spaces Taylored

Adam’s work has taken Spaces Taylored all across the UK, from Aberdeen to London.

“It’s about recognising opportunities now when they come up and running with them,” Adam said.

Its most recent opportunity saw the firm agree a sponsorship deal with Dundee United.

Claire and Adam Taylor with staff member Kyle Maclean unveiling their Dundee United sponsorship. Unknown. Image: Spaces Taylored.

As a lifelong Arabs fan, Adam was delighted when the opportunity arose.

“We’ve worked with the club since our inception and when this opportunity came up, we jumped at it.

“It’s a great marketing tool for us, and I’m immensely proud.”

Plans for new Dundee warehouse

He hopes the next opportunity for the firm is to move to a new Dundee warehouse.

Adam adds: “We’re looking at a warehouse in Dundee which would triple our space.

Spaces Taylored employee Kyle Maclean with apprentice Adam Taylor. Image: Spaces Taylored.

“Hopefully we’ll have that finalised by the end of the year. Once that is done we’ll also launch our e-commerce.”

Adam said the extra space might allow Spaces Taylored to bring in another apprentice as well.

Challenges of running a family business

Adam said running a business where all the employees are family members can be challenging at times.

Adam heads up business, while wife Claire works behind the scenes on marketing. Adam’s son, also Adam, and brother-in-law Kyle Maclean are the other employees.

“It can be difficult to switch off,” he says.

“But it has brought us closer together as a family. We’ve all got different strengths and it’s about playing to what we do best.

“Switching off can be difficult but we do go on nice holidays.

“They’re getting further away so there’s becoming a bigger time difference which means I’m limited in what I can do. I think that’s Claire’s plan.

Spaces Taylored founder Adam Taylor

“We’ve now got an infrastructure that means the business can function if we are away.

“We’ve worked really hard on that over the past 12 months.”

And two years on from quitting his job to launch his own business, Adam said it has been worth it.

He said: “It has been hard work, but I am much happier.

“Our strap line is ‘creating amazing spaces’ and there is not a better feeling.

“We’ve done everything from big projects in London to working with local busineses. That’s what makes it all worth it.”

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