| Formerly | Farrow & Ball (Southern) Limited[1] |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private limited company |
| Founded |
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| Founders |
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| Headquarters |
,
United Kingdom
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Number of locations |
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| Products |
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| £16,030,000[5] (2019/2020) | |
| Total assets | £95,295,000[5] (29 March 2020) |
Number of employees | 550[6] (2019/2020) |
| Parent | Hempel |
| Website | farrow-ball |
Farrow & Ball is a British manufacturer of paints and wallpapers largely based upon historic colour palettes and archives. The company is particularly well known for the unusual names of its products.[7][better source needed]
The company was started by John Farrow and Richard Maurice Ball in 1946 in Wimborne Minster, Dorset. Both Farrow and Ball had previously been chemists.[8][9][10] The company was the first manufacturer to switch to the production of 100 per cent water-based paints in 2010.[11]
Farrow & Ball maintains an updated colour card of 132 colours,[12][13] plus 12 new paint colours and 3 new wallpaper patterns created with Christopher John Rogers.[14] The company has worked with the National Trust in formulating near-exact matches of colours used in the restoration of the interiors and exteriors of historic buildings.[15][16][17][18]
Farrow & Ball produces wallpaper patterns made using traditional block, trough and roller methods with the company's own paint.[19]
Farrow & Ball has produced several books; the British National Bibliography contains the following records:
The company has 63 showrooms[29] across the UK, US, Canada and Europe, as well as a global network of stockists carrying both paint and wallpaper.
Farrow & Ball has been lampooned in the US for its expense and preparation requirements on NBC's Saturday Night Live.[30]
In 2021, Channel 5 broadcast a one episode documentary about Farrow & Ball entitled Farrow & Ball: Inside the Posh Paint Factory.[31]
In 2006, American Capital subsidiary European Capital Limited purchased Farrow & Ball for approximately £80 million by way of a management buyout.[32][33] Until its sale to European Capital Limited, Farrow & Ball remained a family business.[8] In 2014, Ares Management bought Farrow & Ball from European Capital Limited for £275 million.[34][35] In October 2020, Bloomberg reported that Ares Management was considering a potential sale of Farrow & Ball.[36] In May 2021, the Financial Times reported that Danish coatings manufacturer Hempel had agreed to purchase Farrow & Ball from Ares Management for approximately £500 million.[37] The sale was expected to complete in the second half of 2021.[38] On 26 August 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) completed the phase one investigation it launched on 9 July 2021 and cleared the merger.[39] Following clearance by the CMA, the sale of Farrow & Ball by Ares Management to Hempel completed on 3 September 2021.[40]
| Financial year | Turnover (£) | Gross profit (£) | Operating profit (£) | Profit after tax (£) | Total comprehensive income (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019/2020[41] | 76,574,000 | 54,264,000 | 19,763,000 | 16,030,000 | 16,402,000 |
| 2018/2019[42] | 73,915,000 | 52,100,000 | 18,336,000 | 14,773,000 | 14,773,000 |
| 2017/2018[43] | 73,451,000 | 53,164,000 | 19,770,000 | 15,919,000 | 15,919,000 |
| 2016/2017[44] | 74,934,000 | 54,474,000 | 22,781,000 | 17,854,000 | 17,854,000 |
| 2015/2016[45] | 65,684,000 | 47,221,000 | 18,391,000 | 15,577,000 | 15,577,000 |
Friedman, Joseph. Paint and Color in Decoration. Rizzoli New York: 2003. ISBN 0-8478-2593-0.
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