If you’re a boutique hotel lover like me then the fabulous female founder of Bramley Products, Chloë Luxton, needs very little introduction…
What did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was little we lived by the sea and I used to collect shells & stones from the beach and sell them outside my house. I also used to make ‘flower perfume’ which consisted of crushed up rose petals and some of my mother’s perfume (when she wasn’t looking!), so I think retail was obviously in my blood. If you’d asked me though, I would have said I wanted to be a model because I’d spend hours flicking through my mother’s Vogue collection – but I was far too short with a double chin, so that was never going to happen!
When and how did you decide to start up Bramley Products?
I always knew that I wanted to have my own business making or selling something and when my husband, Charlie, found a pub with bedrooms (The Beckford Arms in Wiltshire), I decided to create Bramley for the bedrooms. That was 10 years ago and the business has just gone from strength to strength.
Where did you get the inspiration for your products?
It was really the beautiful countryside around the pub, we’re very lucky to live somewhere like this and I wanted to somehow give everyone a little bit of that feeling of time spent in the countryside, wherever they may be. It was also really important that the ingredients in the products were all natural and that essential oils were used not only for their fragrance but also their therapeutic qualities.
Who designed the packaging?
Initially I found some pressed flower illustrations in a book on my honeymoon so we based the first design on that. After a couple of years it needed a bit of a refresh so we went to a design agency, but I felt that they just didn’t ‘get’ us so I used a freelance graphic designer and together we worked on the design as it is now. He introduced me to Lee Funnell, the photographer, and we had a fab couple of days trawling through Covent Garden flower market and in the studio photographing them.
What’s your most popular item?
Up until recently it was our Hand Wash, but currently it’s our Hand Sanitising Gel, for obvious reasons. I am so proud of all of our products but the Hand Sanitiser manages to be functional but also smell amazing.
How many hotels use Bramley products?
We are in around 200 hotels, quite a few pubs with rooms, in Fortnum & Mason and launching in John Lewis this month! We are very fortunate to be in some of the UK’s leading hotels such as The Pig Hotels and Artist Residence.
Who collaborates with you?
We love a collaboration and have done quite a few. Our most recent one is a bracelet & necklace with Bramley fragrance-infused rocks incorporated into the design, we have also created a wash bag with Molly Mahon (the block printer and potato print queen of lockdown!), and worked with ceramist Rebecca Wordsworth on a candle in one of her beautiful pots. We talk to lot so of other like-minded brands and do bit & pieces with them online. We’re always looking to collaborate because it’s such a lovely thing to do and keeps everything fresh.
Do you sell the products online?
We do, our website www.bramleyproducts.co.uk, has been a lifeline during lockdown. We lost about 70% of our entire business overnight when the UK went into lockdown and if we hadn’t had our website, it would have been devastating for us as a business.
Do you ship worldwide?
Yes we do! We are always trying to get our shipping costs down for our international customers. We recently did a weekend offer of free international shipping and it went incredibly well so there’s definitely a demand for Bramley abroad.
Your favourite hotel?
Can I have all the ones that take Bramley?! I am grateful to all the hotels that have Bramley in their rooms and I often get asked by friends for recommendations and I base those on all the hotels on our list. If I had to choose a favourite, it would be The Pig (any of them) because Robin & Judy (Hutson) have created something really special. The food, the rooms, the houses and the design are just spot on and I would happily spend a weekend there.
A restaurant or chef that inspires you
Coombeshead Farm, in Cornwall, is a really special place. Tom & Lottie have taken what was my in-laws house and turned it into a working farm with a B&B and fabulous restaurant. He goes for the whole from nose to tail approach and makes everything from his own bread to pickling everything and anything he can forage!
How would you define luxury?
It’s about quality & joy. Luxury for me is the small things in life - a lie in, clean sheets & a cup of tea brought to me in bed and never taken for granted!
Your favourite smell
I love the smell of that first mown grass because it signifies the beginning of summer and the warmer months.
An object you would never part with
My husband proposed to me with a beautiful silver cigarette box that had ‘Will you marry me?’ and the date engraved on it. I lost it the first weekend I had it when we were away at a country house for my husband’s birthday and I was devastated. About 2 years later my husband had a call from a number he didn’t recognise and the owner had found it buried deep down the back of a sofa and worked out from the date that it might have been ours!
The last meal out that truly impressed you
We went to Sunday lunch at my husband’s new pub, The Bath Arms, a couple of weeks ago and it was absolutely delicious. I love a roast and it was one of the best I’ve had in a long time.
The biggest female influence in your life
I am lucky to have lots of strong females around me from my mother, to an incredibly strong set of girlfriends and my daughter. I also love reading about female entrepreneurs and how they got to where they are now.
When you have time for a holiday where do you go and where do you stay?
Greece is my all time favourite because I have been going there since I was little. My family have a cottage in the Peleponnese, 10 minutes from the sea and it’s a little slice of heaven.
What are you dreaming of?
Lying on a beach in Greece, see above.
Your favourite website
I love Sheerluxe because it covers all aspects of life and our industry.
What’s in your future plans for Bramley?
We’ve got some exciting new products, ranges and collaborations coming up over the next couple of months but I won’t give too much away just yet….
A recent “find”
Over lockdown I discovered the Artist Support Pledge, which was set up by artist Matthew Burrows to support other artists and the idea was that artists would sell their work at the modest amount of £200 or under and once they reached £1000 of sales, they pledged to buy from a fellow artist. I went a bit crazy and bought art from Holly Frean, Lucy Kent, Ollie Tucker, Sally Mur, Tonia Gunstone & Serena Rowe.
In my fridge you’ll always find
Prawn cocktail – I love it, either with lettuce or avocado. Also wine and Hellmann’s mayonnaise.
The beauty staple I’m never without
It’s always been tweezers but recently our Bramley hand sanitiser is my must have.
How did you come up with the name ‘Bramley’?
We lived on Bramley Road in west London before we moved down to Wiltshire and the name just conjures up English countryside and wholesomeness, which is exactly what the product is!
How many ranges do you now have?
Alongside our Bramley range, we recently launched our Little B children’s range and Digby, our Dog Wash. Both are doing really well and you will soon be able to buy Digby in John Lewis!
Did you launch any new products during lockdown?
We had a hand sanitiser on our NPD list but decided to launch it sooner rather than later because of Covid-19 and thank goodness we did because it’s flown out and we’re incredibly proud of it.
Apart from The Beckford Arms, which was the first hotel to use Bramley products?
Very early on the Riding House Café put us in their loos which was brilliant and gave us a presence in London. The first hotel that used Bramley in their bedrooms was The Pig Hotel, we have such a lovely relationship with them and we are proud to be part of their story.