Who  is  Rob  Tate?

Rob Tate has a charm that seems almost to belong in a bygone age. Urbane, warm and ruggedly handsome, he has the weathered looks of an old-time western hero and the broad smile of everyone's favourite dinner party host.

Five minutes in his company and you feel totally at ease; 15 minutes with him and you feel like long-time friends.

Rob Tate: his journey with Fired Earth began as a graphic designer

He joined Fired Earth in 1983 as a graphic designer and has seen the company grow from humble beginnings - one shop in London's Holland Park and a warehouse in Oxfordshire - to become one of the UK's most respected interiors brands.

He was taken on as a consultant to shape the look and feel of a range of
catalogues, brochures and advertising
material, but his role quickly grew.

"I remember," he says, "first seeing a small ad for Fired Earth in around 1975.

"I was just out of college and was particularly struck by the name of the brand and image of an Andalucian patterned tile.

"I thought there and then that this would be an exciting brand to work for. Eight or nine years later I saw the name again in the Yellow Pages and contacted them."

Tell  me  more  about  Fired  Earth

Fired Earth - based in Adderbury on Oxfordshire - now has 50-plus stores in the UK and eight overseas and an enviable reputation for sourcing the finest artisan wall and floor tiles and kitchen and bathroom furniture of the very highest standard.

"In the early days it was a case of my going round deciding where new stores might open. But it was a small team and everyone would do everything.

"I worked then with Nicholas Kneale, founder of the present company. Nicholas was particularly energetic and creative with a real can-do attitude and it was very exciting.

"If there were some small reason, for instance, to go to the moon he would be first into the spaceship.

"Back then we had a very limited stock range - just two tile collections. One was branded Fired Earth and the other was called Merchant Tiler and designed to be more accessible.

2003: Fired Earth was acquired by Aga

"By 2003 (when Fired Earth was acquired by Aga) we were stocking floor coverings, paint, fabrics, bathrooms and kitchens and numerous soft furnishings and 'lifestyle ideas'.

"I think, though, that there was a realisation we had lost our focus a little, that we had lost sight of what Fired Earth does best.

"So, over the last few years, we've been working on reinforcing the brand and going back to what Fired Earth is all about. And that means tiles, paints, bathrooms and - thanks to the tie-up with Aga - kitchens."

 

Working  with  Kevin  McCloud

Rob, 57, who lives nears Abingdon in Oxfordshire, with his wife, Wendy, and their four grown-up children on occasional return visits, worked with hugely influential Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud on launching the popular Fired Earth paints collection and has spent the last two years redefining what Fired Earth's network of stores will offer customers.

"Kevin McCloud's a great guy. I worked with him on putting the paint range together. It's worked really well.

"And in many ways captures the essence of our brand, which is not only about the narrow aesthetic of current fashion but something perhaps a little more fundamental. It's all about live-ability and comfort, with the focus on texture, on simple harmony, balance and home as a sanctuary.

"I think we are now beginning to get the collection right. The brand values are in place and our store presentations are steadily improving to reflect these values.

"The future is all about Fired Earth doing what it does best. There is always a degree of re-invention, but the brand will be founded on things that are valuable to all of us - things like balance and harmony.

"In some ways Fired Earth is an anti-fashion brand. Yes, you have to keep re-inventing and adapting, but not for fatuous reasons."

Rob - who cites his own principal creative influence as being Isamu Noguchi, the American-Japanese sculptor and designer perhaps most famous for his omnipresent white paper light shades - believes Fired Earth offers collections with which "we can all live and work and be comfortable with".

The customer can, he says, choose a kitchen that is cold, sleek and functional like office furniture or one that is "living and breathing, one that is alive."

Designers

Rob spends much of his time liaising with suppliers in the UK and abroad.

He singles out for particular praise the Suffolk-based tile designer Alice Gibbons, whose Natural History collection, he says, exemplifies Fired Earth's core values.

He also cites Decorativa in Spain - a family run business which has been a Fired Earth partner since the early days back in the 1980s - and Casa Dolce Casa, an Italian supplier of stunning porcelain and ceramic tiles which "look fabulous and are real heart of the home stuff".

Back to business: Rob relaxing with the newspaper

With that, Rob smiled that broad smile and offered a warm handshake. Then it was back to the crossword and the broadsheet business sections while Jake the golden retriever waited patiently for his walk.

 

 

For more information on the new Fired Earth collections, visit
Fired Earth online.