Michael Farrer’s idea for a new business began to form as he was commuting to Carlisle every day from his home near Workington.

An accountant by training, Michael was working as a finance business partner at Story Homes, but was also hankering to follow a calling to run his own business.

He began by absorbing huge amounts of business audiobooks and podcasts on his daily drive to work and his mind gradually turned towards starting an ecommerce business.

"I started researching trends on Google and I found that rustic and industrial furniture was quite a niche in the furniture industry," he says.

As an experiment he began an Instagram account posting pictures of different furniture designs and gauging people’s reactions.

“I shared a lot of content from Pinterest, Google Images - any designs that matched the rustic and industrial brand image I had in mind. Every now and then one would go viral, I'd post a picture and it would get hundreds of likes and I'd get direct messages and I'd get comments and I started to take note of the products which had the most interest."

One particular product, recycled rustic wooden stools, got such a reaction on social media that Michael invested in ordering 100 of them from China, putting them into a storage facility in Workington and setting up a simple ecommerce website.

“Those stools sold in a heartbeat,” says Michael.

Further experiments on Instagram revealed a similar interest in pipe furniture, so Michael began ordering this from China as well.

Although he is not a furniture designer, Michael says the Chinese producers were able to prototype, send over samples and then deliver a large number of products based on him sending over photos of what he wants, plus dimensions and guidance on materials.

"Once all the designs were tested and all necessary health and safety tests complete they went to market on Etsy, and the Acumen Collection website,” says Michael.

In his first year of trading in 2018 - at which time the business was a side hustle in addition to his job at Story Homes - the business had 200 orders and turned over £34,000.

Michael’s focus on the business, which he named the Acumen Collection, only increased when he was made redundant at the beginning of 2020. He decided to focus on it full time in May 2020.

"It was the biggest single decision I've ever made in my life, but it was also the best thing that's happened to me," he says.

In its second year the business had over 2200 orders with a turnover of nearly £320,000. This year it is on track to turnover nearly £1m.

Although the majority of sales are within the UK, Michael does sell some products to the United States and was exporting to Europe until the VAT rules triggered by the end of the Brexit transition period made this unviable.

Over the last year he has focused on streamlining the product catalogue to concentrate on expanding the best performing product ranges.

He has dubbed it “the year of automation”, introducing automated links between marketplaces, an accountancy system and an inventory management system.

Although it is a global business, Michael says two mainstays of the brand now are using recycled or reclaimed materials and supporting small furniture businesses in the UK.

As well as ordering some products from China, he also has furniture made by five workshops around the country, the main one based in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.

Michael says he has grown his network of workshops in the UK by systematically contacting them and offering to sell their furniture via his platforms. He says this has helped provide an outlet for workshops which previously did not have the time or expertise to market their wares.

The products use reclaimed materials as much as possible - such as recycled benches made into stools - and he ensures the timber is Forestry Stewardship Council certified, meaning it is not illegally logged and more trees are planted to replace those felled to provide it.

"I've grown the business, but I haven't made a single thing,” says Michael.

“I've just done market research and made data driven decisions and brought in people who can support the brand.

“Using reclaimed materials means lots of the furniture has a lovely back story and working with the workshops means I am giving local producers a route to market they may not otherwise have had.

“One of the key motivations when I built the business was to put faith in a sustainable and respectful business model both in terms of the environment and supporting UK-based small businesses. Every new supplier or product line I bring on board has to have the same ethical standards.”

As well as those who make the furniture, the business is also supported by a digital marketing and social media agency, based in the Czech Republic and London respectively, which are essential to driving sales.

"The marketing agency are able to get me about £15 back for every pound I spend on digital marketing and the social media manager grew my Instagram account from about 8000 followers to 30,000 followers in 12 months,” says Michael.

Michael now employs five people, working from a 1500 square foot unit and another 1000 square foot unit on the Clay Flatts industrial estate, in Workington.

Employees include packing staff, a customer service manager and one furniture maker producing items such as wooden dining tables.

As the business progresses Michael says he would like to diversify the range and move into a third warehouse.

He is also on the lookout for people who are interested in joining him to run the business as it grows to the point where an extra layer of management is required.

He says: “I'm very open to any local entrepreneurs or people with experience of ecommerce getting in touch with me to help bridge that gap.”