It’s our 12th birthday – 12 years since we left the relative safety of the corporate world to set up The Velvet Principle. Like many small businesses, we’ve had to juggle multiple roles – finance, credit control, marketing, procurement, legal and HR management alongside delivery. Experienced the peaks and troughs from being too busy delivering existing projects to look for new; and had to man up to make those cold calls …. is there anyone that really enjoys doing that?
But we wouldn’t change it for the world. We’ve worked on some great projects with fabulous clients. Had the opportunity to experience different parts of the world – Azerbaijan, Oman and Abu Dhabi to name a few. We’ve seen shopping centres expand beyond their traditional retail offer and become more integrated within wider town and city landscapes. Residential, with Build to Rent in particular, has come to the fore, along with the environmental and social capital credentials of a project. And to top it all, people no longer look at us quite so blankly when we describe ourselves wayfinding consultants.
A big thank you to all the wonderful people who’ve supported and worked with us over the last twelve years. May the adventures continue.