An insight into Retrouvius

Above Adam Hills and Maria Speake of Retrouvius. [photo. Phil Fisk, guardian.co.uk]

London, UK
The Guardian talks to Retrouvius founders Adam Hills and Maria Speake about rummaging in skips, demolitions and how to make salvage work at home.

The Retouvius duo explain that the credit crush appears to have done them a favour, aesthetically, as flash and bling is out. Now quirky items appear to sell well, as they can be a conversation starter. "You can tell when one of our regulars has had a dinner party as we get a lot of calls the following week," explains Mr Hills. Other important clients include Paul Smith who they sold 'a device for measuring a gentleman's trousers for horse riding, and coloured enamel lights.'

Apart from buying and selling salvage Retrouvius create reuse design products; "we have 300 boxes of glass funnels that were in storage for 40 years – we turned them into lights; and 50 tonnes of cast iron from the Intellectual Property Office, which we've turned into tables" explained Mr Hills.

Guardian.co.uk

Retrouvius