How I Bought Clive Christian Out of Administration | Phil Cole

What does it really take to buy a luxury brand out of administration? Phil Cole, Co-Owner and Managing Director of Clive Christian Interiors, shares how he bought the iconic British kitchen brand in 2022 and saved 66 jobs.

Phil joined Clive Christian in 2020 as Global Sales Director. Two years later the business fell into administration, and instead of walking away he bought it with business partner Jim Denos. In this episode of Brave Bold Brilliant, Jeannette Linfoot talks to Phil about the leap, the risk and the lessons.

🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE

In this conversation, Phil opens up about:

- What was going through his mind in the days before he signed the deal

- What happened between joining in 2020 and the 2022 administration, and the moment he chose to buy rather than walk away

- Watching his father buy Perrin & Rowe out of difficult trading, and how it shaped his own approach

- Why he partnered with Jim Denos, and how they share the business today

- The weight of saving 66 jobs and a 40+ year old British craft business

- Why training apprentices in skills like marquetry matters more than buying in ready-made talent

- How a sales background, rather than a design one, changed how he leads Clive Christian

- Why the brand is going "less is more": fewer, tier-one showrooms, with New York and Dubai under way