How Wayne Spriggs built Lusso Stone, one of the UK’s fastest growing luxury online department stores

By Jordan Finkle

Published: Thu 5 May 2022, 3:50 PM

Over the past two years, due to externalities resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, people have been spending an increased amount of time in their own homes. As more companies have implemented work-from-home policies and social establishments are slow to open back up, this increased amount of home time is inspiring people to re-evaluate their own space; homeowners are assessing the size of their homes as well as how it makes them feel. Simply put, as more people across the world spend more time at home, they want to make sure their home makes them comfortable and excited. To this point, some studies show that individuals who associate positive feelings with the aesthetic design of their home find more happiness and success in the long run.

Additionally, while pre-pandemic consumer behaviour has favoured e-commerce transactions over transactions at brick and mortar establishments, the pandemic has only accelerated these existing trends. Considering Amazon’s continual growth as well as every major retailer's investment in e-commerce sites, from Target to Walmart, consumers expect to be able to purchase anything and everything online, from the comfort of their homes. This is true for consumers across the world from NYC to London to Dubai. Any old reservations about purchasing goods and services online have been minimised as many consumers, particularly younger consumers, actually prefer to shop online.

Lusso Stone is an industry-leading lifestyle brand providing luxury bathrooms, furniture, homewares, fixtures, fittings, as well as bespoke service for residential homes and five-star hotels across the world. Wayne Spriggs, founder and CEO started the company in North East England in 2014 and has quickly grown the company to the luxury lifestyle behemoth it is today. Drawing upon his knowledge of home design and the importance of quality fixtures from his time as a luxury real estate developer, Spriggs understands the psychological as well as real estate value of a home with the proper interior pieces.

Like the true entrepreneur he is, Spriggs is not afraid to take risks. Spriggs started the business with a strong belief in the demand for custom bathroom products. Believing in this vision so deeply, he actually purchased his first 38 baths with a £10,000 overdraft from the bank. Since then, Spriggs has grown his business from £51,000 of annual sales in his first year to £32million of annual revenue in 2021. Now, Lusso Stone is doing £1m a week in sales on average. By emphasising high-quality material, original design, and world-class service, the Lusso Stone brand is a consumer favourite in the UK and beyond.

Despite substantial offers from large private equity firms at valuations in excess of £150m, Spriggs still owns 100 per cent of the business. Understanding that Lusso Stone has the potential to grow to unicorn status, potentially reaching a $1billion plus valuation in the next two to three years, Spriggs is taking the jump into the e-commerce game.

With the launch of its new online platform, Lusso Stone will be the first online department store in the United Kingdom to sell its own branded products exclusively. This is a major step for Lusso Stone and e-commerce in the United Kingdom as no other department store exclusively sells its products from its online site; these department stores sell non-branded products in addition to their own 'in-house' products. Since the Lusso Stone brand is already synonymous with luxury and class, consumers will be thankful for the increased accessibility to the company's quality homeware products and bespoke services.

As the recent recipient of 'Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year' at the 2021 Great British Entrepreneur Awards, we are excited to see how Wayne Spriggs grows Lusso Stone over the next few years. While his business is focused in the UK, Lusso Stone sells their products to over 30 countries, including the US and Dubai. Please visit their website for more information.