SHE’S GOING WHITE TO THE TOP

LITTLE DID CHRISTIAN RUCKER KNOW THAT HER IDEA TO PROVIDE SIMPLE DECOR TO WOMEN LIKE HERSELF WOULD BE THE SEED FOR GLOBAL SUCCESS WITH THE WHITE COMPANY interview robina dam THE RECEPTION area of this rapidly growing British mail-order company, based in Middlesex, is almost pristine white. A huge bunch of white lilies fragrance the room and the teacups and milk jug are chunky white china. So far, so normal – the kind of clean and bright interior any smart company aspires to. Only a discreetly placed catalogue on the coffee table indicates that the white atmosphere is more than just a decorating scheme. The White Company’s founder, Christian Rucker, 37, enters dressed head to toe in white. “Actually, I spend the winter months dressed mostly in black, and then switch to white as soon as it’s spring,” says the mother-of-four entrepreneur. It was everyone’s penchant for all-white elements that made the glamorous founder hit upon a business no-brainer. As one of the fastest growing UK companies, it has a turnover of more than £50million (expected to rise to £56 at year-end), making Rucker worth £40million, and the business has expanded from simply mail-order to 17 stores nationwide and an overseas franchise. Originally conceived to specialise in white bedlinen, towels and household accessories, it has now spiralled into everything from clothing and toiletries to garden accoutrements and bathroom furniture. “It covers every aspect of lifestyle. I have the same life as many of my customers and so try to think of products that would make their lives easier – and mine. After I had my first child, Tom, in 1997, I expanded into the Little White Company which has now evolved into its own successful brand with two stand-alone stores.” Like many great business ideas, the original premise had humble beginnings. In 1993 Rucker’s then boyfriend (now husband), Nick Wheeler, who set up Charles Tyrhitt Shirts, had just moved house. “I was the pushy girlfriend, shopping for the home to show that I was good wife material,” she says, half-jokingly. “Nick’s sister, Susie, had also bought a flat and we were all looking to furnish everything in white. I’ve always loved white but realised it wasn’t only me.” At the time, Rucker, who was working as a beauty journalist for the glossy Harpers & Queen, identified a gap in the market. “Either there was the designer end of the market where you found good quality linens, beautifully made but with prices to match. Or else on the high street, you’d find more affordable things but they felt cheap.” Musing as to why there wasn’t a specific white outlet where you could go for the basics in white, and have quality without designer prices, her boyfriend added: “Of course, you should do it mail-order so that you can keep your overheads down”. Looking back, she says: “I don’t know where that entrepreneurial bug came from – my mother was a teacher, and Dad was vice-chairman of the London Commodities Exchange, so very much a City businessman – but I always knew I wanted to do my own thing. I was just waiting for the right idea.” Events moved rapidly thereafter. While still holding down her full-time job, Rucker commenced her research. One department store informed her that for the past 10 years, of all their bedlinen, over 50% was sold in white. “That seemed a pretty good start,” recalls Rucker, who methodically contacted suppliers via trade show catalogues. Researching and understanding how to promote were to come in useful as she built her business; her careers in journalism and (briefly) public relations served her well. Within three months, she had sourced suppliers and handed in her notice. The White Company was launched in early 1994 with a modest £20,000 from her boyfriend’s spare bedroom. “I sold the shares that my granny had given me and I was also given a local government grant to feed myself.” She went on to shoot the catalogue. “I wasn’t fazed since I had plenty of experience of organising photo shoots on magazines.” The only problem was: who to send them to? “Obviously friends of friends and all my mother’s friends… but that was about it!” The start-up budget didn’t allow for advertising. She readily admits that luck played a huge part. A positive article in the Financial Times’s magazine the weekend before her catalogues were printed led to the phone ringing off the hook. “Suddenly there were 800 requests for the catalogue so we were up and running right from the start.” Rucker and her sister, Jo, would parcel up the orders and load up Jo’s Mini-Metro car to take the packages to the post office but within a year they had to upgrade the space and left her boyfriend’s attic for commercial premises. “During that time Nick was a huge mentor. I learned everything from him really as Charles Tyrhitt Shirts was three years ahead of me as a business. But when you’re running your own business, you learn what needs to be done and you just do it, whether it’s an Excel computer programme or a book-keeping course.” She clearly showed what she was capable of. In 1997, she was shortlisted for the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award (the youngest candidate at the time to be a finalist). Within six years, when turnover had grown to £6million, Rucker realised the business was in a new league. “At that stage I was doing everything myself and I was struggling to run the business and be the mother of two young children. The business was far too big for me and I didn’t have the skill-sets to take it to the next level. That’s when I brought in a managing director and invested in a strong management team with expertise in their given areas. I’m still the brand guardian, as I’m fanatical about quality. I test every product myself. “Yes, it’s grown but we have still maintained a family feel to the business. I’m inspired by brands such as Estée Lauder and Laura Ashley – they’ve become huge businesses but there’s a person who started it all up.”