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By Dina Karim dina@movepublishing.co.uk
Liverpool businessman Tony Caldeira is what legends are made of. In a modern retelling of rags to riches, from a market stall to a multi-million business, he’s leading the way in the global textiles market with Caldeira UK, and heading up the Liverpool Conservative Party.
Cushion King
24 MOVE COMMERCIAL
warehouses and set up in the market stall. “It was a step by step process, when we first started we had the stall at the back of the house where we made the cushions. Then when I left university we took up a small starter unit in St Helens, and we had half a dozen staff there, but we outgrew that and eventually ended up in Knowsley.” Fast-forward nearly twenty years and Caldeira UK is Britain’s market leader in the supply of cushions, throws and seat pads to volume retailers. The multi award winning
monster; it’s a quarter of a million sq ft building, about the same size as a football ground. We’ve been hugely successful with the Chinese commercial property, although in the UK the market is very depressed, in China the commercial property market is booming; the factory has doubled in price in the last two years. We’ve also got a currency gain, so from a commercial aspect investing in China has been a very good thing. “In China, the Chinese authorities don't want the Chinese to invest in the residential property market at
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We’ve got British and Liverpool inspired products that we make either in Liverpool or China and sell them all over the world.
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When I meet with cushion king Tony Caldeira at Lunya, in Liverpool ONE, for breakfast, I count my blessings this talented entrepreneur was able to meet me between jet setting to New York or China - or leafleting on the streets of Everton. Over a Catalan breakfast, we talk about all things Caldeira, from a market stall to a multi-million pound textiles business, and his political ambitions as president of the Liverpool Conservative party. A local lad at heart, both his home and business are based in Liverpool, but he shrugs off the celebrity status his political leanings and millionaire position might bring him, instead praising his “superstar mother.” In fact the story of Caldeira is now legendary in Liverpool. The textiles business started on a stall at Great Homer Street market, in Liverpool, growing very quickly from there, at 50 per cent a year every year for nearly 15 years. “A friend of the family had a market stall selling fabrics, and at Christmas time he used to turn his offcuts into cushions. He knew my mother had a sewing machine, as she worked in the factory, so he asked her to make the cushions. However, after Christmas the work ran out so we decided to pool all our resources together - my mother was a bit of a superstar as she raised myself and both my sisters up by herself in a council house in St Helens. We pooled all our money together and bought a couple of sewing machines and started buying offcuts from curtain
company has become successful due to its customer focus and its continued commitment to product development. Not content with supplying over 20 countries around the world, Caldeira UK now has a factory in China and a showroom on Fifth Avenue, New York. In late 2008 they also acquired Fabric Warehouse, a 14-store retail chain which sells fabrics, textiles and home furnishings. “The Chinese factory is a
the moment, they're only allowed to have two properties (because of the boom in house prices), so a lot of the money is going to the commercial side. The beauty of the Chinese operation is that it made us competitive globally, so what we would do is design products here in Liverpool and then we could get them made either in the factory in Knowsley depending on where the fabric comes from, or in China. So we’ve got British and Liverpool inspired products that we make
either in Liverpool or China and sell them all over the world. “Our products are split into two different types, you’ve got our high quality end where the fabrics are produced in Europe and brought into Liverpool. By having a local factory it helps us turn around products quickly and by keeping the factory in Knowsley, it has given us a competitive edge over rivals because as well as being more flexible and having our top range, we can combine the best of East and West. And China is becoming more expensive; the Chinese people are looking for a better standard of living, and they don’t want to work in a factory all day for buttons.” Caldeira UK also exhibits in global fairs, their latest client is Mexico’s biggest department store, ironically called Liverpool, where they will be selling Liverpool-inspired cushions - most likely Beatles-themed. It’s the man behind the legend, behind the multi-million business that I want to learn about, so as we finish the delicious Catalan breakfast, over a warming coffee in the comfortable surroundings of this little eatery we discuss Tony’s drive and ambitions. “I’ve always been entrepreneurial, having the upbringing I’ve had - I’ve still got the attitude that if you haven't got anything to lose then go for it. I still enjoy running a business, and building it, it’s great fun being a boss, I only answer to my customers.” What, you may not know though, is that Tony Caldeira also happens to be a political bigwig in Conservative party circles, and is