New 2008 Virtual Showroom: No registering, no fuss - just the furniture you need..

New Virtual Showroom launched! It is twelve months since we launched our digital catalogue on our web site www.purves-contracts.co.uk. Since then, I hope many of you will have found the experience beneficial - from its instant nature, to the flexibility it offers in terms of emailing to clients and or downloading images from the site. Now, we are launching the second generation! The main difference is in the number of products on the online catalogue - we no have thousands at your fingertips! Special features of the Virtual Showroom include: Favourites - As you browse our ranges you can select applicable products for your project and keep them in your favourites folder for later retrieval. Send to Friend - Send a product link or your page of Favourites to a colleague or client. Check price - Send an instant email to us to request a price or more information on the products you have chosen. News - We are able to create themed collections of products for you to view. We will use this to show off seasonal product or new releases. Keep your eyes peeled! Search - If you know the name, and want to go straight to the product, feel free. Images - Lots of them. Most products have a gallery of images at a resaonable quality and size. Quick View - Change the number of products displayed on the page if you need to browse quickly! www.purves-contracts.co.uk

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call. In the meantime, I hope you find this new incarnation of use in selecting products.

For help or assistance on any project please contact us on 020 7486 3200

Andrew Purves, Roman Thomas, Richard Vaughan

Roll up those sleeves; slip on those flip flops: Summer is nearly here!

Yes we know its still miserable outside, but now is a great time for you and your clients to plan for the warmer months. Purves & Purves Contracts can offer a large range of outdoor furniture for any exterior project. Just to whet the appetite we detail 3 of our suppliers and their respective ranges: Magis are an Italian manufacturer based near Treviso. As well as tables and chairs suitable for outside use, they also offer public seating ranges. Their products are well priced and usually available on short lead times. They work with many high profile designers like Jasper Morrison and Ron Arad. Easy & First Chairs www.magisdesign.com ------------------- Driade are an Italian manufacturer based near Piacenza. Their range is comprehensive and includes tables, chairs and reclined seating for outdoor use. Pip-e & Tokyo Pop www.driade.com ------------------- Gandia Blasco are based near Valencia and one of their specialties is furniture for outdoor spaces. As well as the typical table and chair options, they also have a good selection of recliners, integrated seating and soft upholstery pieces. Xemena & Merendero www.gandiablasco.com -------------------

The ranges shown are only a selection of the what we are able to source. For help or assistance on any project please contact us on 020 7486 3200

Chairs

Simple: you can't beat the Rondo for strength, colour choice, stackability and a retail price of £89 inc VAT.

Classic: Balou in soft leather, nobody ever got fired for specifying this one.

Sophisticated: Lago, at home anywhere - equally poised in the Boudoir and the Boardroom.

Versatile: Catifa - plastic - one colour or two, upholstered - fabric or leather, wood veneered, with or without arms, on four legs, sled or star base, with or without castors?

Soft: laid back, and fresh in white - the Eames Lounger.

Important: desk chairs for every occasion - task, everyday and executive.

Wardrobes - Christmas?!

No matter, I just thought you'd like to know the ABC of wardrobes:

A - Freestanding:

We do a lovely large model in solid wood with a variety of configurations - just imagine the type your grandmother might have had, and bring it up to date. Available in cherry, oak, walnut or maple from Italian company Riva 1920.

B - Built in:

Although they are actually freestanding, they are described as built in, as they can be used in alcoves with fill in panels, and made to specific sizes - height and width.

We carry three ranges, which you could describe as the BVR of wardrobes:

* TM line is the Budget collection
* Jesse is the Value range
* B&B have the Rolls Royce approach.

All three companies offer many types of door, folding, sliding or opening, and an infinite variation to the interiors.

C - Walk in:

If you have an ensuite room, or can cut down a large room, why not offer a dressing room with elegant floor to ceiling sliding doors made to measure, revealing an elegant range of shelves and hanging and drawers for the Marcos type of customer.

Obviously the B and C options will have to be measured and drawn up before ordering, and a fitting service is also an option if required. B is used here in respect of Built in. It may sound confusing, but please give us a call if this is what you need.

In the meantime, may I thank you for your orders in 2007, and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We will be open throughout the holiday period, although it will be a skeleton team on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

Do come and see us if you are shopping in the West End - we will offer you a glass of wine, unless we finished it earlier!

Nestling In...

Well, after a month, we have settled in to our new showroom in George Street.

We even have some furniture on display, for example the Tufty Time bed from B&B, Jesse wardrobe Plurimo, Alfredo dining table and sideboard in walnut from Riva1920, and lots of chairs: New, classic, favourites and downright useful.

While we can't ship the bigger items to you, we do aim to send samples of chairs to your offices in London on a same day service if we have it here in stock - should you need to assess it with your client. To offices outside London, we can deliver next day by courier.

Please continue to use our digital catalogue, we believe it is now being used successfully by most of our customers, who find the download/email/print features a godsend for product information. If you are still struggling with it, please give Richard a call for a tutorial!

If you really need a glossy brochure, we also have stock here of key manufacturer brochures - give us a call on 020 7486 3200 and we can tell you what we have.

In summary, we now have it all:

* A digital catalogue featuring furniture from over 80 European suppliers
* Sampling service around the UK
* Fabrics from leading mills, including Kvadrat, Bute, Designers Guild, Osbourne & Little, GP&J Baker
* Lighting from stock, deliverable in 2/3 working days from Flos, Artemide and others
* A meeting point in W1 for you or your clients
* ...and three very pleasant (mostly) young men with a lifetime of experience between them to find the right furniture for your project.

back into town...

After 18 months based in Europe's largest industrial estate at Park Royal, we were suffering a severe Cappuccino withdrawal crisis, and have therefore moved back to the West End. We have a new showroom at: 25-27 George Street London W1U 3QA New numbers are: Telephone: 020 7486 3200 Fax: 020 7486 3202

In the showroom we have a few iconic pieces from our main suppliers, as well as a large number of sample chairs which can be whizzed to your offices or a client should they be off coffee, lunch or a bit of retail therapy.

Our digital catalogue remains online, and includes the first products from Milan to go into production.

We even have the first Chair First in London by Stefano Giovannoni, launched in 2005! It was worth the wait! It is available in red, beige, black or white stacks and is suitable for outdoor use. List price is £79 + VAT.

Click here for more information on this product.

We look forward to welcoming you in our new home.

We've all been on a.... Summer Holiday!

As we all ease up a gear, and look back wistfully at our couple of weeks at leisure, I wonder if you ever thought of going to where the furniture came from?

Some non-descript factory in the middle of nowhere? Well I have news for you - just as the furniture we supply is beautiful, the places it is made are also beautiful, and often surrounded by water, mountains or excellent restaurants! How about a visit next year, to the home of B&B Italia, Riva 1920 or Punt Mobles?

Here are some suggestions: Milan, Cantu and the Northern Lakes. Milan is an architectural gem, with its cathedral, its grand central station as well as exceptional buildings from almost every decade of the last 100 years. In addition, it is full of sumptious showrooms belonging to every Furniture maker of note (Italian ones at least!) B&B, Cassina, Baleri, Driade, Kartell, Flos, Edra, MDF, and the list goes on and on! Not far from Milan, chill out on one of the Lakes, only an hour's drive from the centre of Milan, with grand hotels on every shore to suit all budgets. This area is also the hinterland of many manufacturers, and as long as you are not visiting in August (!) we can often arrange a visit to the Centre of Research at B&B, or the Museum of Wood at Riva 1920.

Valencia on the other hand is the host city for the America's Cup, and has therefore been spruced up over the last few years - as well as having benefited from Cavaltrava's master plan, and the new Science Museum also designed by him. The Central Market is worth a visit as are the many restaurants in the old town, which are pedestrianised and come alive in the evenings. A couple of hours up the coast is their more famous neighbour Barcelona - need I say more? Also the home of Mobles 114, and the delightful showroom of BD edicione.

Closer to home... ..is Enfield - hosting the impressive factory of Hitch Mylius. It may not sound very glamorous, but it has been there since Roman times (Enfield, not the factory!) and the site of Elsyng Palace - near the grand estate of Forty Hall - was the centre of Henry VIII's forays into the hunting grounds north of London. Although it appears to be a sprawling mass of houses for London commuters, the official web site makes it sound very interesting: It is bordered by two major roads - the London orbital and the North Circular, as well as four rail lines and one Tube line, being only twelve miles from the centre of London - perhaps all these transport links would help you escape should you feel the urge!

Wherever you chose to go this year, we hope you had a good one. We know its hard being back so if there is any project you are working on that we can help with, give yourself a break and let us do some of the work for you! For information about any of the products we sell or any product you are looking to source but don't see or can't find, please contact us on 020 8838 0400 or contracts@purves.co.uk