This episode of The UK Flooring Podcast sits down with Murray Biggs, founder of Woven & Woods, for a proper honest chat about retail, showroom design, customer experience, and what it really takes to build a flooring business that stands out.
Murray shares how he went from working in carpet retail at 16 to opening his first showroom in Twickenham with borrowed money, limited budget, and a clear idea of what he didn’t want to be. No red sale banners. No showroom packed with every stand going. No bland retail experience that looks like everyone else.
Instead, Woven & Woods was built around impact, storytelling, and making the customer feel like they are in the right place before anyone has even started selling to them.
The conversation gets into the thinking behind showroom layout, why too much choice can become a problem, how data helped Murray decide where to open his second showroom in Richmond, and why customer experience matters more than ever when footfall is harder to come by.
It is also a very real conversation about the less glamorous side of growth: cash flow, overheads, staffing, warehousing, business partners, self-doubt, and learning how to back yourself again when business gets difficult.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
How Murray started Woven & Woods with £25,000 of seed money and less than £10,000 left to build the first showroom
Why he refused to create a typical flooring shop full of manufacturer stands and sale banners
How cheap materials, used properly, helped create a high-impact showroom with a clear identity
Why Woven & Woods limits its carpet ranges rather than trying to show everything
The importance of using data, not just gut feeling, when opening a second showroom
How the river between Twickenham and Richmond affects customer behaviour more than you might expect
Why the first few steps inside a showroom matter, and how customers need space to settle into the environment
How showroom design can tell a story before the sales conversation even starts
Why a messy showroom is a non-negotiable problem for Murray
How to make flooring one of the enjoyable parts of a stressful renovation project
Why customer experience is about much more than being friendly
The hidden costs of running retail showrooms in London, including rent, rates, warehousing, staff, pensions, and cash flow
Why bigger businesses often come with bigger problems
The best business advice Murray has read, and why focusing on what you are best at helped the business grow
The danger of choosing the wrong business partner, even when the opportunity looks right at the time
How a difficult year in business led Murray to question his decision-making and join Make or Break
Why sometimes the thing holding the business back is the person running it
Memorable Quote:
“I would probably lose interest in the business if the business lost its wow factor to clients.”
Speaker Information:
Murray Biggs is the founder of Woven & Woods, a flooring and carpet retailer based in South West London, with showrooms in Twickenham and Richmond.
Woven & Woods focuses on the mid to high-end residential market, helping customers choose flooring, carpets, wood flooring, and other products for homes and renovation projects. The business is known for its distinctive showroom style, carefully selected product ranges, and customer-first approach.
Website: https://www.wovenandwoods.com
Instagram: @wovenandwoods
https://www.instagram.com/wovenandwoods/
Facebook: @wovenandwoods
https://www.facebook.com/wovenandwoods/
Where to Find The UK Flooring Podcast:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6zBTR6F44i7E6Tp4k6t8jv
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-uk-flooring-podcast/id1668971415
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUKFlooringPodcast
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