Sir Terence Conran

Plain, Simple, Useful.

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About Sir Terence Conran
Terence Conran is one of the world’s best-known designers, restaurateurs and retailers. He founded the Habitat chain of stores that brought good design within reach of the general population. In the 1990s, Terence built another impressive group of companies involved in restaurants, retailing, architecture and design. Terence has written over 30 books that have sold over 25 million copies worldwide

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Sir Terence Conran

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Introduction

Terence Conran is one of the world’s best-known designers, restaurateurs and retailers. Born in 1931, he founded the Habitat chain of home furnishings stores that revolutionised the UK High Street in the 1960s and 1970s by bringing intelligent, modern design within reach of the general population. In the 1980s Habitat was expanded and following a series of acquisitions evolved into Storehouse plc, the Chairmanship from which Terence retired in 1990.

In the 1990s, Terence built another group of companies involved in design, retailing, restaurants and hotels. Conran Holdings, of which Terence is Chairman, started its life in 1990 managed out of an apartment at Butlers Wharf owning one restaurant, one shop and a design studio. It has grown into a business today which owns restaurants and shops in cities throughout the world and employs over 2,000 staff. The Conran Shop has eight stores located in London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Nagoya, selling a carefully chosen selection of contemporary, well-designed furniture and home furnishings, much of it exclusive. It is one of the leading high quality home furnishings retail businesses in the world. In 2006 Conran Holdings sold a 49% stake in the Conran Restaurants business, which now operates under the name D&D London.

Terence Conran By Royal Doulton.

Light by Conran

“The future of design is an exciting one – new technology and techniques are opening up fantastic opportunities for the designer. But it remains the designer’s responsibility to help improve the quality of people’s lives through products and buildings that work well, are affordable and look beautiful. Through innovation and creativity we must use these opportunities to make our lives more comfortable and less complicated. “

Having been involved in design all his life, Terence’s philosophy is best summed up by the phrase ‘Plain, Simple and Useful’. He has designed and printed textiles, made furniture, retailed home furnishings, clothes, baby and children’s products, designed, open and run restaurants and cafés with a firm belief that if products, buildings or interiors are thoughtfully designed they will help improve the quality of life of the users.

Terence has always been a great supporter of education in design and founded the Design Museum in London and is currently the Provost of the Royal College of Art. He is proud of his role in this and hopes that these two enterprises have helped to educate the public, particularly school children, and raised awareness of the importance of design in all our lives.

Terence has written over 30 informative books that broadly reflect his design philosophy over the last 25 years selling over 20 million copies of his publications worldwide. They include Design: Intelligence Made Visible, Outdoors, The Essential House Book, Terence Conran on Design, The Ultimate House Book, Easy Living and Classic Conran.