At the beginning of the year, we were blissfully unaware that any of this would happen...

In 2023, Richard Kimbell brought us together to start a framing and print business. Over the following year or so, we went from strength to strength, stopped only by a tragic and sudden passing.

Richard died in January, 2025. This left us all totally shocked and deeply upset, and sadly brought about the closure of Prints & Frames as we knew it.

After the dust had settled, though, it became obvious that we, the team, still believed in the project, and so we set about looking in to the feasibility of going our own way.

I must have spent 50 hours writing our business plan, only to discover that I had done far more than was needed.

The first thing we needed to do was to prove we knew our onions, and that the model we had been pursuing actually had potential to go the distance.

I hadn't spent a great deal of time dwelling on this until then, but in doing my research and writing it all down, it became clear how little there was available to offer the UK's most popular art, framed to decent standard, at a reasonable price and sent out on time.

The concept not only held up, but seemed to genuinely offer something unique to the market. We were able to offer a high quality product, cheaper, faster and with more choice, than any other company does, which is a real USP.

And after weeks of waiting and worrying, everything fell into place, all of a sudden...

After months of back and forth, and endless questions asked and answered, we had our funding, and were able to sign the lease on our lovely, brand new workshop, move our stuff in, and get cracking!

Of course, there were many more twists and turns to come, but this moment felt absolutely massive. The dream of coming back together after the traumatic year we'd all had so far was finally in sight.

We started by moving all of the furniture in, and then we set about acquiring the very same machinery we'd been using for years prior, which we gladly bought from Richard's family. They were so supportive, giving us their best wishes, and that felt like a perfect way to continue Richard’s legacy.

The only thing left to do was to start trading and get back to what we all do best!

That brings us to where we are now, at the start of something really special to us, and hopefully for you as well. We want to do everything we can to grow and expand, in Richard's memory, and for our own love of all things prints and frames.

We are so proud of everything we've achieved so far, and we hope that we can keep this business for many years to come.