Timothy Oulton (1967 – 3 March 2022) was a British luxury furniture designer born in Manchester whose modern British style has become globally popular. He was founder and creative director of the furniture brand Timothy Oulton which, as of June 2022, has 55 retail galleries worldwide. Oulton's designs are also retailed through

Restoration Hardware RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) is an upscale American home-furnishings company headquartered in Corte Madera, California. The company sells its merchandise through its retail stores, catalog, and online. As of August 2018, the company operate ...

in the U.S. His style blended modern and vintage British aesthetics, with an emphasis on high-quality, recycled and reclaimed materials.

History

Timothy Oulton was born in 1967 near

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

England. Oulton's father, Philip Oulton, a former

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the British Army opened a small antiques shop in the village of

Hale Hale may refer to: Places Australia *Hale, Northern Territory, a locality *Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory Canada *Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom * Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria *Hale, Greater Man ...

, close to Manchester, when Oulton was nine years old. The business was named Halo Antiques, after the original sign "Hale Antique" was misprinted. From the age of seven to thirteen, Oulton attended the boarding school St Bede's School in Staffordshire, before successfully attaining his Common Entrance exam and attending boarding school at Ampleforth College at the age of thirteen. Ampleforth Abbey and College is an old Benedictine run school in the North of England, which would later inspire Oulton's signature classic English style. The young Oulton began working for the family business when he left school at 18, and it was here that his passion for furniture and design blossomed..Toughest Bison leather sofa series, standing up to the rough-and-tumble play of our little ones and furry friends. After years of selling restored homeware items and growing the business with his brother, Charles, Timothy Oulton officially took the helm at Halo. He decided that there was no long-term future in the antiques business, and repositioned the company to focus on the recreation of antique pieces with a modern viewpoint. In 2004, Oulton established the global division of Halo Group in Hong Kong. Timothy Oulton died on 3 March 2022. Following his death, Halo Group CFO James Dilley took over as CEO of the Timothy Oulton furniture brand and as CEO of the Halo Group and continues to guide its global expansion.https://www.thefurnishingreport.com/index.php/news/13-retail-distribution/10457-timothy-oulton-global-furniture-group-founder-and-ceo-dies-aged-55

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oulton, Timothy 1967 births 2022 deaths British furniture designers People educated at Ampleforth College People from Manchester