Ampersand Interiors was formed in June 2005 by its owners Glen and Andreas.
For the previous fifteen years they had both worked for Next in the UK, Andreas as a senior store manager and Glen as a home furnishings merchandiser and as a customer service manager in the UK and working with the group here in Cyprus.
After several business trips to Cyprus, they decided to invest in a small holiday home with a view to retirement in the future, but as the pressure of working for a leading UK retailer grew more and more, they decided to take a gamble and move permanently to Cyprus and see if for the first time in their working careers they could run a business of their own.
Given our experience in retail and particularly in home furnishings, it was a natural choice to go into this market.
We had noticed a gap for quality goods at affordable prices and started our business specializing in curtains, blinds and soft furnishings, which we imported from various countries around Europe and our contacts in Next, were very useful.
The emphasis was always on quality with simple styles that suited the Mediterranean home and choices that we would happily have in our own home, so the cheaper end of the market was definitely not for us and we have always stayed at the Next/ John Lewis end of the market and as many of us will know, you get what you pay for and here in Cyprus cheap fabrics and ready made curtains will fade within a season.
