Stepping lightly on our planet (hktdc.com)


	Nicole Wakley at TREE, her eco-friendly furniture boutique

Nicole Wakley, founder of eco-friendly furniture business TREE Hong Kong, knew from her growing clientele that there was an unmet demand for beautiful furnishings that leave a minimal footprint on the environment. Her business received the ultimate compliment this year when National Geographic commissioned TREE's furniture to fit out their flagship stores around the world.

It was a remarkable achievement, considering that Nicole, previously a lawyer, only left legal practice in 2005 to set up her own business. Like many commercial success stories, TREE's growth has been organic.

"I first came to Hong Kong in January 2000," explained Nicole, who is British. "I was working for an international law firm at the time, and was seconded to their Hong Kong office for a year, supposedly."

Instant attraction

Like so many expatriates who arrive on short-term contracts, she stayed. The attraction was instantaneous. "I fell in love with the energy of the city as soon as I got on the Airport Express. Secretly, I knew I would be here for longer than a year."

As she travelled around the region, Nicole became aware of the beauty in Asia, particularly in aged wood. She recognised a market opportunity for reinventing these timbers as beautiful contemporary furniture, and said that Hong Kong, with its positive energy, different cultures, styles and synergies, gave her the confidence to do it. In 2005, TREE was born, with furniture boutiques in Soho and Ap Lei Chau on Hong Kong Island.

Most of TREE's pieces come from Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, and since it is so convenient to fly frequently to these places to meet her suppliers, Nicole has built up good relationships with them all. When it comes to designing and manufacturing, she prefers to work with smaller cottage industries. "While it's more hands-on, the rewards are greater: the pieces are individual and special to TREE," she said.

"Obviously, I have chosen some large Chinese mainland companies as well, such as our sofa producer. Their designs are fabulous, and the quality is high class, using Italian fabrics and leathers, and they supply other names such as Fendi."

Natural choice

For Nicole, it was a given that her business would only use sustainable and/or environmentally-friendly materials and practices. "Essentially, it was the natural choice, for now and in the future, in every sense," she said.

The timbers used in TREE furniture are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. This means that they have not contributed to the destruction of the world's forests, nor have come from companies involved in human rights abuses. Nicole has also been successful in convincing some mainland factories to improve their environmental practices in order to do a deal with her.

In the beginning, it wasn't only the manufacturers who needed convincing. Nicole recalled that some customers "didn't get" how wood reclaimed from buildings, furniture, boats, railways sleepers and bridges could be reborn as beautiful, contemporary furniture. She dropped the term "recycled" from the marketing and replaced it with "eco-chic." The selling point became that trees cut down a long time ago have a quality and grain that can only come with age, as opposed to newer trees, which don't have the same character. The pieces are also hand-crafted by skilled artisans, which adds individuality.

Concept embraced

Today, customers get it. Nicole's concept has become so well embraced that some people furnish their homes entirely from TREE. Just like its growing client-base, the product range is always expanding – including the new Carma collection lamps, and teak tables made from recycled street benches.

Nicole has achieved all this while also bringing babies into the world: she has two sons, aged 20 months and 12 weeks. This was possible, she said, because of the dedicated team around her, who "genuinely believe in TREE," and "an exciting change in people's attitudes towards stewardship of our planet."

Nicole said she regularly receives requests for franchising TREE and is considering the idea. "But I am really keen to keep the balance to maintain our boutique style and personal, individual feeling."