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We are a family-run business, where through forming genuine relationships we guide interior designers and architects to finding the perfect surfaces for amazing pockets of space.
Growing up in North London in the 70’s, our founder Paul worked for his father in the tiling industry – being one of the first to import tiles from Italy. From the age of 11 Paul worked every Saturday, not only was he the richest kid in Enfield, but he still remembers the names of the tiles he used to make sample panels of every Saturday …along with the pain that comes with a hot glue gun burn – ouch!
At 13 years old, Paul began working in the showroom, selling to the likes of Ray Winstone, Paul Gascoigne, and one particular lady who pulled out her underwear from her bag to colour match her tiles.
The main thing Paul recognised while watching and learning from his father, Dennis, was the respect and genuine relationships he formed with his clients.
Growing up in North London in the 70’s, our founder Paul worked for his father in the tiling industry – being one of the first to import tiles from Italy. From the age of 11 Paul worked every Saturday, not only was he the richest kid in Enfield, but he still remembers the names of the tiles he used to make sample panels of every Saturday …along with the pain that comes with a hot glue gun burn – ouch!
At 13 years old, Paul began working in the showroom, selling to the likes of Ray Winstone, Paul Gascoigne, and one particular lady who pulled out her underwear from her bag to colour match her tiles.
The main thing Paul recognised while watching and learning from his father, Dennis, was the respect and genuine relationships he formed with his clients.
While Paul worked his way up to sales manager, building his own relationships with clients, Dennis eventually retired. Paul started up on his own, naming the company Diesse (the phonetic pronunciation of Dennis’ initials), in his father’s honour.
Paul’s daughter, Emily, also worked her way up at Diesse, keeping the company well within the family. The rest of our small team, Lisa, Tim, and Portia bring something key to Diesse working efficiently and sustainably, resulting in them feeling like family too.
While Paul worked his way up to sales manager, building his own relationships with clients, Dennis eventually retired. Paul started up on his own, naming the company Diesse (the phonetic pronunciation of Dennis’ initials), in his father’s honour.
Paul’s daughter, Emily, also worked her way up at Diesse, keeping the company well within the family. The rest of our small team, Lisa, Tim, and Portia bring something key to Diesse working efficiently and sustainably, resulting in them feeling like family too.
Paul, the founder of Diesse, has been here since day dot and is still very present within the company. He’s always on hand if you need a quick answer to something, but be warned – he loves a chat! He starts each morning by walking his dogs Nellie and Nala, to get his thoughts in order for the day ahead (some seriously big decisions have been made on these walks). Spreading himself between, three offices – the studio, warehouse and home, each day is different, and frequently travelling to meet with suppliers in Spain and Italy breaks up his time at his desk and allows moments to gather inspiration.
Overseeing everything, Paul is the face of Diesse and can’t help but go that bit further for anyone who needs something. His main focus these days is especially on preparing Diesse for 2030 and beyond.
Get to know Paul:
Paul and his wife Laura share four children and two dogs, making family time an absolute priority and joy. When Paul’s not working, he’s watching his boys play football, eating out and enjoying weekends away with Laura. He has a love for film, art, live music, opera and comedy so they’re always off making the most of the arts somewhere!
Lisa keeps a lot of things ticking over behind the scenes at Diesse, and having been part of the company for nearly 7 years, there’s not much she doesn’t know about tiles. From accounts to stock and project management, as well as dealing with daily enquiries, we’d be lost without her.
Get to know Lisa:
Lisa is part of a huge family, so she enjoys her alone time at the gym, most likely making use of the spa. She adores her grandchildren, but also enjoys handing them back so she can open a bottle of wine and party with her friends. Who can blame her?
Known to the Diesse family as Ems, this lady has been a part of the team for the last 7 years. She oversees and manages all of our current projects as well as the day-to-day team in the studio. She loves how varied her days are, whether sitting at her desk with Rocky by her feet, or out on a client meeting or site visit. Either way she will always begin her working day with a Costa in hand.
Get to know Ems:
An avid music fan, she’s often travelling somewhere to see live music, or she’s finding pockets of time to escape England for a warmer climate.
Tim has been a solid part of our team for the past couple of years now. He’s the one that will look after you as soon as you step foot into the showroom, most likely offering you a cuppa on arrival. As well as dealing with local small scale projects, he looks after our kitchen and bathroom business clients. He is our in-house Ikea furniture builder (which we are all SO grateful for), and deals with most of the logistical organisation for Diesse.
Get to know Tim:
When Tim’s not working, you’ll find him on a golf course, or watching some kind of sport, most likely F1. He loves cosying up with a book, visits to the theatre – but most of all travelling to and exploring new places whenever he gets the chance.
As our most recent addition to the Diesse family, we’ve got Portia on board to guide, create and manage all things marketing. Whether it’s styling our latest range, writing up (literally anything), or creating new strategies to elevate our brand awareness. Portia has worked as a freelancer for Diesse at various points in the past, but we’re excited to have her around on a more permanent basis now.
Get to know Portia:
When Portia’s not working, she’s usually visiting and exploring somewhere new with her family of five, whether it’s a simple walk around a stately home or a tiny town full of antique shops, as long as there’s food and drink at the end of it, she’s happy!
Rocky joined us just a few months ago, where his role at Diesse consists of keeping the humans happy and to give them a break from their computer from time to time to play. He can mainly be found napping under Emily’s desk, playing with bubble wrap or simply barking at the printer and other objects he is not sure of yet.
Get to know Rocky:
Whilst Rocky loves a walk – eating, sleeping and snuggling up with his humans are his main priorities in life.