Q&A with Rohan Blacker, Founder of Pooky
We speak to Rohan Blacker, Founder of Pooky
How would you describe yourself?
Founder of Pooky.com, dedicated player of parlour games and wistful for a time when the sweet trolley was a feature of every restaurant.
Tell us a bit more about you…
I was called to the bar after University, and my career mapped out in a wig in the high court. But my flaw is that I am a painfully slow reader and I simply couldn’t wade through the heavy briefs. Plus, there was a whole world of everything out there, that I wanted to get my teeth stuck into. So, after a deep breath, I quit.
Thence followed a succession of businesses, the first tranche in the catering field. “Deliverance” was a forerunner to Deliveroo, except that before we delivered the food, we actually cooked it ourselves! There was the London Soup Company, and a restaurant called The Pen – a gastro pub, before the term was coined.
In the early days of the web, my business partner and I, turned our back on catering and headed for the sunny fields of home interiors. We set up sofa.com, which attempted to turn the tired business of sofa retail on its head. Pooky came in 2014. Same principle… great design, great value, great service… all online. I am particularly proud of what we have accomplished at Pooky – we have a large number of renowned interior designers who have become loyal customers.
I live close to our warehouse in Cheltenham and nothing gives me more pleasure than spending hours horse-trading with our design team over a brass finish, the nuance of a shape or the translucence of a lampshade!
Who are your greatest influences?
I didn’t study design but I’ve always loved lighting and have an absolute certainty about its importance in creating atmosphere and ambience. My uncle ran a successful restaurant in Knightsbridge which I used to work in and whenever I walked through the door I would marvel at how the lighting was the structure around which the whole restaurant buzzed. I am eternally inquisitive studying light and lights and innovative and exciting ways to create them.
What have been some of your best jobs/experiences at work and why?
My first business, as a passionate but very inexperienced chef/restaurateur, was absolute mayhem for a while but amidst the chaos, we had a brilliant team of enthusiastic, young people and somehow, we were packed every single night. It was exhausting but totally exhilarating. And an additional upside was that’s where I met my wife… one of the great waitresses of all time, capable of managing the whole floor in good humour and elegant style.
Traditional vs contemporary style?
Finding a way to contemporise the traditional. They are not, and must not be mutually exclusive. Style continues to develop but should not forget its roots.
What would you consider your greatest achievement?
Managing to “wing it” across a whole raft of businesses, about which I knew basically nothing when we started. Yes, many mistakes made along the way, but some original thinking too. Still here, still floating, still learning…
What would your superpower be?
The power to grant wishes.
P.S.
Last book you read?
The Overstory – if you’re into trees…
Dream buy?
A grass tennis court, with gardening elf!
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