Harry Hammond, Managing Director at Millie & Jones, reflects on their first anniversary after acquiring the business that specialises in beds for growing children and teenagers.
Back in August 2024, Harry and his wife Kelly-Jo Hammond decided to embark on a journey in furniture retail. The duo acquired Millie & Jones, then a small-scale ecommerce retailer focused on children’s beds. Just over a year on, business is booming and the company is ready for its next phase of growth.
“It’s been a fantastic year; we’ve experienced consistent month-on-month growth,” reveals Harry. “Our first day of trading was August 1st, 2024, and at that time, there were only a handful of orders each month.
“We had no background in furniture, but as parents, we had a pretty clear idea of what families are looking for: safety, reliability, good design, and exceptional service. We’d both built businesses before, but Millie & Jones was something different – a chance to build something together, with purpose.
“We hit seven-figure ARR in early 2025, and we’ve continued to see strong growth since then. It’s been encouraging to watch the momentum build as we lay the foundations for long-term success.”
Harry says that every part of its growth has been done in-house, through deep connections with customers, smart digital execution and implementing a shared vision. To kick off its journey, the website needed a complete overhaul, while also mapping out key areas that required investment. “The first major investment was a complete rebuild of the website – the previous version was too basic for our vision,” Harry said.
“More importantly, we’ve heavily invested in building Millie & Jones as a brand. As we scale, we’re focused on laying the right foundations to become a prominent name in children’s furniture. We’ve also invested significantly in SEO, PPC, and our overall digital presence, all of which have been critical to our growth.”
The brand also takes sustainability seriously too. The business has planted over 6,000 trees this year and has joined forces with Greenspark to bolster this commitment. “We started by planting one tree per order, and then increased that to five trees per order,” Harry said. “It does cut into our margins, but for us, the principle is more important – we genuinely get more satisfaction from seeing the tree counter go up than the revenue.
“One of my other ventures, Raffolux, has a similar model, and has now raised nearly £700,000 for charity since launching. We’re also sourcing more products from FSC-certified suppliers, and we’re committed to making the brand even more sustainability-focused going forward.”
Like with any startup or new venture, challenges will always surface. However, for Harry and Kelly-Jo, the main one was something very personal. “Earlier this year we also went through a very difficult time when our youngest child had open-heart surgery,” Harry explained. “Thankfully, she’s doing brilliantly now. It’s been a powerful reminder of perspective and resilience – both in business and life and we’re incredibly proud of how far we’ve come, as a family and as a business.”
With an eye on the future, Millie & Jones, which is based at its family farm in Hertfordshire, is transitioning to next-day delivery, while keeping an even closer eye on popular trends. “A key short-term focus is transitioning as many of our products as possible to next-day delivery. We’re already building the infrastructure to make this a reality,” Harry said.
“Interestingly, trends tend to come in waves. One week we’ll sell loads of high sleepers, the next week it’s bunk beds. We do have some consistent best sellers, but we’re fortunate to see strong volume across most of our range.”
As the brand moves into its second year under the guidance of Harry and Kelly-Jo, the pair believe that their unique skills complement each other, which has been a key driver in its growth to date. “Our growth has been phenomenal,” says Harry.
“I’d credit it to a mix of experience and complementary skill sets. I’ve worked in digital marketing and e-commerce for over a decade, and my wife KJ’s eye for detail and design has been a huge asset. We didn’t come from a furniture background, but if you know how to market a brand effectively, you can succeed in almost any industry.
“As a relatively new business in the furniture industry, we’re constantly learning, growing, and looking to build long-term relationships. We’re actively looking for new supplier partnerships to broaden and diversify our kids’ and teenage furniture range, so if you think there’s a fit, we’d love to hear from you.”
