Pierre Cronje

PIERRE CRONJE

PIERRE CRONJE

Carefully Crafting a Future-Proof Strategy PRODUCTION: Karl Pietersen

Art, perfection and exclusivity are the kind of descriptions that you might get from someone talking about furniture manufactured by Pierre Cronje. For more than three decades this highquality, high-price bespoke producer has been crafting the best that South Africa has to offer. But times are tough, and the company is going through a transitional period as it looks to ensure its position in the future. Founder Pierre Cronje talks to Enterprise Africa about his challenges.

//

Industry-leading fine furniture manufacturing business Pierre Cronje is going through a transitional period. Featured in Enterprise Africa back in December 2016, Pierre Cronje was servicing clients in the super-wealthy category – high net worth individuals, wine farms, golf estates, game lodges, and corporate headquarters – providing bespoke wooden furniture including chairs, tables, cabinets, desks, floors, roof trusses, doors and much more.

Driven by the vision of Founder and namesake, the company had become iconic for its ability to manufacture the finest cape country furniture.

But today, Pierre Cronje is consolidating. The economic climate in South Africa over the past 18-months has resulted in slower spending and investment at the highest end of the market, and the project pipeline which previously kept the company busy has been postponed until certainty returns to the market.

Because of this uncertainty, Pierre has decided not to replace people as they have left the business. Today, the company is down from 180 to 100 people; it’s showroom in Johannesburg is gone, and the struggle to discover a creative successor has become very real.

“Times have been tough,” admits Pierre. “We are continuing and we have expanded into new products but there is no denying that times are tough. We have consolidated and things are harder than they have been, but we are confident that things will improve.

“Our reduction in people is not through making people redundant, it’s just natural attrition. We will not replace people who leave until demand returns to the market.”

Ever the optimist, this experienced entrepreneur is already underway with new strategies that he hopes will bring the business back into the race.

www.enterprise-africa.net / 3

INDUSTRY FOCUS: MANUFACTURING

UNCERTAINTY RULES “The economic climate is the issue,” he says. “Our clientele is the super-wealthy and they are not short of money, but they are unsure about the future. When it comes to what we sell, they are holding back. They are even holding back on building new houses - they are waiting to see what is going to happen here and it is likely that will continue until after our elections in May. “We have started doing a lot of solid wood floors with French oak which we are importing from sawmills in France. We are doing some indigenous yellowwood floors and they have become a large part (around one third) of our turnover. That is the way an entrepreneur has to work – if your traditional products slowdown, you have to look for something new.”

Solid wood herringbone, parquet, and wide plank floors are on trend and Pierre Cronje supplies some of the best

// EVEN THOUGH IT’S BEEN LONG AND HARD, I’VE LOVED IT AND I WOULDN’T CHANGE IT FOR ANYTHING // 4 / www.enterprise-africa.net

in the business. Working closely with architects and interior designers, the company delivers a personal service which helps to add value and durability to a property.

“We have just completed a big project at Quoin Rock wine farm – that was an amazing project where no costs were spared to ensure a world class venue,” details Pierre. “It took us 18-months and was the biggest single project we had last year. We are quoting on similar projects but there isn’t a lot out there in the market right now. Even with the big wine farms, we have quoted and projects have been put on hold.”

In an effort to gain traction in other market segments, outside of the very top echelon, the company has started producing a new range of furniture at a slightly lower price but maintaining the quality on which Pierre Cronje has built his name.

“Sometimes people suggest moving to board for table tops or veneer for cabinet backs, but we have said that it will never happen,” he insists. “We will always stick to using real solid wood and that is our core principle, but it doesn’t always have to be so elaborate. Clever design is something that looks good but doesn’t cost as much to make. Timber and labour are both very expensive so if we can reduce in some areas then that is clever.

“We have recently designed some pieces that are simpler to make – still solid wood, still made really well – but CNC friendly. This means we retain quality but improve speed and can access some lower sectors of the market. However, we are very careful to ensure that we are not seen to be becoming ‘not the Rolls Royce’ so marketing is very important.”

Pierre is adamant that the business will never become a ‘mass producer’ and will always retain its unique character.

His signature still adorns every piece that leaves the workshop, and becoming a cut and paste operation is simply not in his interest.

“The East are very competitive and are making reasonable furniture at a very good price. Competing with those imports is suicide. We will stick with where we are. The bulk of our turnover is bespoke. If someone wants a specific cupboard for a specific area with a specific function, we can do that. It’s the same with tables. We have to watch that we don’t complete with cheap imports – those are mass produced, ours are handmade. People do appreciate the art and craftsmanship in that, even though it does cost a lot more.”

FAST FASHION, SLOWING? In his 32 years at the helm of Pierre Cronje, and many more active in the furniture industry, Pierre has seen various

PIERRE CRONJE

fashion trends come and go. With wood, the colours, textures and feels that are desired in the home tend to move every few years. But right now, the fashionable

material is oak, in pale colours, and this trend has lasted for some time. “I’m still waiting to see where it will go next. It went from mahogany which

is quite red, alongside a bit of beech and maple, to dark brown oak, like old English antique furniture, and then it progressed to pale and grey woods.

www.enterprise-africa.net / 5

INDUSTRY FOCUS: MANUFACTURING

There is no yellow but straw colour oak and grey wash are still holding strong.

I always try and stay on top of where world trends are going colour-wise and wood-wise,” he says.

“Timber finishes used to be solvent based, ie thinners or spirits, but they are now totally banned in Europe and have been replaced by water-based products which are fast becoming available here.

These tend to be non-yellow products and they are holding strong. Shades of grey are still very popular. It’s long overdue for change and normally in fashion things don’t last for this long,” he adds.

In an effort to predict and prepare for the next swing in trend, Pierre Cronje has introduced an ash range, and is looking at rustic finishes.

“Maybe, but not definitely, we might be looking at a bit more of a rustic style. It’s been quite refined – we are

6 / www.enterprise-africa.net

doing quite a few rough-sawn textured finishes, and in Europe they are doing more textured floors rather than plainly sanded smooth.

“We have introduced European ash – as an entrepreneur you have to be quite quick off the mark and as soon as we see something we will get to it. That is what is great about owning the factory, we can jump to a new finish fairly quickly.”

South Africa’s House & Garden magazine is predicting that 2019 will see a strong focus on free standing wooden dining benches, wooden vanities and darker, moodier colours.

SUCCESSION Before Pierre Cronje started his business, he had gained education in computer science before working in the financial services industry. After quickly realising insurance wasn’t for him, he thought about going back to university to study

architecture, but his father convinced him to get into engineering. Eventually, he took a job as a structural engineer but quickly became disillusioned. He started his own company doing what he loved, working with furniture, in 1987.

Today, Pierre is 67 years old and has managed to convince his son Taillefer to join the business. Taillefer devotes his time to running the business-side of Pierre Cronje and is focussed on HR, accounts, sales and management, and his involvement allows Pierre to focus on the creative, artistic side of the company – “he is very good at what he does, and we get on extremely well working together, but he is not interested in the creative side.”

Pierre looked to his daughter to take up the creative role but admits that she “has no interest in furniture and no interest in joining the business”, so the search goes on.

“I do have to think about succession. We have to find someone, and we haven’t yet, to handle the creative side. It’s tricky as creatives don’t always see eye to eye, and creatives certainly don’t always see eye to eye with the business minded. I go to my son and explain that we need new equipment and he simply says ‘no way – go and get more orders, and then we can look at it’,” Pierre laughs.

“This is a complex business to run on the creative side. To stay alive, you have to be innovative and I love that. We bring in new products every year and we have a real passion for furniture – we need someone who has their head in the magazines as that is exactly what our clients are doing. If we can find the right person, and the economy develops, there is no reason why we can’t get back to where we were, or go further.”

PIERRE CRONJE

+33 384 73 76 50

EXCITED OR APPREHENSIVE? Going forward, the success of Pierre Cronje will depend on the state of the economy in South Africa - and how this impacts people’s willingness to invest in quality furniture – the ability of the company to penetrate new market sectors, its ability to constantly deliver quality, and the succession plan that Pierre puts in place.

// PEOPLE DO APPRECIATE THE ART AND CRAFTSMANSHIP IN THAT, EVEN THOUGH IT DOES COST A LOT MORE //

Always full of hope, Pierre is cautiously optimistic that all will fall into place.

“We have been in business for 32 years and we have seen ups and downs. When things are at the bottom of the cycle you think they are never going to turn around but there is certainly potential in the country for an upswing. When it happens, we will quickly expand again.

“I believe that, if Ramaphosa stays in power, we can realise great potential in this country.

“The general sentiment is positive and hopeful, but people are still waiting.

I am forever hopeful that things will turnaround – they always have in the past.

Recently, we have been faced with power issues because of Eskom and we have had to close the factory for two hours each day. That is, hopefully, now behind us.”

After not taking any new apprentices last year, for the first time ever, Pierre is reviewing the situation and hoping to restart the programme so that desperately needed manufacturing skills development can continue.

“Even though it’s been long and hard, I’ve loved it and I wouldn’t change it for anything,” he says.

This artistic business has ridden the waves in the past, and always come out committed to its principles and at the very top of the industry. When Pierre clears this next set of hurdles, it is likely that this perfectionist will accelerate back to top speed and drive the fine furniture industry in Cape Town once again.

WWW. PIERRECRONJE.CO.ZA

www.enterprise-africa.net / 7

Published by CMB Media Group Chris Bolderstone – General Manager E. chris@cmb-media.co.uk Sackville Place, 44-48 Magdalen Street, Norwich, NR3 1JU T. +44 (0) 20 8123 7859 E. info@cmb-media.co.uk www.cmb-media.co.uk CMB Media Group does not accept responsibility for omissions or errors. The points of view expressed in articles by attributing writers and/ or in advertisements included in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher.

Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this magazine, no legal responsibility will be accepted by the publishers for loss arising from use of information published. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrievable system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. Š CMB Media Group Ltd 2019

AS FEAT UR ED IN

ENTERPRISE AFRICA

MAR CH 2019