Steaming Ahead Meet Tim Oliver – Mr Propress – the man who supplies steaming equipment to top designers and retailers across the globe, and counts bridal shops as his favourite customer sector “The wedding trade is always very close to our hearts,” promises Tim Oliver, co-founder – with his friend and fellow-entrepreneur Brian Fillery – of ProPress, Britain’s leading manufacturer and supplier of
steamers. “Partly that’s because bridal is an area where presentation is vitally important. Those must-have dresses absolutely have to look a million dollars, both on display in the shop and on the day itself. Steaming is part of that. But it’s also because bridal is a friendly and fun business, while being serious at the same time. We believe that one of the secrets of our success is that we really like our customers!” ProPress was founded in 1980 when Brian and Tim became aware of a serious gap in the market. “Brian was exporting fashion to US stores like Bergdorf Goodman at the time and found that goods were being rejected because they were creased,” explains Tim. “He bought an American steamer and used it, and we could see there was a need in this country for something much more user-friendly. “Steamers were unheard-of at that time in the UK. We had to try to generate business going from shop to shop. At first, no-one was interested, but once we had demonstrated our quality products, fashion retailers
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realised they needed us! It didn’t take long for the bridal trade to appreciate us, too. We took our product along to a wedding show in Paris and everyone was amazed at what it could do. “We now supply a huge variety of companies, from bridalwear shops to Land Rover cars (who use steamers on the upholstery), to charity shops, many of whom are using steamers five or six days a week on their donations. And we also supply fashion companies like H&M, Jigsaw and Stella McCartney. “We make two models for retail customers. For bridal shops, the PRO 580 which sells for £625 plus VAT is our biggest seller.” Tim is willing to admit that if your bridal shop offers an alteration service, then you will still need an iron, but points out that steaming has huge advantages over ironing even on the most delicate fabrics and the most intricate and complex designs. “Steam is a natural sanitiser,” he says. “If you look at the research you will see the steam from a Propress combined with its aluminium nozzle,
