Araco Trade & Projects is our trade programme for design professionals: interior designers, architects, property developers, hotels and hospitality groups, show-home and home-staging specialists, commercial designers and procurement teams.
This article sets out what the programme actually does, what it does not do, and how the application works — so you can judge whether it is useful to your practice before spending time on it.
How trade pricing works
Trade pricing at Araco Interiors is prepared per project rather than published as one fixed discount.
The reason is practical rather than evasive. We carry our own brands alongside partner brands, and what we are able to offer varies by brand, by product and by the quantities involved. A single headline percentage would either have to be set low enough to be true of everything, or it would be untrue somewhere. So instead we look at the specific products, the brands, the quantities and the requirements of the project, and quote against that.
Two things worth being clear about. Trade pricing should not be assumed to combine with published promotions. And approval is not automatic — every application is reviewed individually.
Sourcing across the collections
Trade members have sourcing assistance across the full range, which includes our own Araco Atelier upholstered furniture and Araco Lumière decorative lighting, alongside Tommy Franks furniture and our wider supplier network.
Where a piece is wrong for the use you have described, we would rather say so than quote it. That is more useful to a specification than a longer list.
Specification detail
The information that actually gets a piece onto a schedule is rarely on the product page in the form you need it. Trade members can request:
- Current dimensions, checked rather than assumed — product dimensions do get revised
- Material and construction detail, including upholstery and frame specification
- Finish options and, where the relevant brand offers them, fabric and finish samples
- Lamping and technical detail on decorative lighting
- Current lead times per item, rather than an average across a mixed package
On lead times specifically, our range moves at very different speeds. In-stock Tommy Franks pieces are delivered within three working days. Araco Lumière alabaster and crystal lighting is handcrafted to order at approximately five to seven weeks. Araco Atelier upholstery is made to order at approximately eight to twelve weeks. A specification that mixes all three needs its longest lead time identified early, because that is the item that will determine the delivery date.
One named contact
Trade members are given a named point of contact for product queries, quotations and order coordination. On a single-item order this matters little. On a fifteen-line specification across several ranges, it is most of the value — particularly on a second phase, months after the first.
Delivery planning
Multi-item orders into a live site or an install window are a different exercise from a single residential delivery. We plan delivery across the order and sequence it against the lead times, so that the eight-week pieces and the three-day pieces are not both being chased in the same week. All large furniture orders are delivered by a specialist two-person team including room-of-choice positioning, unpacking and packaging removal, and white-glove delivery is available by quotation.
What we do not do
We are a supplier of furniture and decorative lighting. We do not provide architectural, installation or interior-design services — we support the professionals who do. We do not operate a showroom. And we do not offer credit accounts, guaranteed delivery dates or exclusive stock as part of the programme.
Being explicit about this is deliberate. A trade relationship works better when the boundaries are known at the start.
BIID
Araco Interiors is an Industry Partner of the British Institute of Interior Design, the UK’s professional institute for interior designers. BIID-registered designers are welcome to apply.
How to apply
The application takes a few minutes. It asks who you are, the kind of business you run, the project types you work on and the categories you typically specify.
Worth having to hand:
- Company or studio name and address
- Website or professional profile
- VAT number and company registration number, if you have them
- The project types you typically work on
- A sense of the categories you specify — furniture, decorative lighting, seating, dining, bedroom, hospitality
Applications are reviewed individually and approval is not automatic.
Apply for Araco Trade & Projects, or contact the trade team at trade@aracointeriors.com or on 020 4524 7265.