Meet Ben Weller – Founder & CEO of London 101
With luxury build comes the expectation for a luxury experience, and Ben Weller, Director and Founder of London 101, ensures this is achieved with every project undertaken. With years of experience within the vast property, construction and design industries, Ben identified a missing component with the projects many were completing; the luxury experience and service.
Founded from an increasing awareness of the importance of quality finish before build, and how many in the sector seemed to be missing this key factor, London 101 encapsulates the design-led property innovation for homes and commercial entities.
Ben has been incredibly enthusiastic about London 101’s re-branding, and was more than happy to take part in the following interview – outlining his personal experiences and thoughts about his work within London 101:
Tell us about your experience in the Construction, Property Build & Interior world?
The experience that I gained originated from working with my brother many years ago, starting our trade in wall and floor tiling for a number of years. I remember securing our first deal with RG Coles in Colchester, where we secured the contract to exclusively complete all of their tiling works. We developed from there into a commercial company, working on new builds and commercial blocks, always ensuring the finest quality was achieved.
My aunt lived in San Francisco and knew a contact at Pixar Studios, so myself and my brother were fortunate enough to go to the Studios and were provided with a Maya software package, which we brought back to England. This, combined with the rise of Apple Macs at the time, was the start of our design journey. My brother utilised this software and wrote his own programmes and developed all of our own hyper-realistic works, to ensure we could carry out bespoke luxury designs for our clients.
From here, we progressed our services from tiling to design works such as interiors, bathrooms, kitchens, steam rooms and swimming pools, to name a few. Everything we did was bespoke, and with the full build journey in mind – some of the larger architectural London companies with over 100 employees struggled to compete with our designs, and time frames!
I then furthered my knowledge by entering the Construction trade, learning how design could be incorporated into the world of construction and that was the start of discovering the need for London 101.
What sets London 101 apart from other luxury build companies?
It has to be our hyper-realistic and interior design focus, not to mention our strong affiliations with Architects and Party Wall surveyors.
Ultimately, we learnt about the finish before the build. We started from the bottom up, learning the foundations of the trade, from deflection to substrates, tiling taught me a lot about the importance of a good foundation and played a big part in our focus on what makes a quality finish. I noticed an increasing number of construction companies weren’t always considering the ‘next stroke’ coming in, and wanted to bring back the simple but crucial aspect of ensuring a step is done properly before moving onto the next.
Tell me about the importance of building good relationships with your customers?
Ensuring our customers are happy with both the final outcome, and the process, is paramount to us. No matter what, we strive to give our customers and clients the very best service we can, from home to commercial and developments. We believe communication is key, and understand that there is a lot of trust involved with all types of property innovation, so will always combine quality craftsmanship with our three core principles (Methodology, Philosophy and Health & Safety).
From initial plans to finishing touches, what is your favourite part of a project?
It has to be the difference made. By that I mean, when our customers or clients give feedback to us and say how happy they are with the finished product, particularly when we go that extra mile to get a specific finish, to make it right, it means everything and it’s why we do what we do.
Quality assurance is consistently messaged throughout your brand, why do you feel that this is an important element of London 101?
Quality assurance is so important to us because it comes down to one thing: making sure the job has been done correctly and that the highest quality is achieved. We want to be known for our quality and exceptional finish and always strive to achieve the best quality finish. Our design knowledge and experience will influence the build, and it’s having this that will ensure the finished product will be much more akin to the original design.
We always think about the interiors before we commence the build, to offer that quality assurance for the finish. Understanding that background
Being able to position something to provide you with a finished quality can be in the smallest of details. For example, we did a simple wet room, but it was crucial that the tiling, fixtures and fittings were perfectly positioned and centralised. We want all of our works to be known as a perfect installation.
What’s next for London 101?
We’re continuing to grow our 101 Developments sector in 2022, and have some really exciting Commercial projects on the horizon, with creative shop fittings and bespoke designs in a number of high footfall areas.
Our ability to provide both exceptional design and build in equal measures mean that when it comes to luxury spaces, we want to be known as pioneers in the industry. For us, it’s not just the land we buy, the properties we build, or the style we create for homes and commercial entities, it’s the feeling that we provide our clients through our multi-skilled personnel, our premium product offering, and our exclusive aftercare service.
With a trio of specialist business divisions catered to three very unique markets, We pride ourselves on the wealth of knowledge we have in land acquisition, construction, structural engineering, and design, and this is demonstrated through the unparalleled attention to detail we provide our clients on every project.
To find out more and to speak to us about your next build project, get in touch: 01277 676233