Five Generations on Roman Road: The Story of Abbotts Interiors Since 1882

There aren’t many businesses that can say they have been part of the same East London community for more than 140 years.

Abbotts Interiors can.

Our story on Roman Road in Bow began in 1882, when Charles Abbott took over the shop and registered C. Abbott Limited.

The products were somewhat different then.

Among the things sold were kitchen lino and even mops – a world away from the carpets, wood flooring, shutters, curtains and smart motorised blinds you’ll find in the Abbotts showroom today.

But while the products have changed enormously, there is something reassuringly familiar about the business more than five generations later.

It is still family-run.
It is still on Roman Road.
And it is still about helping customers make the right choices for their homes.

A family business rooted in East London

Abbotts has grown alongside Bow and East London.

During the twentieth century, successive generations of the Abbott family expanded the business, and at one stage there were several Abbotts shops operating locally, including locations around Roman Road and Bethnal Green.

The business continued to evolve as both the area and the way people lived changed.

In the 1970s, the terrace incorporating the original premises was purchased and redeveloped, creating the building that Abbotts Interiors occupies today at 470–480 Roman Road.

For anyone who knows East London, it is perhaps one of the most remarkable parts of the Abbotts story.

The neighbourhood around us has changed considerably.

Generations of Londoners have come and gone. Homes have been modernised, extended and converted. Interior fashions have moved from one extreme to another.

Yet Abbotts has remained part of Roman Road throughout.

Five generations of the Abbott family

Perhaps the biggest reason the business feels different from a national interiors chain is that the family connection remains very real.

Successive generations of the Abbott family have worked within the company, passing on both knowledge and responsibility as the business has developed.

That experience hasn’t disappeared as new generations have arrived.

George Abbott has been involved with the business for more than six decades, while Phillip Abbott also remains connected with Abbotts in semi-retirement.

Today, Ben and Josh Abbott represent the fifth generation of the family.

Ben joined Abbotts in 2001 and has accumulated more than two decades of experience within the interiors and flooring side of the business.

Josh joined in 2009 and has built considerable experience across blinds, curtains, shutters and exterior shading, including increasingly sophisticated motorised and automated solutions.

There is also Mark Abbott, whose experience in the flooring trade stretches back more than 40 years.

It means that while products and technology continue to change, there is an unusual depth of practical knowledge within the business.

From lino to an extraordinary choice of flooring

Flooring has been part of the Abbotts story from the very beginning.

Of course, the choice available to customers in 1882 was rather different.

Today, someone looking for a new floor can choose from an almost bewildering range of materials, colours, textures and constructions.

Traditional and contemporary carpets sit alongside wood and engineered flooring, luxury vinyl tiles, natural flooring, rubber, cork, woven vinyl and specialist floorcoverings.

Even within carpet alone, customers can choose from numerous fibres, pile types, patterns and finishes.

That greater choice is wonderful – but it can also make professional advice more valuable.

A floor that works beautifully in a bedroom may not necessarily be the best choice for a busy hallway. A staircase brings very different demands from a living room. Family homes, apartments and commercial spaces all require slightly different thinking.

And then there is the installation itself.

Preparation, measuring, underlay, subfloor condition and fitting can all influence how the finished floor looks and performs.

It’s why flooring at Abbotts has never simply been about choosing something attractive from a sample.

The right floor has to work for the way the room is actually going to be used.

Window dressings become part of the Abbotts story

Another important chapter began in 2003, when Abbotts expanded into window dressings.

Blinds, shutters, curtains and exterior shading subsequently became a major part of the business alongside flooring.

Again, it was an area that would change significantly over the following years.

Customers still care about colour, pattern and fabric, of course.

But today we are just as likely to be discussing privacy, glare, temperature control, difficult-shaped windows, large areas of glazing and motorisation.

The way London homes are designed has changed too.

Large windows, glazed extensions, bifold doors and rooflights can bring wonderful amounts of daylight into a property, but they can also create challenges that previous generations of homeowners rarely had to consider.

As a result, shading has become about considerably more than simply dressing a window.

From pulling a blind by hand to smart home control

Perhaps nothing illustrates the change more clearly than motorised blinds.

A blind can now be operated by remote control or app and, with compatible systems, incorporated into a wider smart-home setup.

Systems such as Luxaflex PowerView® can make shading more convenient, but they can also help homeowners manage daylight and privacy throughout the day.

For tall windows, larger blinds or difficult-to-reach glazing, motorisation can make an enormous practical difference.

It is probably difficult to think of a better illustration of how far the business has travelled.

From kitchen lino and household goods in 1882 to smart blinds that can operate automatically more than 140 years later.

Yet behind the technology, the conversation with the customer remains remarkably similar:

What are you trying to achieve, and what is the best way of doing it?

Experience still matters

The interiors industry is very different from the one previous generations of the Abbott family knew.

There are more products.

More brands.

More technology.

And an extraordinary amount of information available online.

But there are some things that are difficult to learn from looking at a photograph on a screen.

How will that carpet cope with a busy staircase?

Will those blinds sit neatly within that particular bay window?

Is the most expensive flooring actually the best option for that room?

Does a blind need to be motorised, and if so, what type of motorisation makes sense?

Will the proposed flooring need additional preparation before it can be installed?

Much of that knowledge comes from experience.

And importantly, it isn’t just the Abbott family who provide that expertise.

Abbotts today has an experienced team covering the showroom, estimating, measuring, installation, warehousing and administration, with people specialising in different aspects of flooring and window treatments.

That combination of long-established knowledge and newer technical expertise is an important part of the business today.

Abbotts Interiors today

Although we’re proud of the history, Abbotts is very much a modern interiors business.

The Roman Road premises have developed into an extensive two-floor showroom, giving customers the opportunity to see and compare products rather than trying to make every decision online.

There is flooring.

There are carpets and rugs.

There are blinds, shutters and curtains.

There are motorised shading systems and exterior solutions.

And increasingly, customers aren’t necessarily looking for just one of those things.

A renovation may involve flooring throughout the house, a stair runner, new window treatments and motorisation in particular rooms.

Being able to look at those different elements together can help create an interior that feels considered rather than a collection of separate purchases.

It also means Abbotts has continued to evolve without losing sight of where it came from.

More than 140 years – and still looking forward

When Charles Abbott took over the Roman Road shop in 1882, he couldn’t possibly have imagined the products that would be sold by the fifth generation of his family.

He wouldn’t have known what an app-controlled blind was.

Luxury vinyl tile hadn’t been invented.

And the idea of managing solar heat gain through intelligent shading would have sounded rather unusual.

But we suspect he would recognise something else.

People still want products that are right for their homes.

They still value knowledgeable advice.

And once they have made their choice, they still want somebody they can trust to install it properly.

More than 140 years and five generations later, those principles remain at the heart of Abbotts Interiors.

If you’re planning an interiors project in Bow, East London or elsewhere across London, you’re always welcome to visit us on Roman Road, explore the showroom and talk through your ideas with the Abbotts team.