Fresh look for the house of burgundy at Leightons

There’s an air of change around Leightons at the moment. Visitors to the Farnham HQ are met by a bright, clean environment. Gone are the wooden cabinets filled with turn-of-the-19th-century memorabilia and in come sleek sofas and shiny uplighters.

This isn’t just interior design, Leightons is getting rid of all the burgundy carpets in all its stores, refurbishing or brightening up the practices and investing in people and technology. ‘We’ve coined it project burgundy,’ says chief executive officer Ryan Leighton, the third generation of Leightons to steer the South East based group. He takes time to justify the cost to ‘de-burgundy’ the head office, which was prompted by comments from a recruitment consultant and brand specialist. Burgundy, chaotic, sleepy and old is not the impression Leightons wants to give any visitors, he says.