Luxury Property Industry Leaders - In Conversation with Nick Reynolds (Xavio Design)

Meet Nick Reynolds, CEO and founder of Xavio Design

Nick, I am so pleased to sit down with you today and thrilled to have Xavio Design as a member of The LPF. To start, please can you tell us a little more about Xavio Design.

Yes of course Priya and a pleasure to be here. Xavio Design is a market-leader in providing professional lighting consultancy and luminaire procurement services to the luxury sector, specialising in super-prime residences around the world.

Our vision is to illuminate the path wherever our UHNWI clientele will tread. Therefore, as well as lighting their beautiful homes, we have world-class capabilities in lighting design & supply for luxury hospitality, boutique retail, art galleries, members’ clubs, and much more.

Fantastic and what inspired you to start your company?

My father started a family lighting firm in 1993 (which we sold in 2019), and my mother, sisters, grandfather, uncle and cousins and I worked there also. It was my first and only employment until I started Xavio in 2012. Lighting has always been a very well-discussed subject in our family, as you can imagine! - and all I have ever known.

I realised in 2011 that there was a real need for a lighting firm that had a specialist focus in large super-prime private residences, as most other lighting firms at that time (and to this day) lack a really forensic knowledge of this niche market – which is also one of the most challenging sectors to operate in. There were specific luxury residential lighting problems which we were hearing everywhere from architects, interior designers, and other consultants. We deeply studied these ‘pain points’ and created a tailor-made company – Xavio – to answer those particular needs. This proved to resonate immediately with the luxury construction sector and we grew quickly in the UK and abroad.

As a further inspiration, I have always loved the fine classical architecture of super-prime London buildings, and these became the core of our projects. Most of our London projects are within a few miles of Buckingham Palace. Illuminating these marvellous classic residences is a great pleasure for me personally.

Our early marketing was based on an amazing painting of the Thames by Claude Monet, inspired by the natural sunlight on the river: “The Thames was all gold… it was beautiful, so fine that I began working a frenzy, following the sun and its reflections on the water…” – Claude Monet.

That is so beautiful and poetic. And what sets Xavio Design apart as an industry leader from others in the luxury property sector?

I believe there are a number of key differences between Xavio and other lighting firms in our sector. An important point we’ve always focussed on is our internal processes and systemisation – how we do things, as well as what we do. This means that we can deliver very high-quality output, but the process in achieving that is very streamlined and proactive, and we are frequently told that this makes Xavio a pleasure to work alongside. This has in turn led to many referrals from other super-prime firms.

We are extremely helpful, always go the extra mile, and we listen – we’re not the type of egocentric firm that revolves around a single figurehead – we’re a strong team. Our role is to interpret the vision of every architect and interior designer we work with from a lighting perspective, and to beautifully illuminate their creations.

Could you describe a typical working day in your life...

There are 20 of us in the team and growing, so my primary role is leadership, but I take a very keen interest in every project and always feel personally responsible to every single one of our Clients.

A typical day - let’s take a Monday - would start with a full team meeting on Microsoft Teams to keep us bonded together as a single unit. We then break off into a Design Team Meeting (DTM) to discuss workflow for the week and allocate responsibilities. April Comerford (our COO) or myself are usually on the DTM call as we are very keen to know when resource is becoming available to take on new projects.

I then have a series of 30-minute weekly catch-ups with my direct reports throughout the day, to check they’re all happy and to discuss any challenges or questions they may have.

Then onto some strategic marketing tasks, maybe a site visit to review progress, networking with other industry players and working creatively to keep Xavio aligned with our strategic goals. I greatly enjoy my work at Xavio – every day is different and there is so much happening.

It seems very busy but so much fun! And what are some of the greatest challenges you have faced in your business so far?

Peaks & troughs…. Feast & famine! The usual curse of the private super-prime residential sector, caused by very large and long-running projects. This can make it challenging to manage resourcing levels and to know when to recruit and invest for growth.

To counter this, we provide a very popular luminaire procurement service which helps to create a separate sales cycle and cashflow input to weave in with our fees. Further to this we have also recently created a ‘Special Projects’ team in answer to popular demand, which is geared up to assist with fast-track or smaller projects, and can provide ad hoc services on an hourly rate basis. Our Xavio Procurement Service (XPS) is also expanding in different directions which is a big help.

What are some of the highlights you have experienced since starting Xavio Design?

From a project perspective, our biggest highlight has been a colossal country estate project (one of the largest ever in the UK) which we have just successfully completed for a private client. This project was managed by Knight Frank to a very high standard, and it was a true pleasure to work with the stellar consultancy team and some of the best contractors in the industry. We provided the full lighting design and supply for the enormous Mansion House, numerous other buildings (including a private museum), and the landscape lighting which covered hundreds of acres.

Separately to this, our Xavio journey has had many highlights from a people perspective. I’ve seen first-hand the huge difference and impact that is achieved by recruiting top-grade persons onto the team. They’ve been instrumental in taking Xavio to a whole new level and are very enjoyable and motivating to work alongside.

You do have an incredibly strong team. So Nick what inspires you?

I gain a great deal of inspiration from a number of influential businessmen around the globe. These are often persons that are maybe little-known in the public sphere but they run incredibly successful businesses in a caring and compassionate way, seeking to set forward their many employees and to give back to the community. I won’t mention their names, as they are not the type of persons that would wish for recognition or public acclaim, but their wisdom, leadership skills and awe-inspiring work ethic is a powerful motivation for me.

There have also been persons in our own super-prime sector in London that have been a great help and inspiration. The networking and mentoring that we enjoy in this niche market is rare to find in the wider business world, and completely invaluable. The Luxury Property Forum has most certainly empowered and enabled this resource in a quite unprecedented way.

What advice do you have for people looking to become an industry leader in the luxury property?

Be clear about your vision and what differentiates your firm – and ensure that your USPs truly answer a tangible need, otherwise it will only be an elusive dream and never a reality.

Once you can clearly verbalise your ‘reason for being’, the next step is to recruit people that are the best in the industry and empower them. Don’t try and make it all about you, this is a big mistake as you will just limit the size and power of your business. It is far more rewarding to enable others to grow around you, and they will take your business much further and faster than you can ever imagine. Focus on creating an atmosphere where persons can flourish and where they can enjoy their working life, and your role as a leader is then to constantly reinvigorate that atmosphere and keep the team inspired and focussed on the long-term vision.

And in an ideal world, what does the future hold for you and Xavio Design?

Xavio continues to grow, and our next phase will see a significant expansion internationally, focussing especially on Paris, New York and Singapore.

We will be building teams in multiple studios around the world, to ensure a global presence in both hemispheres for our international UHNWI client base. This will be backed up by a further embracing of technology in the digital sphere – watch this space for more details!

Xavio will continue to expand also in associated luxury sectors, linked always by that glowing golden thread of illuminating buildings and landscapes which are frequented by our UHNWI clients…. whatever form those projects may take.

And finally Nick What does “luxury” mean to you?

For me, the word ‘luxury’ means an intense attention to detail – far beyond anything that would be considered reasonable. We have a mantra in Xavio – “99.99%” is not good enough! Perfection is the only standard in the world of luxury.

I also feel that ‘luxury’ blends together fine art and flawless engineering. These qualities must be applied with deep understanding. Hence our team motto:

‘Design like an Artist, Study like an Analyst, Think like an Engineer’