IT was Ross Harling’s passion for restoring antique furniture that led him to start a green business. In 2003, while renovating a 19th century American wash-stand, he searched high and low for a hard-wearing paint similar to the original finish.
The struggle to find a match got him thinking about the paints used by ancient Romans and Egyptians. Before petrochemicals, paint was made from natural materials that were kinder to the environment, and he decided to make his own.
Harling worked with a mixing bowl in his kitchen, adding natural ingredients such as plant extracts and clay, until he had concocted a recipe for a paint that is both eco-friendly and tough.
In 2004 he set up Naturepaint, his green solution for home improvements. The products contain no solvents or toxins and emit no fumes.
They are popular with asthma and allergy sufferers who have found that, unlike conventional paints, the clay-based formula does not aggravate their condition.
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Last year B&Q signed a deal to stock the range, which is also easy to dispose of safely. Any liquid Naturepaint left over can be added to garden compost or left to dry and then put out with normal household rubbish.
Harling, who studied economics at Oxford Polytechnic, began his working life with Wolseley, the plumbing and heating company. He became a branch manager and worked with the firm for 13 years. “Every two years I would ask my manager for a promotion,” said Harling.
In 1987, he was headhunted by Digital Equipment Corporation, the computer giant, where he spent eight years as a business development manager for the consulting division in Basingstoke.
When the consulting arm was closed down, Harling was one of 200 staff who lost their jobs. He decided to set up a business consultancy of his own with former colleagues. Atticus, founded in 1995, helped companies to speed up their growth. Its clients included Unipart and Hiscox Insurance.
At the same time, Harling continued his hobby of furniture restoration, which led nearly a decade later to the creation of Naturepaint. It began as a part-time business, selling to local people from an old dairy factory near his home in Wiltshire.
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In 2008, Harling realised he could not run two companies, so he sold his shares in Atticus and left. “In the same year we moved Naturepaint to Hayle in Cornwall. The China clay we use is Cornish and we wanted to minimise our carbon footprint,” he said. The company has five staff and is planning to expand to a team of 10-15 people over the next couple of years
Conventional paints include metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These are released while the paint is wet and continue to be released for five years after it dries. Harling said his product emits a faint smell of clay when wet but no other fumes.
In 2010, the European Union set new VOC targets for paint makers. “Eliminating petrochemicals from existing paints cannot happen overnight,” said Harling. “We started from scratch and created something new, which is why it worked.”
Naturepaint sits beside Dulux’s low-solvent Ecosense range on the shelves of B&Q’s eco-stores, which focus on sustainable living. It is a little cheaper than well-known, conventional paints.
“There isn’t a premium for green any more,” said Harling, 62. “Consumers expect green products to cost the same as brands they’ve been using for years — it’s very competitive.”