Appleton Brooks
About Appleton Brooks
Distinctive tiles, personal service
Appleton Brooks is a UK-based tile supplier specialising in carefully selected, design-led tile collections for residential and commercial interiors.
We work with established tile manufacturers, predominantly in Italy and Spain, to source distinctive products for the UK market. Our approach is deliberately curated: we would rather offer a considered portfolio with a clear design point of view than simply list as many products as possible.
We work with interior designers, architects, developers, retailers and homeowners, combining product knowledge with a personal, responsive service. For professional projects we can support product discovery, samples, manufacturer technical information, sourcing, project pricing and ongoing specification conversations.
Our aim is simple: interesting products, useful advice and a supplier who is straightforward to work with.
About Appleton Brooks
A tile company built a little differently.
A small, independent tile company built around interesting products, useful advice and relationships that last.
Our story
Appleton Brooks began in 2022 with a simple idea: find interesting tiles, work with manufacturers we genuinely believe in and look after customers in the way we would want to be looked after ourselves.
After more than two decades working in the tile industry, brothers James and Steven wanted to create something more personal. Not the biggest catalogue. Not thousands of products for the sake of it. Just a carefully chosen collection, good product knowledge and straightforward service from people who actually care about the project.
And, initially, all of that happened from James' kitchen table.
The beginning
It started with a lot of samples.
Like many small businesses, Appleton Brooks did not begin with a polished showroom or an enormous warehouse.
It began at home, with tile samples arriving faster than there were places to put them. Kitchen worktops, floors and spare corners gradually became temporary sample storage as the first collections took shape and the first customers came on board.
It was not particularly glamorous, but it was the beginning of Appleton Brooks. Before long, we needed somewhere bigger.
From the archive
2023 - The Farm
Then came The Farm.
In 2023 we moved our tiles out of the kitchen and into a collection of old farm buildings near Stamford.
We rather optimistically referred to them as Warehouse One, Warehouse Two and Warehouse Three.
They were certainly not state-of-the-art distribution centres. But they gave us room to hold stock, prepare samples and build the business properly.
Growing, without losing the point
More tiles. More projects. The same approach.
Since those early days, Appleton Brooks has grown considerably. We have developed relationships with tile manufacturers in Italy, Spain and beyond, introduced new collections and supplied projects around the UK.
Today we work with interior designers, architects, developers, retailers and homeowners. But the principle behind the business has not really changed.
We still prefer a considered collection to an endless catalogue. We still want to know the manufacturers and products we represent properly. And when somebody needs a sample, help finding an alternative, technical information or simply another opinion on a project, we want it to be easy to speak to a real person.
Our collection
Tiles we would choose ourselves.
We spend a lot of time looking at tiles. Some make the collection. Plenty do not.
We look for products with something interesting about them: colour, texture, detail, proportion or simply the ability to make a room feel better.
Many of our collections come from established European manufacturers, particularly in Italy and Spain. We choose from what they do best and bring together a portfolio that feels distinctly Appleton Brooks rather than simply reproducing an entire factory catalogue.
We do not expect every tile to appeal to everybody. We would rather offer products with personality.
The people behind Appleton Brooks
Small enough to stay personal.
Appleton Brooks is still a small business, and we think that is one of its strengths.
Customers deal with people who know the products, understand their projects and remember the conversations they have had. From sourcing a tile and arranging samples to helping with specification information and project pricing, we try to keep things direct and straightforward.
There are no layers of departments to navigate. Just people who care about getting the details right.
What has not changed
Still personal. Still curious.
Still slightly obsessed with tiles.
Appleton Brooks has changed quite a bit since those first boxes of samples arrived in the kitchen. What we want the business to be has not.
Interesting products. Useful advice. Good relationships. And a tile supplier that is straightforward to work with.
Project support
Need help choosing the right tile?
We can help with samples, specification information, quantities and project pricing.