Raymond Umeh

Entrepreneur, Founder/CEO, @Skarabrand - e-retailer of quality & affordable furniture. Building Africa's IKEA

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

Pinned.👇 https://t.co/sCSDsfuoBI

[Skarabrand Furniture @skarabrand]

Our Stand @ DFDPS'17 #skarabrand #proudlymadeinnigeria #nigerianstyle #affordablefurniture #lagos #Abuja #NigeriaAt57

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

Interior designers and architects, what is your biggest furniture sourcing challenge right now?

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

My journey into furniture was accidental.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

I studied Geology and loved it. But after NYSC, I wanted to build something. I just didn't know what yet.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

If you love great design or work in this space, let's connect.

And if you're a fellow geologist, you're especially welcome. I still love rocks.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

Today I run Skarabrand, a full-scope furniture design, fabrication, and maintenance company based in Abuja. We work with corporate, hospitality, and institutional clients who want one company to handle everything from design to delivery to maintenance.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

Along the way I've lived the full reality of manufacturing in Nigeria. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

And now maintenance and asset protection, what I believe is one of the industry's most underserved areas.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

I pioneered what is now Nigeria's cutting and edging sub-sector. I introduced the first flatpack sofas to the Nigerian market. I've worked across factory operations, conservation, sustainability, design and innovation.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

That decision changed everything. I began to see the gaps, the possibilities, and how things could be done differently.

That was 18 years ago...

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

I didn't start in the office. I went straight to the shop floor and spent the first three to six months just being with the craftsmen. Watching, asking questions, getting my hands dirty.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

I had zero experience. I didn't wait to be asked. I grabbed it. Partly because I believed in the potential, and partly because I wanted to make my dad proud.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

Then I got the chance to manage a small, struggling family business that processed and exported semi-finished parquet flooring made from Apa wood and Iroko.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

@PoliceNG_CRU good afternoon. Please what is the proper procedure with the police, when you catch a staff stealing from your business?

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

@fmenvforestryng @EUinNigeria @FAO @FAOForestry @giz_gmbh @Climategovng @UNFCCC @UNBiodiversity as there is a lot of money, mostly cash, in the hands of unscrupulous traders and loggers avaiable to bribe officials in charge of these forests. It will be difficult but, fingers crossed.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

@fmenvforestryng @EUinNigeria @FAO @FAOForestry @giz_gmbh @Climategovng @UNFCCC @UNBiodiversity I hope this covers illegal logging?! Where vast amounts of trees are cut down, transported, processed (at times), other times shipped as roundwood, thereby bypassing even basic processing that helps local sawmills survive here in Nigeria. I also hope they will be remunerated well

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

@The_Vimbai I must commend your boldness and intelligent analysis. You always say things as they truly are. Your comment about the market: the absence of government and creating and economy for the people of that area... Spot on!

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

This kind of work isn't easily converted to "political campaign equity". You cannot use it to easily show workings. That’s why politicians and people in executive positions don't like to hear it.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

Maintaining public assets and infrastructure is difficult and not as glamorous building shiny new roads and bridges. This is why, it's not an important aspect of development to the nigerian executive leadership. It's mostly done behind the scenes and away from public view.

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

@_onlyscott The Netherlands

[Raymond Umeh @RayInMotion]

@__iffff Let's make that bar!!💪🏾