A TALISMAN FOR THE FUTURE IN PIMLICO

Surviving the recession is not just luck, although being in the right place at the right time helps. It is also a matter of confidence and, according to successful London dealer, decorator, retailer and businessman Ken Bolan, a sheer love of what you do.

Ken should know as he has taken some chances in his time but has never wanted to do anything else.

He is better known by the name of his business Talisman, which I first encountered years ago when they had a stunning, highly decorative stand at Olympia and were based at an old brewery in Dorset (which they retain as workshops).

Just some weeks ago Talisman again came to the fore when they opened Talisman, Ebury Street in the heart of Pimlico. Which was, to say the least, a surprise because just over four years ago Ken took over a spectacular space in the New King's Road, Fulham and converted a local landmark, a vast Deco garage, into an emporium for his trademark stock.

That conversion gave him little change out of £2m, but he defied the recession and opened up in Pimlico, which is attracting more and more decorative and design-slanted dealers.

He explained: 'I have long been looking for central space with high footfall and open to retailing.'

Ken Bolan who has just turned 60, has always set rather than followed trends.

He started dealing in Switzerland in 1971, selling English antiques to Continentals, moved to the West Country in 1982 and started selling Continental furniture to the English, then moved to Fulham to sell all manner of antiques and 20th century items, although 50 per cent of his trade are decorators.

And he has other ideas for the future, but above all Ken says 'I love the business and would do nothing else'.