Our Story

From a spare bedroom in North Wales to one of the UK’s largest independent rug retailers

The FrithRugs story began in 1981

The FrithRugs story began in 1981, in a spare bedroom at our family home in North Wales.

Our founder, Gordon Frith, started his working life as a carpet fitter. Before long, he began buying rolls of carpet himself and selling them directly to customers. The business steadily grew, the ranges expanded, and rugs were introduced.

It was then that Gordon discovered what would become a lifelong passion for Oriental rugs. He couldn’t have known it at the time, but that passion would eventually shape the future of the entire business.

From a spare bedroom to two 40-foot trailers

As the family grew – Gordon and his wife raising six children – the business seemed to grow just as quickly.

The spare bedroom inevitably became in need of being a bedroom, so Gordon bought a 40-foot trailer and parked it on the family’s land in North Wales to store the growing stock of carpets and rugs.

Before long, one trailer wasn’t enough. A second 40-foot trailer arrived alongside the first. At that point, Gordon decided that adding a third probably wasn’t the most sensible long-term solution!

So, FrithRugs moved into its first 3,500 sq ft warehouse. That was soon outgrown too, so a mezzanine floor was installed. Then another unit of the same size was added alongside it.

A new home for FrithRugs

Gordon commissioned a purpose-built warehouse and showroom in Bodelwyddan, North Wales. That building has continued to grow with us and today extends to over 20,000 sq ft – plus Gordon’s much-loved mezzanine floors!

From those early days, FrithRugs has developed an enormous collection sourced from around the world, from affordable everyday designs to exceptional hand-knotted pieces produced by highly skilled craftspeople.

The next generation

More than four decades later, FrithRugs remains very much a family business. Today, the company is run by Gordon’s daughter Rachael and son Martin.

We now operate from our original Bodelwyddan store in North Wales and our newer Shrewsbury store, with large FrithRugs selections within Leekes Department Stores in Melksham, Llantrisant and Cross Hands.

We remain an independent family company with a genuine passion for rugs, an enormous choice of stock and a belief in offering our customers quality, value, knowledge and personal service.

Our Ethical Commitment

Rugs made by people, not at their expense.

Many of our handmade rugs come from weaving communities across Asia, where rug making is a craft passed from generation to generation. We monitor the weaving areas from which our rugs are sourced and work to ensure that no child labour, forced labour or modern slavery is involved in the production of our rugs.

In some countries, particularly India and Afghanistan, traditional rug weaving can still take place within people’s homes. Children may naturally be around while their parents work and might carry wool into the house, help prepare a loom or occasionally help – or hinder! – with what is going on around them. That is very different from a child being employed to weave a rug.

We believe these traditional family crafts should be protected and respected, while ensuring that children are children, education comes first, and exploitation has no place in the rugs we sell.

Giving Back

In India, FrithRugs contributed towards the building of a school for girls and continues to make regular contributions to support the school and help secure its future.

100% of the money we donate goes directly to supporting the school – with no administration charges or management fees deducted.

Customers who would like to support the school themselves are welcome to contact us. We’ll be happy to explain more about the school and how they can help.

We believe the traditions of handmade rug weaving should be preserved and passed from one generation to the next – but never at the expense of a child’s education or future.