Change shouldn't mean waste

Our story

The world moves fast. Theres always pressure to keep up, with new ideas and renovations. But change shouldnt mean waste.

At Surface Matter, we believe even the trickiest materials have BIG POTENTIAL. Plastics. Polymers. Surfaces with unusual coatings. With the right planning, none of them need to go to landfill. Who knows what they could be used for next?

We started out as Proud Materialists in 2013. Obsessed with materials, weve gone to great lengths to find exciting materials and get to know every last detail, connecting people with the right materials to use on the right projects to really make the job.

Whether youre choosing something beautiful or organising a takeback, were here to help you keep quality materials valuable forever.

B Corp Certified

We're always looking to improve our impact and proudly join a growing movement of companies reinventing business for the benefit of all people and our planet.

Our mission

We exist to keep quality materials in circulation to give people opportunities to make better design choices. Because change shouldnt mean waste.

Our vision

We believe in material potential

We want to live in a world where single-use is singled-out, and where we can equip everyone to make materials more useful, with every use. Shapeshifting the ingredients we already have instead of harmfully going after new, adding new value with every lifecycle.

What we do

We select and supply the best

We scour the globe to find interesting materials made by ambitious manufacturers. We love working with people who work in sustainable ways, making surfaces out of tricky polymers and plastics that can’t go back into the ground - people determined to override single-use. We carefully store and distribute these from our warehouse in Rye.
Our materials

We share what we know

We’re here to help everyone understand more about the materials they’re buying and the impact they have on a project and the environment. We’re happy to share solutions and help designers select the right materials and use processes with every phase of the project in mind - from the design stages and fit out to the ripout and beyond. So you can take the right steps to make reuse and recycling easier.
Our expertise

We make new life possible

We’re all about reuse. A massive part of what we do is creating opportunities for people to reuse materials and extend the lifecycle, considering everything from takeback logistics, to assessment and action. We’re always finding and developing new ways to return, renew and reuse materials. And we’re cultivating a community so more and more people to get involved and help complete the circle.
Material rescue
Our values
Brave responsibility

We’re not afraid to take on problems other people avoid. Even if we don’t have all the answers or something won’t be hugely profitable straight away, we’ve got a sense of duty to bring it into the fold. We love a side challenge.

Whole truths

No lies. And more importantly, no white lies. Where others jump on the green bandwagon and exaggerate, we’re truthful about how sustainable our business is and where we’re at. This extends to our customers too – if we think your project would be better tweaked, we’ll tell you.

People first

It’s a cliché, but good partnerships really are crucial to us. We’re all about people, with high standards on the kinds of people we work with and how we treat them in return. We’ve built industry-wide connections on shared values.

Form and function

We’re practical and pragmatic, always geeking out on the tiny technical details that make a material fit for purpose. But we also love design. (You’ll never see us with a tacky leaflet or a boring display stand.) This eye for both makes us the perfect bridge between manufacturers and designers.

Better moves

Sometimes to move forward you have to work backwards. We believe in thinking beyond here and now. Real change that goes beyond compostable boxes. From tracking our carbon footprint and reducing the resources we use, to finding better ways of working and encouraging everyone in our network do the same to help protect the planet.

Make it matter

We care about giving back and building a better community. From sharing inspiration to creating opportunities and enhancing skills. We volunteer our time and space, speak to the next generation of designers, and support programmes leading positive change.

Join our team

Good partnerships are crucial to us. We're all about people and have high standards on the kinds of people we work with, and how we treat them in return. We've built industry wide connections on shared values.

We're a Living Wage Employer and we support employment, education and mentoring projects with Open City Accelerate, Built by Us and Design Can. We want everyone in our team to feel good and grow with us, and welcome any race, religion, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, disability and social, financial, cultural or educational background.

When we're hiring for a role you'll find it linked here, or register your interest on Stryve.

Resources

Talk to us

Interested in a collaboration? Get in touch

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