Our Story

The roots of Custom go back further than the company itself. In 2004, Chris, Adam and Martin met on an electrical course in the UK - a connection that would quietly shape the next two decades. When Chris founded Custom UK in North Devon in 2005, Martin stayed in touch through Adam, contributing to projects in Devon and later on the Isle of Wight as the business grew, alongside Luke who also joined the company.

In 2014, we were working in Australia when the call came from the Custom team. We came back to Europe and headed straight for the French Alps. From the moment we arrived, we fell in love with the mountains and the life that came with them. While others maintained lives and families back in the UK, we gradually put down permanent roots in the Tarentaise. That same year, the process of establishing a French subsidiary began.

Katie's background spans two worlds - a professional career in IT with IBM and a deep passion for interiors and design. The combination is well suited to renovation: rigorous project management on one side, creative vision on the other. Overseeing operations, client relationships and the design process from brief to handover are only a few of the things she tackles day by day.

Martin brings a different kind of strength. Practically minded and adaptable, he oversees all site operations and trade coordination - the person on the ground who knows every corner of a project and knows exactly what needs to happen next. There is little on a renovation site he hasn't tackled, which matters in Alpine resorts where the build window is short, the conditions are demanding and solutions need to be found quickly and to an uncompromising standard.

Over the years that followed we took on increasing responsibility, gained the specific expertise and knowledge - gradually shaping the French operation until we were effectively running it. In 2021, with the UK business closing, Custom France was founded as a fully independent French company.

Today Custom France is our company and we are two people backed by a team of like-minded professionals who between us bring together interior design, project management, technical build expertise and fluency in English, French and German. We care deeply about what we build, who we build it for, and how spaces function and feel when we hand back the keys.

We work predominantly in Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise and Val d'Isère, and across the surrounding valley - resorts we know intimately, with the supplier relationships, the planning knowledge and the on-the-ground presence that only comes from truly being here.