Tucked along the Ropewalk of Bermondsey’s Maltby Street sits Provision, a homeware haven and reclaimed flooring specialist, which has unveiled a second location in Walworth’s recently opened Iliffe Yard.
Described by founder Nick Newman as a ‘curator and purveyor of beautiful objects’, the Maltby Street store sells unique furniture and locally sourced lifestyle items.
In June 2025, Nick expanded the Provision offering to Iliffe Yard, the largest of three Victorian workshop yards on the historic Pullen’s Estate. Here, he hosts his flooring showroom, embracing sustainably sourced natural wood and rawness.
They team also host pop-up supper clubs and artists residencies in their multi-functional studio space,18 Iliffe Yard.
Provision has a clear concept: to reconnect people with the environment they call home. Inspired by timber, texture and natural materials, both the Maltby Street store and Iliffe Yard reflects a stripped-back and slowed-down approach to interior design and homeware.
Inside an exposed-brick Victorian arch, the shop features a retail space downstairs and a first-floor mezzanine used for workshops above. From crockery, books and toiletries to furniture and bespoke flooring consultations, Nick’s remit is wide-ranging.
All items on sale are carefully chosen by Nick and have sustainability and locality at their core. From sourcing South London makers to avoiding single-use plastics, the shop has the feeling of simplicity and authenticity.
Nick says: “I want to create a Provision world and aesthetic – everything is understated, with key pieces of furniture and elements of ritual.
“I’m interested in how spaces make people feel,” he continues. “I want customers to carry that feeling with them through our products. I’m about to introduce an interior consultation element to the business, exploring how Provision pieces can be incorporated into both commercial and residential spaces.”
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The Victorian-built Maltby Street arches are now occupied by popular independent food and drink spots, coming alive for the market at weekends, where the Ropewalk fills with the smells of street food.
However, amongst the edible offerings, the quaint street is also home to hidden gems like Provision, a vintage barbers and a floral design workshop. There’s even a reclaimed timber store, the last symbol of the arches’ previous purpose.
Nick explains that all the arches were once full of reclaimed timber. Provision opened in 2021, born from an idea Nick thought up during Covid as a ‘passion project’.
However, Nick’s connection to his arch in Maltby Street stretches back much further – over eleven years.
The space was previously home to architectural salvage company LASSCO, where he worked from 2011. The company specialised in rescuing items from old buildings to restore and sell, sparking his love for sustainable, earthy materials.
After LASSCO relocated their space and the new food and drink businesses cropped up, Nick couldn’t part with the space. He decided to take it over and armed with his passion for interiors and a dream to own his own business, Provision was born.
“I got to forty and thought, I’d love to start my own business,” he says. “The space was available, and on a total whim – no business plan, no real idea what to do, I just did it.”
Describing the area, Nick says he loves the ‘unpolished and authentic’ vibe of Maltby Street and how its history makes it both charming and distinctive. The Ropewalk even takes its name from the fact that it was once used by workers to manufacture rope by laying it out along the street and twisting it.
This same charm originally drew him to his new space in Iliffe Yard, part of Pullen’s Yard. The Victorian and Edwardian workspaces are made up of three yards and feature over fifty local traders and businesses.
The yards were built between 1870 and 1901 as a live and work space for craftspeople and small traders, with flats above and workspaces below.
Nick says he deliberately settled on these two corners of South London for Provision, drawn to their rich past in terms of industry, architecture and designers.
“I’m really interested in how people lived historically,” he says. “Life was centred on the simplicity of family and ritual – something I want to recreate at Provision.” The name Provision emerged from this vision, referring to the act of providing or supplying something for use.
“I want people to be able to purchase one thing, or a range of things, that are useful and fit naturally into their home or lifestyle,” he says.
Nick’s love for South London is evident and he cannot imagine Provision existing anywhere else. The store supports local makers and artists, with ceramics from Deptford local Lily Permain, and they recently hosted a mudlark jewellery making workshop, led by Imogen Denton from East Dulwich.
He lives in Lewisham with his wife and two children and spends his free time volunteering at the Horniman Museum and Gardens as a ‘tree guardian’.
Nick’s passion for Provision is undeniable and the future excites him. One day, his dream is to expand Provision to Portugal and split his time between London and the sun.
You can purchase items or browse flooring options on the Provision website, or pop into the store from 10am, Wednesday to Sunday.
https://www.provisionstore.co.uk/
Provision, Arch 53, Ropewalk, Maltby Street, London, SE1 3PA
