Our story
The cask that is never emptied
Solera is the oldest cask in a sherry cellar, the one that is never emptied. Everything new is blended into it, and it is what gives the rest its character.
Why a sofa company is named after a barrel
If you grew up in Britain, sherry probably means Christmas, a bottle of Bristol Cream in the cabinet, your parents' front room. That is not an accident. Bristol and Jerez have traded sherry for four hundred years, and the word solera travelled with it.
In a sherry cellar the casks are stacked in rows. The bottom row, the solera, holds the oldest wine and it is never emptied. When wine is drawn off to bottle, the cask is topped up from the row above, and that row from the row above it. Every bottle carries a little of the very first fill, decades old.
We think a good sofa works the same way. It becomes the place the family gathers. The Sunday afternoons, the film nights, the grandchildren asleep on it. It gets better with the years, and you never quite want to replace it.
Sobremesa
The Spanish have a word for the time after a meal when nobody gets up from the table, because the conversation is better than whatever comes next. Sobremesa. There is no English word for it, but every British living room knows the feeling. That is what we are furnishing.
Why Solera exists
Solera came from a simple conviction: comfort at home should feel effortless and look quietly beautiful, and the technology that makes it possible should disappear into the seat. We spent years in British furniture retail learning what people actually ask about, what goes wrong in delivery, and what makes someone ring back a year later for the matching armchair. Solera is the answer to all of that.
We chose electric recliners because they are the honest kind of comfort. Not a designer statement, but the seat you actually sit in every evening. Power headrests, zero-gravity recline, a charger in the arm, quiet motors, and a frame built to be sat on for a very long time. Innovation you feel in the first second, quality you notice for years.
What we promise
- A real person on the phone. Call us free on 0800 368 8914, Mon to Sat, 9am to 6pm. We will check the measurements with you and tell you plainly if something will not fit.
- Fabric samples first, free. Nobody should choose a fifteen-year sofa from a photograph.
- Delivered into the room, by a two-person team, on a day agreed with you.
The Solera team