About SFS

SFS Interior & Exterior is a specialist painting, decorating and renovation contractor. We work on period houses, mansion blocks and commercial buildings across West London and Essex. Our clients are private homeowners, managing agents, surveyors and main contractors. We deliver projects as principal contractor, and we work under other principal contractors too. The company was founded in 2020, backed by three generations of family heritage in the decorating trade.

Directors Sam Sullivan and Jack Swash established SFS in August 2020. Neither was new to the trade; both developed their expertise within the Sullivan family business, where decorating has passed through three generations. What grew out of those first contracts was not a general decorating firm. Our specialist focus is on period exteriors: stucco, cornice, parapets and sash windows on listed buildings and within conservation areas. This work demands rigorous technical knowledge and substrate preparation. It is where craftsmanship shows, typically two winters down the line. That commitment is why surveyors receive comprehensive specifications detailing preparation, systems and coats rather than ambiguous lump-sum estimates.

Our growth has been driven entirely by recommendation and repeat appointments, with major projects instructed by surveyors, managing agents and main contractors. These professionals inspect buildings for a living; they stake their own professional reputations when appointing a specialist contractor. They return to SFS because of how reliably our projects are managed, programmed and delivered.

We survey first. Then we write down what we will do and what we will use, room by room. The price is built on that. The price is fixed. Anything we cannot see until we open something up goes on the quotation as a named provisional sum. You see it there, rather than meeting it later as an extra. One project manager stays with the job from the survey to the snag list, and you get a written report with photographs every week. Most of our work is in buildings people still live or trade in, so we plan protection, access and noise before anyone arrives. On anything over £15,000 we come back at six months to check it.

Founded in August 2020
3 direct employees, 9 regular subcontractors and 17 to 18 we call on at peak
Working across West London, Epping and Essex
Monday to Friday 07:30 to 17:00

Lift lobby of a Mayfair office building with marble walls, a brass lift door, walnut slatted screens and a lit ceiling cove

The directors

Sam Sullivan

Director

Strategy, business development, estimating, client relations, compliance and admin.

Representing the third generation of the Sullivan family in the decorating trade, Sam directs company operations, surveying, technical specifications and pre-construction compliance. Every quotation and detailed specification issued by SFS is prepared directly under his supervision.

Jack Swash

Director

Operations, site management and project delivery, on site day to day.

With over twenty years of experience in the decorating trade developed within the Sullivan family firm, Jack oversees site operations, logistics, health and safety, and quality delivery on every project. A master craftsman in heritage techniques, he personally supervises site teams and directly applies specialist lime wash and French wash finishes.

How a project runs

Survey and written specification

We measure, test the substrate and write down what will be done and with what before any price is given. The specification is the contract for the work.