Brushes, easels and palettes are among the range of fine art tools and materials bought by artists all over the world via this London firm’s website. Gary Thompson, 52, and Michael Venus, 65, set up the company in 2000 and began by selling paints from a borrowed warehouse, before setting up a mail order business. Today they ship 55,000 products to 150 countries from their Gloucester site. Overseas sales, which hit £3.6m last year, have been boosted by its multicurrency website, which boasts six country-specific versions.