It all began in Milan
Industrial design undergraduates Gideon Wilkinson and Paul Veness first met at Brunel University whilst taking part in the Erasmus exchange program. Their course had a lot of emphasis on work placement, and the pair were given the opportunity to study in Milan, Italy.
After a 24-hour train journey, they arrived at Milan station on a dreary January morning – only to discover that no accommodation had been provided for them. Gideon later found a place to stay and, after meeting Paul in a nearby bar, offered him a space to crash.
By the time they returned to university, they had forged a strong friendship.
The start of new things
Paul started his product design career in pet products; Gideon in personal care products. It wasn’t long before they were saving for around-the-world tickets. The starting point was India.
In an era before smartphones, the main form of communication was telephone and email – if you could find somewhere with a computer and an internet connection. Two weeks in, Paul came off a phone call looking ashen – his girlfriend back home in England was pregnant. So he returned home, leaving Gideon in India.
They later regrouped in Australia, along with Paul’s girlfriend, but their travel plans were ultimately cut short. Returning to London, Gideon managed to get his old job back – and found an opening for Paul. Within a year, Paul got married and became a father. Gideon also decided to settle down and buy a flat. It was the start of new things – including Endpoint.
Endpoint begins
The company they both worked for at the time was growing quickly. With that came huge responsibility. Soon, the pair were working on brand rollouts for some of the world’s best-known companies in spaces like automotive and aerospace. It wasn’t long before the pair were hatching a plan to set up their own company, over a pint or two.
With a mix of naivety and youthful exuberance, Gideon and Paul began Endpoint. Back then, one of the key factors was that they didn’t have any overheads – other than what they needed to take home. With a fax machine and an offer to pay £1 for an Apple Mac now and pay the rest later, the new company had all the tools it needed.
Gideon was the first to ditch the day job, and he eventually managed to convince Paul to jump ship. So they hired some desk space in Soho. There was one small problem: there were no desks. After fashioning the desks they needed using materials from a DIY store, Endpoint had their first office. Now all they needed was a client.
Little challenges and major milestones
For Gideon and Paul, there have never been any huge, insurmountable challenges – more like a series of smaller ones. In a way, they created their own challenges, counting themselves fortunate to have some early successes that drove them forward.
A merger opened the door to big-name clients like John Lewis, and Endpoint went from turning over thousands to millions in the space of a few years. By the third or fourth year, the company was employing more and more people and moved to a larger office space in Margaret Street. But it wasn’t long before they outgrew that space as well, signing a lease for ‘proper’ office space in SE1.
Over the years, they added an impressive roster of clients to their portfolio, including global banks and big techs. They also evolved their services from rolling out workplace and company branding across multiple locations to wayfinding design and implementation.
Trained as industrial designers, Gideon and Paul found themselves working with a growing number of talented graphic designers who needed technical design input. The brand implementation market matured and some major players emerged.
What became increasingly clear was that without their own international presence, competing with other studios could become a major challenge. That’s when Endpoint joined a multinational network.
The secret of a successful partnership?
Like any relationship, Gideon and Paul’s partnership is built on understanding each other’s strengths. They’ve learnt to ‘disagree agreeably’. In Gideon’s own words, they have ‘complementary skills’ – they don’t overlap too much.
Paul is much more analytical and detail-orientated, and Gideon is much more relationship-focussed; they’re like back of house and front of house. Their characters and nature work well together. If there’s ever a crisis – they’re well-oiled and very much on the same page.
Wayfinding in Dubai
When a project for Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) became extended over a number of years, Paul and Gideon opted to base people out there. After all, it’s much easier to work on a wayfinding project when you’re based near the site.
And they soon saw opportunities for wayfinding design and consultancy in a region that’s always evolving. That initial project opened the door to other projects until it made total sense to set up a Dubai office. This was around 2006. Unfortunately, the 2008 financial storm took its toll on their Middle East operations, and the studio was kept running with just a skeleton crew of one.
It was a tough period in Endpoint’s history which dented Gideon and Paul’s confidence. Around 2014, they were at a crossroads – either wind down or ramp up the Dubai studio. That’s when the Regional Managing Director of MENA and APAC – Peter Krikhaar – came onboard. Fast-forward to 2024. Endpoint Dubai is currently the company’s biggest studio.
Getting that foothold in the region proved to be huge. In fact, the timing was perfect. Gideon was in nearby Qatar on the night the country was announced as the host for the World Cup 2022. That announcement triggered a flurry of wayfinding projects across a range of sectors including public transport, healthcare, hospitality, and stadiums.
All this frenetic activity led Gideon and Paul to pause and reflect on where they were and where they wanted to take Endpoint. They had questions for themselves as employers and business leaders. One thing was clear – they needed a clearer vision for Endpoint.
The best is yet to come
Gideon is an optimist; always convinced that the best is yet to come. As Endpoint’s reputation grows, and the business has more and more opportunities to evolve. Over the last 25 years, there’s been a technical revolution.
With the power and potential of AI, another revolution is certain. That said, the fundamentals of wayfinding remain the same: make it easier for people to get around. In a way, technology acts as another delivery system, from wearables to interactive screens, that helps to enrich physical navigational experiences.
Regardless of technological advances, getting lost in the real world can still be deeply frustrating. In many ways, the work of wayfinding consultant is more important than ever. It’s been 25 years since Paul and Gideon opened the first Endpoint office in Soho, London. To mark the occasion, the entire company took part in a special anniversary event in Dubai.
Beyond that, Gideon and Paul are taking time to reset and think about how Endpoint can lead and become even more innovative in key areas like sustainability, the psychology of being lost, and how people feel within the built environment, over the next 25 years and more. So far, they’ve only scratched the surface.