Tempur Sealy International, the world's largest bedding company, has increased the authorisation under its share repurchase programme to a total of $1.5 billion (£1.14bn), it announced Monday.

Carpet imports fell sharply in October as the final quarter started with weaker data from Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Buckinghamshire bed maker Hypnos says a three-month programme of recruitment and factory investments has helped boost mattress capacity by 50 percent as it looks to satisfy retailer demand for its goods.

Halo Creative & Design, parent to premium pitched furniture brand Timothy Oulton, has acquired a country house hotel comprising a 17th century manor after securing new finance worth tens of millions of pounds.

British furniture manufacturers' combined turnover rose on an annual basis for an eleventh month straight in October, but fell against pre-Covid levels.

Profits and cash climbed for the group behind adjustable beds and riser recline chair brand Willowbrook in 2020/21 ahead of its disposal to a venture capital and private equity group.

Italian Design Brands (IDB), a private equity backed collective of high-end furniture and interiors companies that launched a U.K. arm this year, has acquired a minority stake in Axolight, an Italian lighting supplier.

Recticel has entered into a binding agreement to sell its Engineered Foam unit to Carpenter Company after shareholders yesterday backed the disposal of the division for €656 million.

Ready-assembled bedroom and living room furniture maker Welcome enjoyed a third straight year of double-digit sales growth in the year to March 31. Profits also increased sharply.

The company behind entry-level sofa maker Wyvern Furniture leaves creditors with little prospect of a return after it was placed into administration and ceased trading earlier this autumn.

Premium fitted kitchen, bedroom and freestanding furniture manufacturer and retailer John Lewis of Hungerford says the lease of a new property will boost production capacity.

Nick Garratt, the outgoing managing director of the British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM), says the association is primed to expand and that his successor can build on the achievements of the past three years.

Emerging upholstery company Swyft Home has secured a seven-figure supply chain finance deal designed to support business-to-business growth with third-party retailers.

Bed components company Spinks has appointed Emma Davidson as commercial director. Her duties include overseeing a just-launched distribution centre facility that will free up additional manufacturing capacity.

Upholstery giant Man Wah is to acquire a 55 percent stake in a Far East sofa maker that was once one of the largest in the region supplying U.K. furniture retailers.

Optimism is building among U.K. bed manufacturers as future sentiment regarding demand outweighs concerns over input costs and the availability of labour.

Profits dropped by a third for West Yorkshire mattress manufacturer Dura Beds in 2019/20 on lower sales and rising costs.

Airsprung Group was cash generative and boosted profitability in 2020/21 on the successful execution of a limited restructuring programme designed to "better align the needs of the business to the new reality."

Designer Contracts, the national flooring supplier to the house-builder market, is to sponsor the services of Childline for a day next month. It is the fifth time it has done so.

Flooring supplier Victoria is to enter a new product segment after it agreed to buy the rugs division of Belgium's Balta Group. It will also acquire its U.K. polypropylene carpet and non-woven carpet businesses, plus the Balta brand.

Italian upholstery giant Natuzzi said it continued to enjoy strong demand in the third quarter but supply challenges presented cost and operational headwinds. Strategic outsourcing is one of three strands to address those.

Britain's Buoyant Upholstery has been voted one of 11 pan-European winners of a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) 2021 Furniture Award, which celebrates the producers of sustainable furniture.

Mattress, components and bed fillings group Harrison Spinks says it is looking to hire 40 new workers in response to high demand for its products.

Bespoke kitchens and cabinetry manufacturer Parlour Farm has been awarded the Manufacturing Guild Mark from The Furniture Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company and furnishing industry charity.

Retail giant Next continued to build headcount at its upholstery manufacturing unit in the past year, but output was lower on factory shutdowns. A write-down of assets hit profitability.

Natuzzi Editions will open its largest U.K. store to date when it heads to Bristol next month. It is one of three imminent new showrooms for the Italian upholstery brand, including a first in Dublin, Ireland.

A Staffordshire cabinet furniture manufacturer that sells custom-fit wardrobes and home office furniture ordered online is expanding into additional premises after rapid growth.

The new owners of bedroom and home office furniture retailer Sharps have installed a new chairman at the business following its buyout earlier this year.

Acquisitive U.K. flooring company Victoria has confirmed it is in discussions with Balta regarding the buyout of an unspecified constituent part of the Belgian flooring conglomerate.

Tempur has launched a sofabed, a first for the high end bedding brand best known for its memory foam mattresses and pillows.

Recticel has cranked up the pressure on shareholders to back the sale of its engineered foams business to Carpenter Co, saying the plan has the backing of independent advisory firms.

A €370 million turnover upholstery and bed manufacturing group has agreed to buy Recticel's Bedding division, which makes finished mattresses and bed frames primarily sold into mainland European markets.

September saw another vast quantity of Vietnamese furniture land at U.K. ports, likely reflecting large orders placed ahead of Covid-related late summer factory shutdowns in the Far East nation.

The value of foam and sprung mattress imports into the U.K. fell on a year-on-year basis for the third month in a row according to new HM Revenue & Customs figures.

Sofa import growth weakened in September but still grew on an annual basis for an eighth consecutive month on the back of increases from the U.K.'s two largest trading partners.

Delivered sales continued to climb at the same rate in the third quarter as they did in the second in the U.K. and Ireland for Ekornes, owner of upholstery brands Stressless and IMG.

Imports of carpets and rugs into the U.K. declined year-on-year in September, ending a six-month run of annual gains.

The upholstery group behind the Alstons, Ashley Manor, AMX Design and Alexander & James brands continued to make top line gains in the three months to end September, but the inflationary cost environment hit profits.

How furniture companies are adapting their sales approach to meet the needs of customers following the pandemic is the theme of the latest webinar in the building back better series organised by The Furniture Makers’ Company.

Furnishings fabrics business Arley House has successfully defended a copyright infringement claim brought by a minority shareholder and fabric designer.

The owner of Quick-Step, the popular floorcoverings brand, will start recycling high density fibreboard (HDF) used in its laminate flooring after a breakthrough in the sustainability process.

National retailer Bensons for Beds has opened a distribution hub in the North East that will provide home delivery to customers across large parts of the North of England.

The group behind the Parker Knoll, G Plan, Duresta, Collins and Hayes and The Lounge Co upholstery brands is opening a new factory in Worcestershire as it looks to build capacity and future proof its requirements.

A West Midlands mattress and bed manufacturing company has been placed into liquidation leaving high six-figure debts but none to the supply chain.

Profits at Man Wah Holdings, the recliner and upholstery giant with factories across the Far East and Eastern Europe, climbed almost a third in the six months to end September as sales jumped to record highs.

FIRA International, which delivers testing, inspection, certification and training to the furniture industry along with being the service provider to the Furniture Industry Research Association, has moved to new premises in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

Harrison Spinks, the Leeds bed manufacturer and mattress components and fillings supplier, is partnering a building materials provider to use a by-product of one of its mattress fillings in construction and refurbishment projects.

The value of furniture made in U.K. factories in September was over £27 million higher than any other month in history according to data released Thursday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Upholstery producers are reporting further input price pressures for foam after converters and other suppliers of semi-finished products were hit with increases on polyurethane block supplies.

Preston sofa cover and reupholstery company Plumbs has introduced a new ecommerce brand offering finished removable cover sofas, armchairs and accessories.

Flooring supply group Victoria is adding further ceramic tile capacity with the acquisition of B3 Ceramics Danismanlik, a Turkey based manufacturer and exporter trading as Graniser.

John Lewis of Hungerford, the premium kitchen and bedroom furniture company, returned revenue close to pre-Covid levels in the year to June 30 as it reversed a 2019/20 deficit.

The year-on-year number of U.K. home furnishings companies that appointed insolvency practitioners was flat in the third quarter of 2021, though the figure crept higher on a sequential basis.

A simple majority is all that is required for shareholders to approve the sale of Recticel's Engineered Foam unit to U.S. giant Carpenter.

Suffolk headquartered window fabrics conglomerate Style Group has acquired a stake in 360º Marketing & Communications, a Spain-based marcomms agency.

There is less than a month to go until Recticel shareholders will get to vote on whether to sell the group's Engineered Foams business, which includes its comfort foam operations, to Carpenter, the U.S. conglomerate.

Flooring supplier Designer Contracts and underlay and fibre technology brand Texfelt were named winners of the Partners in Sustainability Awards at a black-tie event in London last week.

Global bed spring and components group Leggett & Platt said raw material-related selling prices increases meant revenue rose in the third quarter despite lower sales volumes.

The price of key ingredients used in the flexible foam recipe have fallen in recent weeks, fuelling hopes among sofa and mattress makers that they may see their own costs ease as a consequence.

Trendsetter Home Furnishings, the business behind The Fine Bedding Company brand, said it made a welcome return to profit after it outperformed its budget by focusing on creating a more sustainable business.

Sanderson Design Group (SDG) has appointed former John Lewis Partnership chief financial officer Patrick Lewis to its board as one of two new non-executive hires.

Mike Logue will step down as chief executive of Dreams at the end of the year, handing over the business to successor Jonathan Hirst in a very different state to the one that he inherited.

Foam and fibre conversion business Breasley, a key supplier to U.K. furniture makers, has been formally renamed as Peak Converters to better reflect its 36-year manufacturing history.

Mohawk Industries, the world's largest flooring company, was bullish on demand in a third quarter trading update, but bearish on supply chain constraints that are pushing out lead times and creating input cost pressures.

Howden Joinery Group, the U.K.'s largest kitchen supplier, said it expects 2021 profits to be about £360 million after it continued to outperform on market tailwinds and a well managed supply chain.

The Swedish conglomerate behind U.K. kitchen chain Magnet saw third quarter revenue fall here on labour market issues and slow recovery in certain sectors.

Foam company Recticel has again advised shareholders not to sell their shares under the offer from Austrian rival Greiner as management look to enact their own plan to divest parts of the group elsewhere.

Buoyant Upholstery has becomes the first company in the furniture sector to join the Slave-Free Alliance, the social enterprise launched by global anti-slavery charity Hope for Justice with the aim of preventing worker exploitation in global supply chains.

Passing input cost inflation through the supply chain to retailers, distributors and end users helped diversified flooring conglomerate Balta find growth in the three months to September 30.

U.K. bed specialist Dreams has outperformed internal expectations in the past quarter according to Tempur Sealy International, the world's biggest bedding company and the new owner of the business.

Harrison Spinks products are now available through ecommerce retailer Mattress Online, with the bed maker citing the two companies' aligned approach to innovation and sustainability.

The British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM) has appointed an association leadership specialist as its new managing director while current incumbent Nick Garratt is to become its chairman.

Beaulieu International Group (B.I.G.), the diversified Belgian industrial conglomerate, is to increase prices worldwide across its entire flooring solutions portfolio.

The proposed takeover of the comfort foam business of Recticel by its industry peer Carpenter raised eyebrows across many U.K. furniture industry boardrooms, right across the supply chain from manufacturers to retailers.

Furniture wholesale giant Actona Group is to expand the scope of its global upholstery operations after agreeing the takeover of private equity backed Danish sofa maker Theca. More deals for other companies will follow, it said.

La-Z-Boy U.K. has acquired North West sofa maker Furnico in a deal that gives the U.S. headquartered upholstery conglomerate manufacturing capability within Europe.

The collapse of a 150-year-old Oxfordshire furniture manufacturer earlier this summer leaves secured and unsecured creditors facing a sizeable shortfall.

Carolyn Mitchell, sales and marketing director for the contract division of Buckinghamshire headquartered bed maker Hypnos, is to chair the British Contract Furnishing Association (BCFA) for a second time.

Inflation figures released Wednesday made for grim reading. Consumers are paying over 10 percent more to buy furniture than they were this time last year, while manufacturers' input costs are increasing at twice that level.

Beds and mattress vertical Bensons for Beds has recruited an experienced retail executive as successor to chief operating officer Joe Wykes, who left the business earlier this year.

Consumer price inflation for furniture reached double-digit levels for the first time on public record while manufacturers are continuing to grapple with upstream supply chain price pressures.

Kent bed maker Sleepeezee said it is extremely confident with regards to its future outlook and business performance after the reopening of retail earlier this year helped it quickly pick up where it left off before the pandemic.

Demand through 2021 has put luxury furnishing fabrics, wallpapers and accessories supplier Romo back on track to recover sales lost through the pandemic, the company said in just-filed accounts.

A major restructuring plan initiated through the pandemic will leave the U.K. arm of designer lighting company Artemide leaner and in better shape to seize future market opportunities, the company has said.

A second straight month of weaker data from European factories squashed the air out of what had been a buoyant mattress import market until the summer months.

Bensons for Beds is looking to hire about 180 people across its nationwide retail, distribution and manufacturing network while its new store rollout continues this week with an opening in a former Laura Ashley unit.

The value of carpets and rugs imported into the U.K. continued to rise in August according to new figures, but at a much shallower incline than in the preceding seven months.

The achievements of Harrison Spinks chairman Simon Spinks and West Yorkshire bed maker Duvalay were among those from the industry recognised at the Yorkshire Business Masters 2021 awards last week.

Revenue fell at all four of West Midlands and Essex upholstery group TCM Living's business units last year but three of them still managed to gain market share from their competitors.

New figures from upholstery group TCM Living show its two largest retail customers—both major furniture chains—were responsible for 61.4 percent of its £100 million plus turnover through 2020.

Venture capital and private equity group LDC says it has made a growth investment in mobility products group Kingswood, the owner of the Willowbrook adjustable beds and riser recline chair brand.

Plumbs slipped to an overall loss last year but the sofa covers and reupholstery business said it enjoyed a very profitable fourth quarter after benefitting from pent-up demand post lockdown.

British furniture manufacturers' combined turnover rose by a quarter against strong comparatives at the height of summer as the industry battled to meet surging demand.

Leeds bed maker Harrison Spinks has been awarded Investors in People’s We Invest in People standard accreditation, recognition of its leadership and management practices and how it motivates and supports its employees. 

Carpenter Co, the U.S. headquartered industrial conglomerate, has made a binding offer for Recticel's Engineered Foam division, which includes its comfort foam business serving U.K. upholstery and bedding customers.

Geert Geerkens, sales and marketing director at Belgium's Veldeman Group, has been named the new president of the European Bedding Industry Association (EBIA).

Customers pivoting away from the web and back to stores along with the collapse of Greensill Capital exacerbated an already perilous situation at Kidderminster sofa maker Wyvern Furniture.

Retail giant IKEA plans to shift production of some goods from the Far East to Turkey in order to counter the impact of rising container costs, according to a company official.

Hypnos and The Eden Project, the educational charity and social enterprise, are to work together on charity, community and sustainability initiatives that focus on the importance of the environment and creating sustainable sleep solutions.

The company behind Kidderminster sofa maker Wyvern Furniture has ceased trading and been placed into administration. All of its employees have been made redundant.

The principal U.K. arms of Carpenter and Vita, two of the big three comfort foam suppliers to Britain's bed and sofa manufacturing sectors, saw output and earnings fall amid the early months of the pandemic.

International furniture company Roche Bobois has announced the death of François Roche, its co-founder, on October 6. He was 85 years old.

North West home textiles group Turner Bianca booked lower profits in 2020/21 as rising costs and narrower margins countered the impact of higher sales.

The director of sustainability and innovation at Leeds bed and mattress manufacturer Harrison Spinks has joined the roster of experts speaking at The Furniture Makers’ Company’s webinar on sustainability next week.

Management actions buttressed liquidity and profits at national furniture retailer HSL in 2020 as its customer base was impacted by Covid-19 to a greater extent than other demographics.

Revenue climbed for soft furnishings supplier Ashley Wilde Group last year as its customer base ramped up activity in the aftermath of the first lockdown.

Existing local managers will oversee the business of iconic sofa brand Tetrad after the departure of its longtime md and former owner Janus Cooper, its parent company Belfield has said.

Walking away from tens of millions of pounds worth of business with IKEA was a bold move but Westbridge is finding new custom elsewhere, with both emerging and longstanding customers.

Belfield Group's upholstery businesses were more impacted by lockdown periods last year as its just-divested mattress unit delivered higher revenue amid the backdrop of the pandemic.

The group behind the Adjustamatic brand returned to profit and generated cash last year as lower costs helped mitigate the impact of a decline in delivered sales.

Market leader DFS is expanding the number of upholstery ranges it carries in its stores, paving a path for it to onboard new suppliers to the sofa chain.

Furniture manufacturing activity in Vietnam is expected to increase after the Government signalled its intent to ease restrictions amid an intention to move away from its zero-Covid strategy.

High end interior design and furnishings distributor Sanderson Design Group has appointed Mike Woodcock as its chief financial officer, replacing Michael Williamson who leaves next month.

Vita Group has acquired Belfield's Usleep business unit from NorthEdge Capital in a deal that makes the diversified foam conglomerate one of the country's largest manufacturers of finished mattresses.

Wallcoverings and home accents supplier Graham & Brown enjoyed a big jump in profits as customers "rediscovered their homes" last year, investing in and re-inventing the environments they live in.

Sofa giant Natuzzi continues to write new orders faster than it can manufacture existing ones according to its incoming CEO, who says the global supplier is prioritising ways to cut lead times.

The CEO of DFS says pushing further into the online bed market is the early focus of a wider plan to diversify the group's revenue base beyond the upholstery category.

Silentnight Beds has been awarded the Manufacturing Guild Mark (MGM) by The Furniture Makers' Company, the furnishings industry charity and City of London livery company.

Shire Beds won Bed Product of the Year at the National Bed Federation (NBF) Industry Awards last night while Hypnos and John Cotton Non-Wovens were successful in the Sustainability and Component Product categories.

Sales more than doubled for manufacturer and retailer Get Laid Beds in 2020/21, making it one of the largest ecommerce players in the sector. Profits also jumped sharply.

The Furniture Makers’ Company’s (TFMC) industry webinar series returns this autumn with three more episodes, the first of which will explore what the trade is doing to combat climate change.

Harrison Spinks has appointed Scott Hollis as its first-ever U.S. sales manager with a brief to drive the bed maker's business in North America.

Sanderson Design Group, the high-end interior design and furnishings manufacturer and distributor, is to launch a Morris & Co brand extension targeting international markets.

The cost of making furniture in the U.K. climbed again last month with producers warning the brewing labour crisis will add further increases that will have to be passed on to retailers.

Dan-Form, the Danish dining furniture manufacturer known for its bentwood chairs, plans to consolidate distribution with the build of a new warehouse.

Disruption from the pandemic ended a seven-year run of sales growth for upholstered furniture manufacturer Whitemeadow last year, but the decline looks likely to be short-lived.

The md of Savoir Beds says the luxury brand is back in investment mode and trading at never-before-seen levels after what proved a tough 2020 amid the disruption of the pandemic.

Imports of foam and sprung mattresses declined at the start of the second half despite arrivals from Denmark—home to the factory making Tempur products for the U.K. market—rising to a nine-month high.

Gains in textile floorcoverings imports were pared back at the start to the second half of 2021 as the carpet trade annualised the resumption of trade after the first lockdown last year.

Record levels of furniture are being despatched out of British factories but nowhere near enough to satisfy demand and bring lead times down to historical norms.

When the Prime Minister announced the first lockdown back in March last year the fear across the British furniture industry was palpable. Thick red lines were drawn through expense budgets and manufacturers up and down the country prepared for an unwanted game of who could hold their breath for longest.

Accountants have signposted the increased output of an emerging bed manufacturer in just-filed financial statements for the Birmingham-based company.

Harrison Spinks has unveiled the first of what will become an annual Sustainability Report, highlighting initiatives it says have kept the business at the vanguard of sustainable bed making for years.

BFM, the trade association for British furniture manufacturers, says the BFM Fabric Show London will return next year, taking place in the week commencing March 7.

The National Bed Federation (NBF) has named the finalists for its annual 2021 Bed Industry Awards' sustainability category after judges whittled down a record number of entries to a final four.

Retail and commission revenue declined in 2020 for the U.K. arm of Poltrona Frau, the U.S.-owned Italian designer furniture company.

Nicholas Radford says he plans to focus on other interests outside the furniture industry after a flood in the Far East prompted a decision to close the company behind the Nathan Furniture brand earlier this year.

Victoria says it is taking a bigger share of wallet in the U.K. flooring market as a result of its investment in its logistics operation here, citing the impact of its elevated service levels.

SATRA, the international research and testing organisation, says investment in new state-of-the-art machinery will enable it to meet growing demand for the testing of floorcoverings.

Bed maker Silentnight's new consumer marketing campaign aims to demonstrate that the Barnoldswick manufacturer offers a wide choice of products to suit all sleepers.

Mattress ticking conglomerate Bekaert Deslee, a key supplier to the U.K. supply chain, is investing the equivalent of £9 million upscaling production at one of its factories in South America.

Roundhouse, the high-end kitchen and bedroom cabinet maker and retailer, enjoyed better-than-expected trading last year as it found both top and bottom line growth.

A Swedish flooring and wood processing conglomerate with factories in central Europe is to enter the furniture market with the initial launch of cabinets assembled entirely without glue, nails or screws.

Bedding and upholstery components distributor Handy has acquired the non-zip related assets and sales of fellow supplier Aero Zip, further expanding a product roster already numbering over 1,500 items.

British furniture manufacturers are increasingly bullish according to a new poll but have concerns over the availability of labour, which is threatening to further delay the production and delivery of goods.

Storied carpet manufacturer Brintons will next week move into new headquarters for the second time in the past ten years. It will remain in Kidderminster.

The reopening of retail stores in April and customers pre-stocking in anticipation of demand helped carpet maker Balta find U.K. revenue growth in the first half of 2021.

Department store chain John Lewis & Partners has begun, for the first time, selling a line of mattresses using wool sourced from farmers supplying meat to its sister business Waitrose & Partners.

Mark Smith has decided to step away from executive duties at upholstery group TCM Living and will be succeeded as CEO by Jonathan Fearn, who is currently the chief financial officer.



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