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- REGIONAL
Glasswells says all hands are on deck as it looks to get its large Bury St Edmunds superstore reopened after it was hit by severe flood damage caused by torrential rain last weekend.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Marks and Spencer, the clothing, home and food retailer, said it will cut 7,000 roles over the next three months as it adjusts to the shift online and the impact the pandemic has had on the way its business operates.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Retailers have reacted warmly to new product plans at South West bed maker Relyon following its takeover out of administration in a deal led by its former CEO earlier this month.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
U.K. sprung and foam mattress imports increased on an annual basis in June, ending a barren year-on-year stretch dating back to September 2019.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
The value of wood cabinet imports shipped to the U.K. in the first six months of 2020 is down just over a fifth on last year, a less severe decline than those seen in all other big-ticket furniture categories.
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- ECOMMERCE
Employee headcount fell by 8 percent at pan-European ecommerce furniture retailer Home24 in the first six months of the year, a period that saw it move closer to profit on rising sales.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
The Furniture Industry Research Association is launching a series of recorded training sessions on key regulations that impact stakeholders in the furniture sector.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Harvey Ellis, who for decades ran what became one of Europe's largest sofa manufacturing operations as production director for DFS, formally left the business earlier this summer.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Employees at Formation Furniture, historically one of the country's largest upholstery factories, face redundancy after a successful sale out of administration failed to materialise.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
When a reasonably prominent South East furniture retailer, a business that continues to trade today, completed an insolvent restructure a few years back, suppliers were relatively unconcerned.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
First half carpet imports into the U.K. are down by a third on the previous year after June saw an eighth consecutive year-on-year decline.
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- ECOMMERCE
Online retailer The Very Group, historically one of the top five largest retailers of furniture in the U.K., says sales jumped more than a third in the three months to end June.
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- UPHOLSTERY
A fifth straight decline in upholstery imports means the value of goods shipped to the U.K. is down by a third in the first half of 2020. But June figures were an improvement.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
One-time major U.K. cabinet distributor says it will record a loss for the first half of 2020.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The vast Shrewsbury store formerly operated by Alan Ward has this week reopened under the Cousins Furniture fascia as it clears out stock acquired as part of the buyout.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Online sales ramped for TJ Hughes during lockdown, with the discount department store chain saying its Internet business had "experienced exponential growth."
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- CASE GOODS
Jarrow cabinet furniture and shelving company Funky Chunky Furniture says it expects to achieve over £4 million in sales in the next year after it expanded and reconfigured its manufacturing operation.
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- LEGAL & RESTRUCTURING
The number of U.K. furniture, flooring and furnishings companies being placed into insolvency processes increased by all comparative measures during the three months to end June.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Department store retailer Debenhams said a further 2,500 jobs would go across its U.K. store and warehouse network as it eliminates a variety of roles within the business.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
But profits fall as higher wage bill takes toll on administrative burden.
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- OPINION & ANALYSIS
The decision to wind down European operations was completed by Casper Sleep in the second quarter of 2020 with the decision, through no fault of its own, appearing to be ill-timed.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
The owner of furniture brands including Cassina and Cappellini, has signed a letter of intent with a U.K. listed nano tech materials company as it looks to develop and commercialise an enhanced leather product.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Furniture retailers could book turnover earlier in the sales process under proposed law changes designed to protect consumers in the case of a retailer's insolvency.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
East Coast retail operation and online business will both remain closed, major chain says.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Big-ticket home goods delivered for retailers in July as overall sales across the retail sector ticked up, according to a closely-followed monthly poll.
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- ECOMMERCE
Private equity company Advent International is to take a controlling stake in Hermes U.K., the parcel delivery company until now owned by ecommerce and retail giant Otto Group.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Sales growth is returning according to soft furnishings group Walker Greenbank, whose Clarke & Clarke brand last month enjoyed its best yet since it signed a new distribution agreement.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Britain's leading furniture and bed trade associations will today announce the launch of the Buy British Furniture Event, designed to encourage retailers to promote U.K. made products and support local manufacturers heading into the key autumn/winter trading period.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Ecommerce flash sales fashion retailer BrandAlley U.K. has acquired the intellectual property rights to the Lombok furniture retail brand, its second major foray into the home merchandise sector.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Furniture retailer AHF is heading to a retail destination that has historically attracted high footfall as the chain follows the revamp of its website with a rebuild of its physical store footprint.
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- REGIONAL
A number of Britain's premier independent furniture retailers have signed up to the Government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme, providing a hoped-for footfall boost through August.
- Details
- FLOORCOVERINGS
Mohawk Industries, the world's largest floorcoverings group, recorded a net loss in the second quarter as lockdowns across the globe hit revenue.
- Details
- ECOMMERCE
After a record quarter, Wayfair's annual revenue run rate across the U.K. and Germany is $1.4 billion (£1.07bn), according to Martin Reiter, head of Europe for the ecommerce home furnishings giant.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Alteri Investors completed a prepack buyout of Bensons for Beds at the end of June but its interest in the remaining parts of what was Steinhoff's U.K. furniture and bedding operations did not end there.
- Details
- ECOMMERCE
Houseology, the high-end furniture, lifestyle and interior design ecommerce brand, has relaunched after its assets were acquired by a former rival earlier this year.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
A survey of U.K. furniture makers suggests the effect of the lockdown has been worse than anticipated, according to the British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM).
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Sales of homeware including furniture rose by more than a third year-on-year in July as retailers made the most of pent-up demand and consumers' inability to spend their cash elsewhere.
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- ECOMMERCE
Home furnishings retailer Wayfair almost doubled sales in the second quarter with its CEO believing the step change among consumers to buy online will prove permanent.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
More than half of U.K. bed manufacturers answering a National Bed Federation (NBF) poll say they do not expect to make redundancies when the furlough scheme ends.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
The Furniture Ombudsman, the independent, not-for-profit provider of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services, has been renamed and launched an updated brand identity.
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- UPHOLSTERY
A U.S.-owned West Yorkshire healthcare business whose products include riser recline chairs and adjustable beds enjoyed a big balance sheet boost last year.
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- REGIONAL
The privately-owned franchisee behind the BoConcept brand in Canterbury has partnered a local property developer and builder for a high-end housing scheme in Kent.
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- OPINION & ANALYSIS
Relyon has all the tools it needs to succeed as a private company following its sale out of administration to its former CEO Ian Topping and other private investors.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Upholstery market leader DFS has taken the opportunity to maximise spare showroom space with the launch of a test DFS Bed Centre concept at one of its stores in the North East.
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- REGIONAL
James Gillies Lornie, the third-generation former managing director of privately-owned Scottish furniture retailer Gillies, has died. He was 84 years old.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Grandeco Wallfashion Group, a pan-European interiors company based in Belgium, has agreed to buy Darwen wallpaper specialist Holden Decor from its private shareholders.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
John Findlay, salesman at privately-owned retailer Barker and Stonehouse since 1997, is to retire after achieving 50 years in all working across the furniture industry.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Ian Topping, the former head of Steinhoff's U.K. operations and CEO of Relyon Group between 1993–2010, has acquired the Wellington manufacturer out of administration.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Designer furniture and homeware retailer Heal's is not looking to immediately rebuild store numbers after closing its Midlands showroom. It will instead look to bolster its ecommerce business.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
A slew of top name furniture companies have departed the Mailbox, the high-profile home retail destination launched late 2017 to accommodate leading furniture and lifestyle brands.
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- CASE GOODS
Far East furniture manufacturing and distribution giant Samson Holding is to mop up the remaining shares in a major Green River Group bedroom and dining cabinet factory, taking its total outlay to nearly $46 million (c. £35m).
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
Nick Garratt, md of the British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM), is authoring a new economic review document that will pull together analysis relevant to the furniture industry on a monthly basis.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
Furniture inspection and repair experts are to host a series of digital workshops designed to support retailers and manufacturers as FIRA International takes its popular Open Day format online.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
From rehiring employees to fulfilling outstanding orders, the acquisition of Alan Ward's Shrewsbury store and liquidated stock by furniture retailer Cousins will mitigate the impact on individuals and companies affected by the failure of the former operating company.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Third-party interest remains in South Wales sofa maker Formation Furniture but the former Blue Group business unit — in administration since the end of June — is now entering last-chance saloon.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Man Wah Holdings, the Far East upholstery conglomerate, has sought and received more time to prepare its potential takeover approach for leather sofa maker HTL International.
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- EVENTS
Organisers of the January Furniture Show say the 2021 iteration will take place as scheduled after the Government green-lighted events from October and decommissioned the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the event venue.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The National Bed Federation (NBF), the trade association representing U.K. mattress manufacturers, has published a first guide to ecodesign principles.
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- ECOMMERCE
A VC that backed Farfetch, Peloton and Deliveroo has led a £3 million funding round for an ecommerce home decorating startup that launched on the first day of lockdown.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
FIRA International has awarded Humanscale, the designer and manufacturer of ergonomic products, an Ergonomics Excellence Award for its FR 500 Ergonomics Foot Rocker.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
PwC will ask creditors for the approval of over a million pounds of pre-administration costs which accumulated from itself and other advisors ahead of the prepack sale of Bensons for Beds to the investment firm that already owned it.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
A leading supplier to Britain's floorcoverings industry says it will temporarily reduce order-fill as unprecedented demand has outstripped its "ability to manufacture by several times over."
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- UPHOLSTERY
Privately-owned upholstery retailer Sofas & Stuff is to relocate its Midlands presence with the opening of a new and larger store, replacing its Birmingham showroom.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Rapid online sales growth is holding even as stores re-emerge from lockdown according to the CEO of Tempur Sealy International, the world's biggest bedding company.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
Britain's third biggest floorcoverings retailer slipped to a loss in 2019–20 as it booked a number of Covid-19 related provisions.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Interest from the U.K. furniture trade in the best-performing units operated by retail chain Harveys is high, according to sources close to the sale process.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Britain's number two upholstery retailer ScS said order intake has almost doubled since the lockdown ended, reflecting pent-up demand.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Higher revenue and wider gross margin helped boost earnings at Furnico, one of the largest upholstery producers in the U.K., last year.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
Underlying profits fell despite a near 10 percent rise in revenue at flooring conglomerate Victoria in the year to March 28. It booked a net loss after writing down goodwill by £50 million.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Fashion-to-furniture retailer Next said it outperformed the best-case scenario it had modelled for the second quarter with home goods a key driver. Sales were still well down on the same period last year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The administrator of the group behind the Bensons for Beds and Harveys chains has detailed its outstanding liabilities at the time of the insolvent restructure late last month. Unsecured creditors of the retail unit are to get back no more than two pence in the pound.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Incanto Group, once one of the largest European suppliers of leather upholstery to British furniture retailers, is relaunching in the U.K. market this autumn with its Digiò Leather Sofas by Sofitalia brand.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Restfull Nights, the North West bed manufacturer that specialises in the contract market, has appointed Graham Carberry as sales director.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Himolla, the German upholstery manufacturer, has announced the death of Karl Sommermeyer, its former managing director. He died July 16, aged 71.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Profits were down by a third for one of the country's largest privately-owned bedding and home textiles manufacturers last year after a double-digit decline in sales.
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- ECOMMERCE
Upholstery, cabinet and beds retailer Loaf has extended its warehouse contract with Wincanton. It will become the first beneficiary of the third-party logistics specialist's new dedicated ecommerce facility in the Midlands.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Alteri Investors acquired Blue Group debt as part of the original buyout of what was Steinhoff's U.K. bedding and furniture operation. That meant it was the sole secured creditor ahead of the later prepack, with the sale consideration reducing the amount Alteri was owed.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Losses increased on lower turnover for the combined Harveys and Bensons for Beds retail chains last year. But the Blue Group, as it became known, continued to make money from its manufacturing operations.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Upholstery retailer Sofas & Stuff is to bolster its presence in the North West of England with a first showroom in Cheshire and its 14th at all.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
Headlam Group's new 190,000sqft Ipswich distribution centre, first announced almost six years ago, is now operational and ready to service customers.
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- REGIONAL
A Lancashire and Yorkshire department store business with a large online operation said it has enjoyed a sales fillip thanks to more people being at home this year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Oak Furnitureland, bought by global investment manager Davidson Kempner Capital Management earlier this year, is to shed a quarter of its retail estate following a review. It has named all 27 stores earmarked for closure.
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- UPHOLSTERY
Natuzzi's new chief commercial officer for Western Europe says the pandemic has not quelled its interest in the U.K. market with two stores opening in the autumn and more planned in the medium term alongside investment in wholesale.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Birlea Furniture recruited two of the best known figures in the U.K. furniture industry to lead the launch of the first new products from Willis & Gambier, the premium cabinet brand it acquired last year.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
HTL International has opened the doors to its permanent U.K. showroom in Staffordshire where the sofa maker is presenting its new 2020 collection.
- Details
- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
A loan provision and the decision to write down slow moving and obsolete stock ahead of a major range overhaul hit profits at decorative lighting group Elstead last year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
An early July fall in consumer sentiment towards buying high value items such as furniture broke a run of improvement stretching back to the early days of lockdown.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Peter Spinks is to take a non-executive role at fifth-generation bed maker Harrison Spinks with his son, Simon Spinks, to replace him as group chairman.
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- UPHOLSTERY
A going concern sale of what was Steinhoff's South Wales upholstery factory will need to be tied up within weeks with staff close to completing all outstanding orders.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The reopening of furniture stores across the U.K. helped the industry achieve its strongest year-on-year comparative since the beginning of the year in June, but sales still remained below 2019 levels.
- Details
- OPINION & ANALYSIS
Wednesday was a significant day for Eve Sleep, the direct-to-consumer mattress company that has, for a long time, attracted much mirth among its peers in the beds industry.
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- TRADE & INDUSTRY
Many but not all skilled furniture production operatives will be able to apply for a visa to work in the U.K. once the country's new points-based immigration system kicks in, says the British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM).
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Supplier to U.K. furniture industry will next month launch the first needle punch non-wovens from a new production line.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Oldrid & Co, the company behind the Oldrids and Downtown home and department store business, will not reopen its Boston store, bringing 216 years of history to an end.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The CEO at online beds retailer MattressOnline says the launch of the company's debut television advertising campaign can help it capitalise on its fast growth during lockdown.
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- REGIONAL
Developers keen to acquire the Manchester site housing the 50,000sqft Stocktons designer furniture store have a little over a week to make their bids. Interest is high, according to the agents charged with finding a buyer.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Just over £5 million worth of foam and sprung mattresses arrived at U.K. ports in May as the value of imports more than halved again.
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- CASE GOODS
Wood furniture imports fell sharply as early-year factory shutdowns finally afflicted the living, dining and bedroom categories to the same extent already seen in other product segments.
- Details
- INTERNATIONAL
Delivered sales at both owned and franchisee-run stores surged for Roche Bobois in June as the prestige French furniture brand reopened its retail estate and began to clear its order backlog.
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- UPHOLSTERY
China's furniture industry was first into the coronavirus crisis and looks to be the first out, with upholstery imports into the U.K. showing signs of recovery after deep declines earlier this year.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The first-ever public disclosure numbers from a Midlands-based Internet mattress retailer with its own manufacturing operation suggest it is one of the biggest players in the U.K. bed market.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Mattress and ancillary products brand Eve Sleep was cashflow positive in the first half of 2020 as its new strategy continued to deliver improvement and competitors fell by the wayside.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
Carpet imports into the U.K. declined 62 percent year-on-year in May, the weakest comparative so far this year.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
Retailers operating 172 stores across the U.K. and Ireland have already signed up to the National Bed Federation's new Retail Champions scheme, within a fortnight of its launch.
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- REGIONAL
Privately-owned retailer Fairway Furniture reversed a skinny four-figure deficit to return to profit in the year to January 31, 2020 as sales inched forward and the value of its investments climbed.
- Details
- REGIONAL
Independent furniture retailer Michael O'Connor will rebuild store numbers with the opening of a second North East showroom later this summer.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
Upholstery vertical Sofa.com has followed the closure of its Edinburgh store by paring back its physical presence in the English capital too. A second shop will remain permanently shut.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
Organisers of trade exhibition The Flooring Show in Harrogate say they will announce new dates soon after postponing the original early autumn dateline.
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- FLOORCOVERINGS
Premium wood flooring and worktop manufacturer Junckers maintained sales here last year and was budgeting for U.K. growth in 2020 before the coronavirus hit.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Kitchen conglomerate Nobia reported a hefty first half U.K. trading deficit as its Magnet retail chain and manufacturing businesses all closed during the lockdown.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Home, clothing and food retailer Marks and Spencer Group (M&S) says it will create a new retail management structure as it aims to eliminate duplication. 950 jobs could go as a result.
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- OPINION & ANALYSIS
Wind back the clock. It is June 2016, and Britain's future relations with the E.U. are uncertain as Brits head to the polls.
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- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The head of Tempur Sealy International says the company is "fully committed to securing and strengthening the position of the Sealy brand and product range in the U.K." amid uncertainty about who will make the product here and where.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The Dutch owner of a key packaging supplier to Britain's mattress industry has a new CEO.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Customers of John Lewis & Partners will be able to pick up click-and-collect orders from a further 400 locations nationwide as the department store chain looks to make it easier for shoppers to buy online.
- Details
- ECOMMERCE
National bed retailer Dreams has acquired the Feather & Black ecommerce operation including its brand name. Feather & Black's already-closed eight stores are not part of the deal and will not reopen.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
The proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in leather sofa maker HTL International by Man Wah Holdings, if it goes ahead, would transform the recliner giant's U.K. business.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
Sofology, the DFS-owned upholstery retailer, has parked plans to open five new stores as it looks to take advantage of opportunities that may emerge in commercial property.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
Italian sofa maker and retailer Natuzzi is presenting its new 2020 collection at a dedicated Cardiff at Home Congress for U.K. dealers and partners.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
The prepack buyout of a pioneering U.K. self-assembly sofa manufacturer and retailer leaves creditors facing a shortfall on their debts.
- Details
- EVENTS
The late summer edition of Las Vegas Market, one of the world's largest international furniture exhibitions, will take place as planned but as a showroom-only buying opportunity organisers have said.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
National beds specialist Bensons for Beds has unveiled its new senior leadership team following the prepack buyout that saw it split from sister chain Harveys last month.
- Details
- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
David Lane, the longtime face of mid-high end cabinet furniture company Willis & Gambier, has left his role at Birlea Furniture, the owner of the brand.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
The former chief financial officer at footwear retailer Shoe Zone has been appointed to the same post at TCM Living, the upholstery group behind the Ashley Manor, AMX Designs, Alstons and Alexander & James brands.
- Details
- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Year-on-year furniture prices at the factory gate turned negative in June as British manufacturers emerged from lockdown to record the lowest official reading in more than 14 years.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Expanding kitchens vertical Wren enjoyed profitable growth last year as it expanded its offer into areas previously the preserve of small, independent kitchen boutiques.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
Growing direct-to-consumer upholstery brand Snug is to add a sofa bed option, which will also ship in a box like the company's existing product roster.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The annual run-rate outlay of implementing social distancing measures across Dunelm stores and warehouses is costing the business millions of pounds.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Matt Williams, the longtime boss of flooring retailer Topps Tiles, has become executive chairman at The Original Factory Shop, whose incumbent CEO and chairman are both to leave.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The board of Associated Independent Stores (AIS) has expressed its "huge gratitude" for the work of Sheila Cooper, who last week stepped down as managing director after 40 years with the U.K.'s largest independent non-food buying group.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
A Long Eaton upholstery manufacturing group with 28 employees has filed for insolvency after it failed to replace orders lost last year.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Online revenue more than doubled from April–June at Dunelm Group as the furniture and homewares retailer scaled its ecommerce business with the support of suppliers.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
An outsized incidence of coronavirus cases has prompted a second mattress factory closure in West Yorkshire in the space of a month.
- Details
- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
A wholly-owned U.K. business unit of prestige designer furniture brand Ligne Roset is solvent and retains group backing amid the uncertainty surrounding the virus, its French owner has said.
- Details
- REGIONAL
The group behind the privately-owned Morleys department store network in London and South East England bolstered its balance sheet last year, leaving it well positioned ahead of the pandemic.
- Details
- DATA & RESEARCH
The combination of pressure distribution and spinal alignment can be used as strong indicators of long term mattress comfort, according to a new piece of work from The Furniture Industry Research Association.
- Details
- TRADE & INDUSTRY
British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM) says it can support producers' efforts to return to work safely with advice on creating Covid-19 secure working environments.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
The reopening of furniture stores has unfurled latent demand among consumers with DFS orders spiking by more than half since the beginning of June.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
Upholstery market leader DFS has spelled out the forecast impact of the Covid-19 crisis on its 2019–20 results, and says it will incur further costs as a result of restructuring.
- Details
- FLOORCOVERINGS
Mohawk, the international floorcoverings conglomerate and the biggest company in the sector worldwide, says it will "vigorously defend itself" against allegations made in a class-action lawsuit.
- Details
- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Furniture and lighting design company Established & Sons has appointed Steve McGuire, md at Tom Dixon since 2018, to lead the company through the post-Covid landscape.
- Details
- COMMUNITY
Industry charity and City of London livery company The Furniture Makers' Company is to hold a month-long auction fundraiser to raise money to support people in the trade who have been hit hardest by the Covid-19 crisis.
- Details
- UPHOLSTERY
Man Wah Holdings could ride to the rescue of leather sofa giant HTL International, one of the largest suppliers of upholstery to the U.K. market, after it struck a framework agreement to acquire a controlling stake.
- Details
- FLOORCOVERINGS
Balta Group, responsible for nearly a fifth of all carpets imported into the U.K., said second quarter sales fell more than a third with residential products hardest hit.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The Chinese conglomerate behind the Mlily mattress brand is to step up production at its U.S. manufacturing facility and will go on a hiring spree to meet its target.
- Details
- FLOORCOVERINGS
Sales and profits climbed at one of the U.K.'s largest privately-owned flooring wholesale businesses last year as it expanded into new geographies.
- Details
- BEDS & MATTRESSES
The break-up of what was Steinhoff's U.K. furniture and bedding business has led to job losses at the site that had been the headquarters of its manufacturing operations.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The pandemic has accelerated the shift from bricks to clicks but the eight stores earmarked for permanent closure by John Lewis were already "financially challenged," the company said.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Steinhoff has disclosed the cash value of the transaction that saw it divest its British based furniture and bedding retail and manufacturing operations and says it will record a loss on the sale.
- Details
- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Value furniture chain JYSK will resume its store opening programme in Ireland amid a reorganisation that sees its country head there assume additional responsibility for its U.K. business.
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