Monday, October 3, 2022
Heavy investment pays off as Housing Units enjoys record year
North West home department store retailer Housing Units achieved a double-digit net margin as sales jumped by well over a third to record levels in the year to March 27, 2022.
Natuzzi taps luxury brands for new senior management hires
Southern Italian sofa conglomerate Natuzzi has bolstered its senior leadership team with three new hires, including two who join from luxury brands Versace and Louis Vuitton.
New DC will cut lead times for £58m carpet supplier
The U.K. arm of Belgian carpet maker Associated Weavers (AW) will look to make faster deliveries to customers here once a new warehousing facility opens early next year.
Chinese factory closure gave Natuzzi €15m headache in second quarter
Natuzzi achieved high single-digit revenue growth in the first quarter but it could have delivered much more but for the enforced closure of its plant in Shanghai as the Chinese Government tried to keep a lid on Covid infections.
Made.com gross margin collapsed in first half of 2022
Furniture retailer Made.com Group (Made) saw its gross margin slide sharply in the first half as it slashed prices to shift excess inventory.
West Yorkshire supply chain faces hit from mattress maker failure
More than 50 jobs have been lost after a privately-owned mattress manufacturer folded earlier this month leaving debts of a little over £2 million.
House of Fraser and Sofa.com owner plans new global HQ
Frasers Group, owner of Sofa.com and House of Fraser among myriad retail interests, has enlisted architects to draw up plans for a new global headquarters campus in Warwickshire.
Carpenter seeks buyer for Recticel's Derbyshire comfort foam factories
A U.S. advisory firm has been hired to find a third-party buyer for Recticel's comfort foam operations in the U.K. in a move designed to end an antitrust probe.
Senior Recticel U.K. official leaves to run bedding unit for Vita Group
The sales director of Recticel's comfort foam business in the U.K. has left the business to head up the bedding division of one of its major rivals.
IKEA pilots click-and-collect partnership with U.K. supermarket giant
Home furnishings retailer IKEA is partnering Tesco, the supermarket chain, to expand its collect-and-collect service for customers.
Shipping delays hit £5m garden furniture etailer before prepack sale
A garden furniture and outdoor products retailer sold to the owner of the company behind bed seller Yark Beds was over-stocked at the wrong time of year because of shipping delays, administrators have said. Its problems prompted an insolvent sale earlier this month.
INTELLIGENCE
Market Data
Detailed market information about each of the Upholstery, Beds, Cabinet Furniture and Floorcoverings sectors at suppliers' prices.
Discover the up-to-date value of:
-
UK production
-
Imports
-
Exports
-
Key Trading Partners
-
Total UK market size
BEST READ IN THE PAST MONTH
-
Furniture retailers, event organisers weigh Bank Holiday closure
Many furniture and floorcoverings retailers have already confirmed plans to close their doors on the day of The Queen's funeral, while trade show Long Point will now be a two rather than three day...
-
Chinese sofa volumes sink 43% as U.K. buyers look elsewhere
The value of sofa imports climbed for a 19th straight month in July despite continued poor data from the U.K.'s largest trading partner in the category.
-
Sofa maker Adriana acquires even more shares in DFS
Adriana, the central European upholstered furniture maker and DFS supplier, upped its stake in the U.K. sofa chain on Monday, following up on its initial disclosure last week.
-
Oak Furnitureland hires Sofology buying director to newly-created role
High-profile furniture industry executive Suzy McMahon is leaving Sofology to take up a newly-created role at Oak Furnitureland, the U.K.'s largest hardwood furniture retailer.
-
New stores help Sofology find revenue growth
The addition of seven new stores helped upholstery retailer Sofology find revenue growth in the year to end June though the expansion of its retail footprint will slow in the new financial year.
INTELLIGENCE
Retail Sales
Up-to-date monthly UK retail sales data spanning total furniture and lighting sales PLUS detailed breakdowns for each of the Upholstery, Beds, Cabinet Furniture and Floorcoverings sectors.
Proprietary granular data covering:
-
UK retail sales value and y/y delta. Monthly and annual
-
Breakdown by product category
-
Historical data
-
Monthly and annual figures
DATA & LISTS
-
New business: Furniture/Flooring companies incorporated in September, 2022
Businesses incorporated during September 2022. Full list across all furnishings sectors/disciplines (eg retail/wholesale/manufacturing).
-
Insolvencies & business closures: Sep. 30, 2022
92 companies were either closed or filed for insolvency in the past seven days.
TOP STORIES
-
Heavy investment pays off as Housing Units enjoys record year
North West home department store retailer Housing Units achieved a double-digit net margin as sales jumped by well over a third to record levels in the year to March 27, 2022.
-
Fishpools says its business is as strong as it has ever been
Major independent furniture retailer Fishpools booked seven-figure profits and bolstered cash reserves in a year of record volumes for the Waltham Cross company.
-
U.K. furniture makers face renewed price hikes on chemical, currency and energy headwinds
Britain's sofa and mattress makers are being landed with a new wave of price increases from across the upstream supply chain according to correspondence seen by The Furnishing Report. Some suppliers are also on allocation.
-
Next reveals size, value of its stake in furniture retailer Swoon
General merchandise retailer Next has fleshed out the details of its investment in ecommerce furniture retailer Swoon for the first time — four months after the bones of the deal were first disclosed.
-
Takeover value of mattress maker Usleep disclosed for first time
Private equity backed foam supplier Vita Group has revealed it invested tens of millions of pounds acquiring mattress maker Usleep from the Belfield Group last year.
ADVERTISEMENT
OTHER NEWS
Natuzzi taps luxury brands for new senior management hires
Southern Italian sofa conglomerate Natuzzi has bolstered its senior leadership team with three new hires, including two who join from luxury brands Versace and Louis Vuitton.
New DC will cut lead times for £58m carpet supplier
The U.K. arm of Belgian carpet maker Associated Weavers (AW) will look to make faster deliveries to customers here once a new warehousing facility opens early next year.
Chinese factory closure gave Natuzzi €15m headache in second quarter
Natuzzi achieved high single-digit revenue growth in the first quarter but it could have delivered much more but for the enforced closure of its plant in Shanghai as the Chinese Government tried to keep a lid on Covid infections.
Made.com gross margin collapsed in first half of 2022
Furniture retailer Made.com Group (Made) saw its gross margin slide sharply in the first half as it slashed prices to shift excess inventory.
West Yorkshire supply chain faces hit from mattress maker failure
More than 50 jobs have been lost after a privately-owned mattress manufacturer folded earlier this month leaving debts of a little over £2 million.
House of Fraser and Sofa.com owner plans new global HQ
Frasers Group, owner of Sofa.com and House of Fraser among myriad retail interests, has enlisted architects to draw up plans for a new global headquarters campus in Warwickshire.
Carpenter seeks buyer for Recticel's Derbyshire comfort foam factories
A U.S. advisory firm has been hired to find a third-party buyer for Recticel's comfort foam operations in the U.K. in a move designed to end an antitrust probe.
Senior Recticel U.K. official leaves to run bedding unit for Vita Group
The sales director of Recticel's comfort foam business in the U.K. has left the business to head up the bedding division of one of its major rivals.
IKEA pilots click-and-collect partnership with U.K. supermarket giant
Home furnishings retailer IKEA is partnering Tesco, the supermarket chain, to expand its collect-and-collect service for customers.
Shipping delays hit £5m garden furniture etailer before prepack sale
A garden furniture and outdoor products retailer sold to the owner of the company behind bed seller Yark Beds was over-stocked at the wrong time of year because of shipping delays, administrators have said. Its problems prompted an insolvent sale earlier this month.