TOP STORIES

• Winter Sale off to strong start, says Cookes Furniture md

  The managing director of Cookes Furniture, one of the largest independents in the country, says he is confident the market will improve in 2020 after last year proved "undeniably challenging for retail."

• Furniture sales grew for ninth straight year in 2019 according to official figures

  Sales of furniture and lighting continued to climb in 2019 according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) but at the weakest rate in all of the past decade.

• Furniture retail price inflation jumps to 23-month high

  Consumer prices for furniture rose at their fastest pace in nearly two years last month, just as overall inflation in the U.K. fell to its lowest level since the back end of 2016.

• Upholstery group registers third straight revenue drop

  Losses narrowed at East Midlands upholstery group JDP Furniture despite lower sales in 2018–19, aided by the privately-owned collective annualising against one-off costs from the previous year.

• Prepack deal left furniture wholesaler's unsecured creditors facing £1.9m shortfall

  Unsecured creditors of West Midlands furniture wholesaler Serene Furnishings will likely get less than three pence in the pound back following the prepack deal that rescued the business last month.

• Revenue falls back for U.K. flatpack furniture kit maker

  The ready-to-assemble furniture arm of diversified Yorkshire manufacturer Decorative Panels posted a fall in sales last year but group revenue picked up on higher component sales.

• Mattress imports threaten first full year drop since 2012

  A sharp drop in foam and sprung mattress imports in November pushed the year-to-date total negative, threatening a first full-year decline in the value of foreign-made goods in seven years.

• Furniture retailer appoints ex-Debenhams executive as chief financial officer

  Furniture retailer Loaf has appointed a replacement chief financial officer for Tim Parfitt, who left the company for a new role in the beds sector last year.

• DFS makes 'satisfactory' start to Winter Sale after revenue fell in second half of 2019

  Sofa market leader DFS reported a mid single-digit decline in sales for the second half of 2019 but said it will meet profit expectations for its financial year if it can hit its revenue growth target.

• Weak figures from Italy drag down upholstery imports

  Italian sofa imports dropped by a third in November keeping the nation on track to be the only major source of foreign upholstery sold in the U.K. to see a full year decline in 2019.