The value of stock market listed fitted and freestanding cabinet furniture vertical John Lewis of Hungerford jumped sharply on Monday. The company said it doesn't know why.

John Lewis & Partners is to explore repurposing part of its vast property empire to build homes that can be then rented out, with tenants to be given the option of dressing them in the retailer's furniture and furnishings.

Expanding upholstery retailer Sofas & Stuff will next month continue its store buildout programme with the opening of a third new showroom this year.

Design Holding, the owner of high-end designer furniture and lighting brands including B&B Italia, Maxalto, Azucena, Arclinea, Flos, and Louis Poulsen, has opened a first designer retail showroom.

Ecommerce-led outdoor furniture retailer Moda Furnishings booked profits of £5.7 million at the EBITDA line after sales growth escalated in 2019–20.

Buy It Direct, the ecommerce group that runs websites including Furniture123, has acquired Outdoor Living, a retailer that sells hot tubs, spas and gazebos.

Family-owned retailer Cousins has for the first time disclosed the value of deals to acquire the flagship store, stock and a distribution centre of erstwhile regional furniture chain Alan Ward.

The company that acquired TJ Hughes department stores located primarily across the North of England and Scotland has agreed a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with creditors.

Akula Living, the outdoor furniture supplier to the leisure and hospitality sectors, has agreed a six-figure debt finance package to help it fund overseas growth.

The British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM) has put its members at the heart of its revamped website, providing them with an enhanced digital presence for their products.

Upholstery specialist Sofology is launching a new rental option which gives customers the choice of agreeing monthly payment plans for a fixed period before returning products back to the chain.

Floorcoverings distributor Likewise Group says it plans to raise £10 million as part of a move to the Alternative Investors Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.

Paloma Faith, the singer, songwriter and actress, has launched her own direct-to-consumer and wholesale interiors brand, majoring in soft furnishings and with plans to expand into furniture.

Headlam Group, the Midlands headquartered flooring wholesale conglomerate, has moved to reassure customers regarding stock against a backdrop of industry-wide supply issues.

Furniture and department store retailer Oldrids & Co, operator of the Oldrids and Downtown fascias, is to operate from a reduced physical store footprint through the autumn.

Revenue at ecommerce retailer Studio Retail Group jumped by a third in the year to end March with it citing furniture as a category that can help it raise average order values.

The sale of its self-storage business helped the parent company to former furniture retailer Alan Ward record seven-figure profits in 2019–20, ahead of the brand disappearing from the industry.

The company behind four-store independent retailer Fairway Furniture grew profits in 2020–21 and said the pandemic has left some regional competitors vulnerable.

The parent to out-of-town retailer Trago returned to profit in 2020 as it annualised vast property write-downs and benefitted from cost savings.

One of the U.K.'s largest makers of upholstered furniture for the leisure industry incurred a first-ever loss last year as its principal market was among the hardest hit by Covid.

Classic Furniture, one of the U.K.'s largest privately-owned furniture importers and wholesalers, grew profits last year on the back of wider margins.

National kitchen retailer Wren booked double-digit gains in both revenue and profit last year while a decision to invest in inventory proved judicious and helped negate supply chain issues that hurt rivals.

DFS, the U.K.'s largest upholstery retailer, has appointed Loraine Martins OBE, director of Diversity and Inclusion at Network Rail since 2012, as an independent non-executive director.

Year-long administration process leads to positive outcome for privately-owned six-store U.K. furniture retailer and other stakeholders including suppliers.

Hardwood furniture and upholstery retailer Oak Furnitureland is to expand into the sleep category, putting a recently acquired U.K. mattress brand at the heart of its plan.

U.K. shoppers' attitudes to furniture purchases edged closer to pre-Covid levels in June with consumer confidence pollster GfK reporting a third straight improvement in its Major Purchases Index.

Loaf, the eight-store and online furniture retailer, is now partnering payments company Adyen in a move that consolidates processes and should further improve the customer experience.

Shares in DFS have performed admirably in the past 12 months, rising almost 70 percent. If they climb a bit further, the upholstery market leader will soon be as valuable as Made.com (MADE).

Department store chain John Lewis & Partners is to double the size of its furniture rental programme following the launch of a rent-with-the-option-to-buy pilot scheme last year.

The British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM) will begin a hunt for a new managing director after Nick Garratt announced his intention to step down at the end of 2021.

Home and garden retail giant IKEA has extended its partnership with logistics company Wincanton at two key locations in the South East of England.

Ultra high end furniture company Linley says its business stands renewed, ahead of plan and restored to profit as it recovers from the profound impact of the pandemic.

Britain's competition watchdog said it will use the remainder of 2021 to gather, analyse and review information in relation to suspected resale price maintenance by a prominent U.K. lighting company.

May residential housing transactions were at a seven-year high as the property market continued to provide a pipeline of fresh business for furniture and flooring retailers.

WJ Aldiss, one of the U.K'.s largest privately-owned furniture retailers, said it remained profitable in 2019–20 despite the 10-week lockdown last March hitting the usually-strong spring promotional period.

Revenue declined for one of the U.K.'s largest suppliers of decorative lighting last year, with it saying that traditional bricks-and-mortar retail was hit first by Brexit uncertainty, which was then accelerated by the pandemic.

Investment firm Sun European Partners has agreed to sell fitted bedroom and home office furniture retailer Sharps to funds advised by Epiris, a London based private equity investor.

Ecommerce boosted furniture retail sales in the first quarter but U.K. retailers still unwound more than £800 million of orders taken in stores before Christmas thanks to deliveries being allowed to continue.

Revenue was flat at the wholly-owned retail arm of furniture and interiors brand Neptune in the year to September but its wholesale division, which also supplies third party retailers and franchisees, found growth.

Revenue advanced sharply for Costco's U.K. ecommerce business last year powered by growth in categories such as home and office furniture.

Furniture and lighting sales rocketed in May as U.K. retailers continued to bounce back strongly from early year restrictions on in store trading.

Revenue fell last year for the owner of four well-known British kitchen brands including Chippendale, but costs fell at a faster rate as the group returned to profit and repaid all outstanding bank borrowings.

The home shopping group behind brands including Home Essentials and JD Williams saw demand for home-related products slide as it annualised the positive impact on trade from the pandemic.

Profits fell by more than a third for the U.K. arm of furniture manufacturing conglomerate Herman Miller last year, hit by the pandemic and one-off costs.

Consumer price inflation for furniture and furnishings reached its highest level since late 2016 last month as retailers passed on the effects of rising costs through the supply chain.

A year-end buffeted by Covid failed to prevent furniture wholesaler Julian Bowen finding double-digit revenue and profits growth last year.

An industry-wide lament over rising container prices and limited space aboard vessels is unsurprising given never-before seen levels of wood furniture arriving in the U.K. from the Far East.

The Vita Group has joined the Furniture Makers' Company, the furnishings industry charity and City of London livery company, as a corporate member.

Furniture retailer Made.com has announced the pricing of its initial public offering (IPO) at 200 pence per share, valuing the business at about £775.3 million.

Order intake at upholstery and flooring retailer ScS climbed 79 percent on a comparable two-year basis in the two months after its shops reopened this spring.

Furniture conglomerate JYSK is to build a vast distribution centre in the Netherlands serving stores in four countries including the U.K. and Ireland.

The founder of a design studio that has won awards for its residential and commercial projects has launched a high-end furniture, lighting and accessories ecommerce brand.

Sales and profits advanced for Graham & Green in the year to July 31 as the four-store furniture and interiors retailer made the most of strong online demand.

Apparel retail operations veteran Mark Higgins has joined Amara Living, the upmarket interiors and lifestyle ecommerce brand, as chief operating officer (COO).

Furniture and homeware retailer Cox & Cox has joined the Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman (FHIO), a move it says demonstrates its ongoing commitment to raising standards and promoting consumer confidence.

Sales and profits declined for Coach House in 2019–20 but the major furniture and home accents supplier still delivered a class-leading performance amid the disruption of the pandemic.

U.K. furniture production continues to recover from the pandemic but turnover across the sector still remains short of comparable data from two years ago despite high demand.

A Sussex based bedding and soft furnishings retailer set up in a garden shed four years ago has raised £6 million from venture capitalists as it looks to expand internationally.

Broxburn-based retailer Kitchens International has been acquired by James Donaldson & Sons (JDS), the £268 million turnover Scottish timber merchant.

Arighi Bianchi says it is well placed to take advantage of the pent up demand generated from the Covid crisis with the major independent furniture retailer saying it expects to bounce back strongly after a difficult year.

CFS of Leicester, a large single-store independent furniture retailer, has expanded the showroom space at its East Midlands store.

Bolda is a new Manchester based tech tool that enables furniture retailers to track and monitor competition and trends including pricing data on both branded and private label products.

The Moot Group, the ecommerce retailer behind furniture, lighting and accessories brands Houseology and Olivia's, raised new seven-figure equity funding this spring.

The East of England store that kickstarted IKEA's pilot of small-format shops across the U.K. almost six years ago is to close, with the retailer citing its underperformance.

Losses widened at the group behind the rise and recline chair and adjustable beds brands Middletons and Oak Tree last year though it built increased liquidity through cash management.

An already thin base of U.K. standalone bedroom cabinet makers was further depleted by the insolvency of two North West furniture companies earlier this spring.

A pandemic-induced loss of revenue in the final quarter of its financial year didn't stop major rug supplier Flair Flooring near maintaining full year sales in 2019–20.

Consumer spending grew at its fastest rate since the start of the pandemic last month as the impact of restrictions being eased helped retailers and the hospitality sector.

Premium-pitched bedding retailer Bedfolk has raised £1 million from the venture capital firm that has backed furniture retailer The Cotswold Company for the past five years.

National retailer Furniture Village says it has implemented workaround solutions and manual processes to limit disruption to the business and customer orders following a cybersecurity incident.

Committed purchasers are helping negate continued weak footfall as comparable store traffic continued to trend lower across U.K. retail destinations last month.

Revenue fell at the semi-national value retailer W Boyes & Co in the year to January 31 as a result of the impact of store closures during the first lockdown. It later remained open as subsequent restrictions were imposed.

The pandemic has helped discount store retailer B&M push further into the furniture sector and attract wealthier customers in the process, pitching it against higher-end competition.

Habitat already had the wind in its sails by the time J Sainsbury announced plans for the iconic brand to become its core home and furniture label across its supermarket and Argos business.

Room To Grow, the Yorkshire based children's bedroom specialist, has launched its first nursery range as it takes its product offer to a new, younger age group for the first time.

Not Just Beds, a new privately-owned furniture and beds retailer, is completing fit-out ahead of opening its first showroom.

One of Britain's leading fitted bedroom furniture retailers has hired advisors to explore strategic options as it razors in on the management of soon-to-mature borrowing.

A marked channel shift to online meant fitted furniture retailer Sharps saw no negative impact on orders from its shops being shut in the first quarter. It said profits benefitted from lower store costs.

Surging online demand meant ecommerce represented about half of total revenue last year for Heal's, the designer furniture retailer.

The company behind the Stompa kids furniture brand in the U.K. made substantial six-figure gains in the year taking in the early weeks of the pandemic, building cash in the process.

A new Legal Hub for British furniture manufacturers launched Monday offering legal and business advice on subjects such as health and safety, employment, tax, contracts and data protection.

Lars Larsen Group plans to follow up its takeover of Danish upholstery retailer SofaCompany with the acquisition of a 16-store Swedish mattress chain.

TCM Living, the upholstery group that owns Alexander & James, Ashley Manor, AMX Design and Alstons, has acquired sofa retailer Arlo & Jacob. It becomes the group's first business-to-consumer brand.

Luxury furniture retailer RH has time-lined the first of its ten planned European galleries including revealing the location of its Paris emporium and cities in Germany where it has already secured properties.

Symphony Group, one of the U.K.'s largest furniture manufacturers, is to invest in a large dual-purpose production warehouse adjacent to its existing factory at Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Beds specialist Bensons for Beds has appointed Ian Shepherd as chairman, replacing ex-KPMG md Chris Howell who has stepped down after nearly two years with the retailer.

Department store retailer John Lewis & Partners has appointed Dunelm's digital director Steven Masterton to run its own ecommerce operation. He is among a slew of senior hires.

The overwhelming majority of U.K. furniture manufacturers are elevating the management of environmental challenges as a business priority, but all those taking part in a new research study say there is not yet a sector-wide strategy across the industry.

Dreams CEO Mike Logue says there remains plenty of business for the retailer to go after in the U.K. market following its proposed takeover by Tempur Sealy International, the world's largest bedding company.

Dreams will next week open the first physical Feather & Black showroom since it acquired the brand and web operations of the high-end retail fascia last July.

Revenue poured in for multinational furniture and home accents retailer Maisons du Monde in the first quarter but it cautioned it had limited visibility for the second half of this year.

The Conran Shop, the furniture, design and lifestyle retailer, has appointed Peter Jenkins as its new chief executive officer.

A lower cost base helped Gardiner Haskins Interiors double underlying profits in 2020 despite the impact of the pandemic on the two-store business.

Homebase has fully walked back the plan to exit big-ticket furniture categories enacted by its former owner, with the category featuring heavily in its first major store opening in six years.

Home and garden retail giant IKEA is souping up its credit offer for U.K. consumers with finance now available for purchases up to £15,000.

Online home sales outperformed other categories at general merchandise and food retailer Marks & Spencer, but not enough to mitigate enforced store closures. It said the collapse of Debenhams represents an opportunity to find new stores.

Sarah Bianchi has become managing director at Macclesfield based Arighi Bianchi, one of Europe's largest privately-owned single-store furniture retailers.

Furniture retailer Made.com has confirmed plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO), seeking to raise at least £100 million which it will use to expand in existing markets and cut lead times.

Wincanton, the delivery company that lists IKEA, Loaf and Snug among its clientele, said its new digital and efulfilment sector had an exceptional year as the logistics giant reported higher 2020–21 profits.

Gillies of Broughty Ferry, one of the U.K.'s largest privately-owned furniture retailers, said the past year had seen it make tough decisions as it navigated the challenges and uncertainties of the pandemic.

Made.com Design, the furniture retailer, is putting the final touches to plans to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) with an announcement expected as soon as this week.

Furniture and lighting sales surged against barely-existent comparatives in April, but they were also almost double-digit higher than the revenue achieved on a more-comparable two-year basis.

Consumer propensity to make major purchases such as furniture and beds continues to improve and return close to pre-Covid levels, according to polling company GfK.

Sales more than doubled at online furniture and homeware retailer Cox & Cox in the first quarter of its 2021–22 financial year but its over performance and global supply issues put obstacles in its path.

Raw materials and other furniture makers' input costs are rising at their fastest pace in almost 13 years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Home improvement giant B&Q shrugged off the impact of having to corden off the kitchen showroom areas of its vast retail warehouses to find bumper growth in the first quarter.

Foam supply giants Greiner and Recticel could unite after the former said it was planning a takeover approach after already agreeing to buy more than a quarter of the company from a third party. Officials will meet Monday to discuss a deal.

Dunelm said it has made a positive start to its final quarter after store reopenings unleashed pent up demand from consumers across the country.

Leaders at Marks & Spencer have been given a revised brief after the general merchandise and food retailer said it had "fixed the basics" — the first part of a long term plan put in place by CEO Steve Rowe three years ago.

Cost savings and state support helped mitigate a double-digit fall in revenue for Sanderson Design Group in the year to January 31, 2021.

Revenue growth and lower costs including state support measures helped JYSK come closer to profit in the U.K. last year than at any time since it launched here in 2008.

Furniture and flooring retailers in Ireland reopened their stores on Monday (May 17, 2021) as one of the longest worldwide lockdowns was eased.

Walsall and Sutton Coldfield retailer Comfort Beds has acquired a third store, buying a South Derbyshire based furniture retailer.

Sales growth accelerated for Home24 in the first quarter of 2021. The company is one of the biggest European furniture etailers currently without a U.K. presence.

John Lewis & Partners today (May 14) reveals its new-look Edinburgh department store, including its largest-ever World of Design space.

Flooring wholesale conglomerate Headlam Group has appointed former Wickes CEO Simon King as a non-executive director.

Furniture manufacturers across the U.K. delivered their first annual rise in output in more than 12 months in March, according to new official figures published yesterday.

Holly Blay has joined Room To Grow, the Yorkshire based children's bedroom specialist, as head of buying with a brief to help it expand its product offer.

Home furnishings giant IKEA says it will open its new Hammersmith store this winter after being forced to delay its launch as a result of retail restrictions.

Wren Kitchens has opened what it described as the largest kitchen showroom in the North East of England, bolstering its footprint in the region.

Furniture retailer Made.com Design (Made.com) has agreed a partnership with Geev, the online marketplace where second-hand items can be donated and kept out of landfill.

High-end furnishings group Sanderson Design Group hopes to expand distribution of its Morris & Co. brand across east and southeast Asia after penning a new exclusive licensing agreement.

Hampshire lighting supplier Elstead returned to profit in the year to July 31 last year as wider margin and lower costs helped mitigate a second straight slide in revenue.

Blankets-to-bedlinen retailer Online Home Shop (OHS) will move into new purpose-built premises in Manchester next year, creating dozens of new jobs.

Furniture retailer Loaf has partnered technology company Cylindo to launch high-quality 3D product visualisation and 4K zoom capability on its ecommerce channel.

RH, the prestige retailer formerly known as Restoration Hardware, last year acquired a vast Grade I listed country property on the border of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. It is expected to open ahead of its planned Mayfair store in London.

The company behind the three-store beds and department store retailer Daniel of Windsor has resolved to buy out two shareholders in deals worth £6 million.

Plans to roll out more JYSK stores across the North of England have been prefaced by another seven-figure capital injection by the Danish-owned furniture retailer.

IKEA has undertaken advanced discussions to take a store on Oxford Street, London, one of the U.K.'s most famous retail thoroughfares, according to the Mail on Sunday.

First quarter revenue advanced for ecommerce home retailer Wayfair with its international business boosted by store closures in the U.K. and the slow vaccine rollout in Germany.

A Nottinghamshire furniture manufacturer specialised in supplying the hotels and hospitality market says new debt finance will help it expand into new contract segments.

Paula Nickolds, the former managing director of John Lewis & Partners, has been named commercial director for general merchandise and clothing by Sainsbury's.

The CEO of major foam company Recticel says chemical raw materials supply remains constrained and the situation will endure longer than previously anticipated.

Restructuring advisors have secured a cut-price deal for the brand and other intellectual property of the long-insolvent heritage department store retailer Watt Brothers.

Online home sales climbed strongly for Next in the past quarter, helping to mitigate for its inability to sell clothing in stores owing to the lockdown.

Delivered sales climbed by more than a quarter for the U.K. arm of prestige furniture retailer Roche Bobois in the first quarter as it annualised the enforced closure of its warehouse last year.

IKEA has launched its delayed buyback and resale scheme, whereby customers can receive vouchers for returning used goods that remain in good condition.

High-end bedroom retailer And So To Bed returned to profit on lower costs in 2020, ending a run of five consecutive loss making years.

Fashion house Fendi and B&B Italia owner Design Holding are to form a joint venture to make, market and sell furniture and furnishings under the Fendi Casa brand.

Confidence among U.K. furniture makers has improved as the retail sector emerged from lockdown restrictions to a surfeit of new orders.

Extreme lender enforcement action has yielded the desired response from those controlling the investment company that once owned storied U.K. furniture brands spanning Wesley Barrell to Collins and Hayes (C&H).

Retailer IKEA will next month open its first IKEA Décoration store, the latest in a series of new-format pilots being trialled by the home and garden conglomerate.

Furniture retailer Made.com Design (Made.com) is to increase U.K. warehousing capacity in response to an increased need driven by higher sales.

Shareholders in Loaf, the born-online furniture retailer with a slew of showrooms in affluent locations, are said to have hired advisors to explore a sale of the company.

The pandemic meant Vale Furnishers, which trades from two stores in affluent Surrey towns, lost more than a fifth of its revenue in 2019–20. Cost controls helped it improve its net margin.

Furniture and flooring retailers across all parts of the U.K. will be back open from later today (Friday) as coronavirus restrictions in Northern Ireland are eased.

All eleven Habitat mini-stores in Sainsbury's supermarkets nationwide are closed following the rethink that saw the brand become the leading furniture and home brand across the J Sainsbury group eco-system.

A downsized store estate and widespread Covid-closures failed to prevent general merchandise retailer Argos delivering double-digit growth in the year to March 6.

Actona Company, the circa £230 million Danish furniture supplier, is expanding its herringbone cabinet offer to more countries as it builds on its popularity in the Scandinavian market.

First quarter U.K. sales declined in only single digit percentages for the owner of kitchen chain Magnet despite its entire store estate being shuttered throughout.



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