26 minute read
Furniture care & repair / 50 Bedroom
MEET THE FIXERS
From home visits to over-the-counter sales, furniture care and repair specialists fulfil an important role in the industry, offering purchasers peace of mind alongside the potential of salvaging items that might otherwise end up in landfill. This month, Furniture News looks at some of the issues affecting the sector, and how its leaders are making a difference right across the supply chain …
According to the Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA), consumer expenditure in the furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance sector exceeded £60b for the first time in 2018 – and this figure is only likely to have grown since, despite consumers increasingly adopting less wasteful habits and embracing furniture repair and reuse.
Yet while demand for home goods soared during the pandemic, so too did the challenges facing the sector’s specialists on the ground, and the delivery of ancillary care products. House calls became a social distancing minefield, and consumers soon became less tolerant of delays.
For now, challenges remain – notably a shortage of specialist repair skills – yet the sector has evolved and adapted to meet the demands of today’s ‘new normal’, providing the industry with support to help minimise returns and keep consumers satisfied, while offering retailers valuable add-on sale opportunities.
This month’s panel comprises: Ben Staerck, MD of cleaning, repair and restoration product provider Furniture Clinic; Gill Finch, MD of Stroolmount UK, which offers flooring and furniture protection products; John Bowater, MD, and James Lane, owner, Homeserve Furniture Repairs – an on-site repair service for leather, soft furnishings, beds and cabinets, voted Best Furniture Care/Repair Provider in Furniture News’ 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards; and Martin Napper, CEO of Castelan, which offers services that help prepare products for sale and resolve pre- or post-delivery concerns.
Read on to discover how each has negotiated the pandemic, how their products and services have evolved, and what they make of changing consumer demands …
SECTOR’S SPECIALISTS
Q&A
HAVE THE EVENTS OF THE LAST 17 MONTHS CHANGED THE WAY YOU OPERATE?
Ben Staerck: I think the changes we’ve made as a result of Covid-19 are better for the business, and also better for our employees’ work-life balance. All staff who were previously office based are all now set up to work from home, so we’ve adopted a new working week where some time is spent in the office, and some at home.
All staff are much happier with this arrangement as it allows them more time to spend with family and friends. We’ve also noticed an increase in productivity and customer satisfaction as a result. For technicians based on the road, or in one of our workshops, the changes aren’t so rewarding! We’ve changed shift patterns, even adding a nightshift at our main production centre, and put measures in place to reduce contact with customers, reduce overcrowding of break areas, and all the usual safety measures associated with Covid-19.
Brexit hasn’t had a direct impact that we’ve noticed yet – although almost every week we’re currently being notified of new price increases from suppliers, but whether that’s from Brexit or Covid-19, I’m not sure.
Gill Finch: Covid has put life into perspective for me. I now spend less time at the office and more time working from home. So, my work-life balance has changed as I’m not charging around so much, plus I’m saving money by using less fuel, which makes me feel good as I’m helping to do my bit for the environment.
Brexit has also dramatically affected us, but this time it’s our bottom line. Importing is a problem, with longer delivery times and larger costs.
Plus, we no longer export our protection products now. We had some customers in Ireland, and exporting has been a nightmare with more customs and excise regulations, forms, delayed delivery times and lost parcels, etc. At the moment, any profit is not worth the problems – but hopefully in time it will become smoother and we can begin again.
John Bowater and James Lane: We have all had to adapt over the last 15 months, and at Homeserve Furniture Repairs we can now switch our office support operating model from head office to working remotely overnight to provide continuous support for our clients.
Our 150-strong (and growing – we’re still recruiting!) team of furniture technicians have all the PPE and health and safety processes in place, to ensure they and our customers are safe.
Time is very important to all of us, and in some cases where we would inspect the furniture first, we have expanded our technical preview team so we can preview issues from the images provided by our clients – rather than carrying out an inspection, we can look at the images supplied, and in some cases address the problem more rapidly.
For example, if we can see that the fabric arm of a sofa has been damaged, we can pre-order the new part from the
supplier, and simply replace the arm on the first visit – so the customer only has to have one visit and the issue is resolved.
Martin Napper: As with many businesses, the abrupt nature of the instruction to ‘stay home’ and ‘work from home where you can’ meant that we had to take decisions at speed and make investments in remote infrastructure in order to continue offering the service that our clients, and their customers, expect of us.
The fact that we had already made huge strides in our online capabilities meant that we were able to fulfil our main commitment – to continue offering a full claims service to the end user.
We still operate a mix of people working from home for those who are usually office based, but our network of furniture technicians are, by nature of the job, required to visit customers’ homes. We quickly developed a full PPE kit for our technicians ,and put in place rigorous protocols to fully check that our customers were happy for us to visit their homes.
In line with the FCA guidelines, we placed particular attention on vulnerable customers, and made absolutely certain that all vulnerable customers were dealt with quickly and with all due care and attention. Because of these firm protocols, we were able to continue servicing our customers throughout the pandemic lockdowns, and we are committed to continuing to do this in a way that reduces risk and keeps both our technicians and the customers safe.
Furniture Clinic
Q&A
HAS THE CONSUMER’S MINDSET SHIFTED WITH REGARDS TO REPAIRS AND PROTECTION?
Ben Staerck: There is definitely an ongoing shift in consumers to become more mindful of how they shop, and this filters down to furniture repairs and restoration. Our online business selling restoration products has grown significantly over the last few years, and we currently fulfil about 1500 online orders every day.
We’ve noticed an increase in demand for our furniture restoration services, working directly with the consumer – people looking to mend what they have, rather than buy new. I don’t think this is price driven, either – people are choosing to live a more sustainable life. We’ve also seen a shift from customers being very sympathetic to the Covid-19 situation and the impact it had on businesses, to becoming very impatient, demanding and fed up of the knock-on effects it is having.
Gill Finch: Yes, I think that the consumer’s mindset has shifted, and the pandemic had accelerated that change. We can feel the gradual progression from being a throwaway society to one where we protect and repair, recycle and upcycle. Throwaway and disposable are seen as dirty words. Certainly, with our protection products, we’ve seen that the trend now is towards buying quality and making it last.
I’ve been banging on about protection for 16 years, and while I no longer deal directly with the public, my trade customers are seeing that change in the consumer’s view, so the trade is finally coming around to that way of thinking too!
John Bowater and James Lane: Buying furniture is an investment, and customers expect a high level of service. As furniture is normally one of the largest purchases we make for our homes, we want it to be perfect. However, as we all know, furniture is not always the simplest product to deliver into a home, and has often been on a long journey before it arrives. At Homeserve Furniture Repairs, we focus on the customer journey, and feel if the communication and efficiencies are within your organisation then the majority of customers are understanding.
Once a customer has gone through the ordering wait times and delivery process into their homes, if you can offer a swift, smooth solution to restore the item in the home rather than replacing it, we feel that customers will give you an opportunity to do this.
Martin Napper: I don’t think there’s been a significant change in the customer’s mindset. A repair and protection product is, inevitably, going to leave some customers happier than others (those who are covered and those who are not). Our focus is to do our utmost to ensure that we handle each claim fairly and in line with the coverage provided. What is important is that the product is sold correctly, so the customer’s expectations are aligned. ‘Treating customers fairly’ has never had so much poignancy!.
WHAT PRODUCT ADVANCES HAVE YOU MADE?
Ben Staerck: We’ve developed new chemicals to improve the restoration of aniline-style and two-tone-style leathers. These Shadow Colours, as we’ve named them, allow a technician to restore the colour to these leather types simply, and retain the depth of colour in the leather that regular paints and dyes cannot achieve.
Gill Finch: We’ve focused on improving the best-in-class protection products we already have, and putting them in a new catalogue. So, we’ve upgraded our Move-it Pad packaging with a reusable, eco-friendly cloth bag, so the pads can be stored for next time.
John Bowater and James Lane: We have 11 in our IT team, and we are always looking at ways to improve the customer and client journey. Keeping customers informed and making home visits convenient and hassle free is key.
We already have live information on our bespoke-built online portal to give our clients complete visibility of what stage the service is in, with updates to customers via email/SMS along with tracking to pinpoint the time of the technician’s visit. With the use of mobile phones increasing, people expect the information instantly, and we are working on a large system upgrade that will further improve the client and customer journey, giving the customer instant access to view exactly where they are in the process on a timeline.
Martin Napper: During the past year we have carried out a complete revision of our warranty product, creating the most comprehensive cover available from any provider.
Over the last five years the FCA have gradually increased their interest in, and supervision of, General Insurance (GI) products – of which furniture warranty is one key element. In response to this focus, and through listening to what customers are telling us, we have developed a product that can provide cover for any staining, any accidental damage and any manufacturing defects. This will drive greater value for the customer, greater satisfaction in the product on claim, and a more understandable product to sell for the retailer.
This new insurance product also perfectly fits in with the Value Measures Regime which the FCA commenced from 1st July 2021. All four key measures will be directly improved by the design of our new product. When the first reporting period finishes on 31st December 2021, all of our clients will be in very good shape from an FCA compliance perspective .
Q&A
HOW DO YOU WORK WITH RETAILERS TO PROMOTE YOUR SERVICES/PRODUCTS?
Ben Staerck: We provide training courses to help retailers better understand how our products (care kits) work, and how to sell them. During lockdown, we also produced an instructional video to help a national retailer to which we provide own-brand cleaning kits. The video was custom-made to their brand guidelines, and helps their staff in-store learn more about our products, how they work, and how to sell them.
Gill Finch: I work directly with retailers so they get more add-on sales in three main ways: firstly, with display stands to catch customers’ eyes; secondly, we have product display cards that retailers can show to customers so they can see and touch the products and work out which size they need; and thirdly, we can create products with the retailer’s own branding, colours and logos on the packaging and PoS.
John Bowater and James Lane: We carry out live furniture repair presentations to the customer service teams so they can see live the results we can achieve – as we feel that if you’ve seen the types of restoration we can complete, this will give confidence to the teams who take the initial phone calls from the customers.
It’s vital that, in those first 20 seconds on the phone, the customer can feel the confidence that their issue can be resolved. We provide detailed KPI packs with the raw data so QA teams can see the types of faults that are occurring and look for any trends, so we can work together on solutions to minimise these issues from recurring by getting to the route cause.
Martin Napper: There are a variety of ways that we work with clients – simply because our clients are very diverse in the way they operate. We provide physical support in terms of PoS literature, promotional material and all the relevant insurance documentation required. For those who operate mainly online, we offer creative design to integrate and promote our products compliantly.
We also have colleagues in the field who visit our clients to support in training of the product, sales coaching and compliance monitoring.
The team at Castelan are able to support any client, of any size, because of the diverse and extensive knowledge bank that we have amassed in this industry over the past 25 years. We also help to protect our clients from any adverse FCA interventions. We are working closely with the FCA to ensure that our products and our clients are as compliant as required under the FCA rules and guidelines – a professional approach to regulation is a key foundation to long-lasting furniture warranty schemes. By developing the right products at the right prices, our clients are able to promote better and achieve better conversion rates. This, in turn, means that there is significant commercial advantage to providing a furniture care product, but one that must be balanced with the ultimate ‘good value’ offered to the customer.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DO YOUR SERVICES MAKE?
Ben Staerck: The services can make a huge difference to both the consumer and retailer. We can restore a loved piece of furniture that’s been in the family for years, saving it from being thrown out, and bringing years more use – or fix a small scuff or scratch that’s causing customer service issues for a retailer. We can attend the customer’s house, match the colour on site and restore the damaged area, resolving the complaint.
John Bowater and James Lane: Our ‘Excellent’ 4.5 Trustpilot score shows the majority of our customers are happy, and we feel, with over 250,000 furniture repairs and restorations completed each year, our work also makes a contribution to the environment, as a proportion of this furniture would have ended up in landfill and has now been given many more years of use (also, when furniture does need to be replaced, then there’s all the transport and repackaging of the products that needs to be repeated).
Martin Napper: We see ourselves as an extension of the client in terms of how we respond to service requests and how we handle warranty claims. What we do in the name of – and on behalf of – our clients has a direct impact on how the customer feels about them and whether they choose to return.
A well-run, professional warranty scheme truly is a brand enhancement, and has a direct impact on customers returning to purchase furniture products from the retailer. It should be seen as a customer retention tool – but only if it offers ‘good value’ and a professional and compliant approach to insurance. We take this responsibility extremely seriously, and that is why we have been the trusted partner to the most significant retailers for many, many years
WHAT WE DO IN THE NAME OF OUR CLIENTS HAS A DIRECT IMPACT ON HOW THE CUSTOMER FEELS ABOUT THEM
STAINGARD
www.staingard.co.uk
Staingard remains a leading UK supplier of value-added products, helping ensure consumers’ needs are met long after purchase.
Whether the customer is buying a new fabric or leather sofa, cabinet furniture or bed, Staingard’s products enable them to care and maintain their investment, “keeping it looking beautiful for years”.
Staingard’s portfolio includes: five-year insured care plans; fabric, leather, cabinet and carpet care kits; mattress protectors; leather repair products; furniture glides and pads; and Staingard fabric protector. For more information, call 01244 888658 or email sales@staingard.co.uk.
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For more info contact the Mammoth Group sales team on: 0845 838 7767 or sales@mammothuk.com
Comfort in Numbers
In sleep trials Mammoth’s Medical Grade™ foam has been proven to deliver a better night’s sleep. Participants: - Fell asleep 29% quicker - Experienced a 7% increase in sleep efficiency - Reported a 21% more enjoyable sleep
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46% Greater Pressure Relief
*see mammothcomfort.com for details
HIGH ACHIEVER
The trading environment may be challenging, but a combination of significant investment and support in the right places means Highgrove Beds is well placed to succeed – as visitors to the Bed Show will discover …
www.highgrovebeds.co.uk
Highgrove Beds is planning to launch several new products at the Bed Show, including innovative and upgraded mattress specifications, backed up by exclusive show offers.
“It’s great to be getting back to some form of normality after the challenges of the past 18 months or so,” says Highgrove’s head of marketing, Shane Harding. “Those of us that love this industry really enjoy meeting customers and having the opportunity to showcase our latest products and promotions.
“This year has been particularly challenging for many reasons, with material price increases and shortages affecting all UK manufacturers. The fact is that we’ve all got used to virtually zero inflation and prices that have been stable for years – and we’re now all faced with raw material and component prices being increased, often with little or no warning.”
Despite this, Highgrove remains confident in the future of its UK operation, and has invested a further £500,000 in the new 25,000ft2 storage facility at its Liversedge site (which was completed during lockdown), to ensure the business has sufficient spring stocks to meet future demand.
Shane is also confident that the business will continue to take market share, despite what is acknowledged as one of the toughest retail environments in many years. “We have now firmly bedded our three main brands into the marketplace: HG at the entry level; our established flagship Highgrove brand taking up the centre ground; and Sanctum targeting the premium, handtailored sector.”
In recent years, Highgrove has invested more than £600,000 in supporting high street retailers with high-impact in-store displays and additional PoS – including branded footmats and pillowcases – and these have proved extremely popular with stockists.
Although the internet plays an increasingly important role in the consumer’s decisionmaking process, Highgrove has made a tactical (and commercial) decision to support the high street, and its brochure collection is not available for internet trading.
“We feel that consumers still want to try before they buy, and although internet sales continue to outpace retail, highticket comfort items will still be primarily sold in-store for many years to come – and that should be encouraged,” Shane concludes.
Those attending the Bed Show in Telford this month will find Highgrove Beds on stand E20
OMNICHANNEL EMMA
Emma – The Sleep Company is intensifying its omnichannel strategy and strengthening its international retail business, and in the UK, this development is being driven by a new regional team focusing on retail, led by bed industry veteran, Neil Robinson …
www.emma-sleep.co.uk
Neil Robinson (photo by Moritz Reich for Emma Sleep)
The newly launched Emma Select assortment, which facilitates sales in physical stores, features the Emma Smart Hybrid, which was recently awarded a Which? Best Buy seal of approval, while a new showroom near the company’s Frankfurt headquarters showcases the expanded product range in all its glory.
Following its success in online sales, the online start-up emerged as one of the world’s leading D2C sleep brands, with more than 1.5 million mattresses sold in 2020, global revenues of €405m and a growth rate of +170%.
In addition to digital touchpoints, Emma’s products are sold in numerous European furniture retail stores (including El Cortes Inglese, Beter Bed and Conforama) – and co-operation with retailers is intensifying as their role in the brand’s development continues to grow. Emma is currently partnering with over 200 retail partners, and its products are present in over 3000 physical touchpoints.
“Ecommerce is growing continuously, and the pandemic has further accelerated the shift to online shopping,” says Dr Dennis Schmoltzi, Emma’s co-founder and CEO. “Nevertheless, opening the brick-andmortar shops after lockdown has led to strong customer traffic.
Some customers will always appreciate the option of testing products in-store and getting personal advice. The on-site experience of retail will
Emma’s new showroom in Frankfurt (photo by Moritz Reich for Emma Sleep)
never be fully replaced in the mattress industry. Investing in omnichannel approaches is the next big move for us while growing internationally.”
In the UK, Emma is building a new division exclusively focused on retail in order to execute its omnichannel strategy, and launching the Emma Select mattress series is part of its new sales strategy. The range is specially designed for offline customers’ needs, and adds a new mattress series to Emma’s portfolio, designed for on-site consultations and boasting a unique PoS package.
“It is not about putting the same product you sell online in physical stores,” says Neil Robinson, Emma’s country sales director for the UK and Ireland. “In fact, you have to offer customers a new kind of shopping experience offline. For example, different marketing assets like lightboxes or technical videos simplify the explanation of mattress types, and the presentation with large emotional images gains attraction in the displays of brick-and-mortar stores.”
The new Emma Select series consists of three collections, each available in two levels of comfort. Its concise design concept ensures that the assortment is easy to understand and enables the clear and space-efficient presentation of the products. Based on clear USPs – lying comfort, breathability and deep sleep optimisation – the premium mattresses offer matching technology for different target groups.
The new line will be exhibited in Emma’s new Frankfurt showroom, giving retail partners the opportunity to receive on-site advice on the products and their sales opportunities. The 160m2 space will also house other Emma products, a Sleep Lab, and the innovative smart mattress, Emma Motion.
The showroom opened for trading partners in August, and appointments for individual discussions can be made at any time. Additionally, Emma is looking for further showroom locations in the UK, in which to present its products and meet in person with retail partners locally
DREAM TEAM
Burnley-based manufacturer Sweet Dreams is looking forward to the NBF Bed Show, taking place in Telford on 21st-22nd this month, where it will present several new upholstered frames and hybrid storage beds, plus much more …
www.sweetdreamsuk.com
Bethany adjustable
Vesper
This year has seen Sweet Dreams up its game, bringing to market an impressive range of upholstered bed frames, three styles of TV bed (with standard or adjustable slat systems), plus several new frames in a variety of styles, along with ottoman storage options. All frames come in a choice of 10 luxury upholstery fabrics.
Five new hybrid beds offer frame styling with matching head and foot ends, plus drawer and ottoman storage options, making them both stylish and practical.
Vision Chic
The Opulence range also comes in 10 upholstery fabrics, and, for those wishing to relax and enjoy TV in the bedroom, the Vision range completes the offer, with a TV foot end in all 10 fabric choices.
Following the successful rollout of its new upholstery ranges, Sweet Dreams has added eight new sofabeds. These include one- and two-seater options, plus corner configurations – all made with a variety of actions and mattress choices in the company’s factory in Burnley. Sweet Dreams’ sofabeds come in a choice of 13 upholstery fabrics.
In time for the Bed Show, Sweet Dreams will also launch a range of accent pieces for its beds, including accent chairs and ottoman storage boxes.
Sweet Dreams has always set great store by its delivery times, and these remain an aspect of the business that the manufacturer is proud of. The company’s own-manufactured frames are made to order and delivered to most parts of mainland Britain within 10 working days – the sofabeds take a little longer, but are generally delivered in 20 working days.
Sweet Dreams can also offer a premium home delivery service, which includes room of choice, assembly and mattress removal
OLD MEETS NEW
This year, the Millbrook Bed Company (MBCo) celebrates 75 years of “handmaking beds for perfect sleep” – and the Hampshire-based manufacturer is building on this history of craftsmanship by introducing new tuftfree and sustainable technologies to its newest models …
www.millbrook-beds.co.uk
In 1946, Walter Croll founded Millbrook Bedding above a disused bakery in Marchwood Road, Totton. Much has changed since, with the business moving several times in line with its growth – yet, to this day, Millbrook remains a family-owned-and-run business, spanning three generations.
The styling and design of its mattresses may have evolved over the years, but many key features – such as traditional craftsmanship and attention to detail – remain, while the business continues to work towards a more sustainable future, with no compromise on comfort or quality.
However, the business – named Best UK Manufacturer in Furniture News’ Readers’ Choice Awards 2021 – is certainly not lacking in imagination or innovation, as its newest developments demonstrate …
Crescent, launching at the Bed Show through the Laguna 50 mattress springs, 100%-recyclable NemoFlex layers run From alternative foam fillings to encapsulated
Introducing Smooth-Tech Smooth-Tech, a new Millbrook sleep technology, is a unique, tuft-free sleeping surface, where the tufts are actually inside the mattress.
Tufts remain extremely important in handmade mattresses for holding fillings and pocket springs in place, says MBCo, and without them a mattress would become quite uncomfortable over time. However, many sleepers prefer a bed without tufts, as they find them uncomfortable.
MBCo mattresses are handmade to last 10 years or more, which can be attributed in part to the tufting process. With that in mind, the company turned the idea on its head, and created an inner-tufted mattress – which promises all the benefits of a traditional tuft, but without the little bumps.
Ross Thurston, MBCo’s operations director, comments: “We wanted to create a mattress with the same performance as our traditionally tufted mattresses, but with a smoother surface.
“Remember Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, The Princess and the Pea? Just like the story, we believe a truly sound sleep comes from eliminating even the smallest distraction and annoyances – no matter how tiny they might be. By developing a new tufting process, we have created a sleep surface free from the smallest lumps and bumps created by traditional methods, for an even more perfect sleep.”
NemoFlex – the future of sustainable sleep? Millbrook has also introduced NemoFlex Technology, a trademarked, unique encapsulated core spring system, designed with the end-of-life of a mattress in mind.
MBCo created NemoFlex in response to growing concerns over the alarming statistics around plastic pollution and the challenges of mattress disposal. A mattress with a NemoFlex-ecapsulated core spring system at its heart can be deconstructed in under five minutes, and achieve a 100% recycling capability. Easy to remove, it significantly reduces the time and cost of reprocessing, making recovery and repurposing of valuable materials more efficient, and helping reduce the number of waste mattresses going to landfill each year.
Recycled polyester in the NemoFlex core is made using a minimum of 200 plastic bottles and gives the mattress borders extra strength without the need for traditional hand-side stitching, and Millbrook says these exclusive borders have been two years in development.
Introduced to the range via the new Chittenden & Eastman and the Eclipse Laguna collections, NemoFlex core technology will also be incorporated into the wider range of Millbrook mattresses over time.
Additionally, from September, for every mattress sold featuring NemoFlex technology, MBCo will donate to the Woodland Trust through its newly created Dream Trees initiative, which has been conceived to support the creation, protection and restoration of UK woodland.
Ross says: “As a bed manufacturer, our focus for many years has been on sourcing sustainable, natural fabrics and fillings, with sustainability driving
The Chittenden and Eastman (C&E) and Eclipse International brands feature NemoFlex technology
both our corporate responsibility and customer scrutiny. But, with 167,000 tonnes of mattresses in the UK going into landfill every year, we felt our responsibility must also lie in the issues surrounding mattress disposal.
“NemoFlex technology was conceived from the start with end of life in mind. Consideration for how a mattress is recycled has become a key factor in our manufacturing, without any compromise to comfort or quality.
“We’ve taken 75 years of experience and knowledge in bedmaking to create something new and exciting to take sleep into a more sustainable future. It’s a very exciting time for MBCo, as NemoFlex takes us a step closer to carbon-neutral manufacturing.”
MBCo’s new ranges, comprising six models featuring Smooth-Tech, will launch from stand G50 at the NBF Bed Show, taking place in Telford this month.
For further information, visit Millbrook’s website, or call 0845 293 7262
The company’s founder Walter Croll outside his first factory – formerly a disused bakery in Marchwood Road, Totton Smooth-Tech tuft-free technology in action
