NEWS
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Savoir Beds has appointed Nicholas Alexandre (exMaker&Son) as MD. Coowner Alistair Hughes will continue to contribute to long-term strategy
The Government plans to strengthen regulation of interest-free buy now, pay later (BNPL) credit agreements. It says lenders will be required to ensure loans are affordable, and rules will be amended to ensure advertisements are not misleading
The All Party Parliamentary Furniture Industry Group (APPFIG) has appointed Mark Eastwood, Conservative MP for Dewsbury, as chair. He takes over from Mike Wood, Conservative MP for Dudley South
Actona Group has acquired Polish furniture manufacturer SITS, further consolidating the Danish group’s place in the European upholstery sector following its acquistion of Theca six months ago
The National Bed Federation has created a new membership category for companies whose beds, mattresses and related products are made by NBF members and which sell B2B to UK and Irish retailers
Lenleys Home (Maidstone) has completed the first phase of a major refurbishment. Further works are planned for the autumn, including a new look for the store’s entrance
The British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM) attracted over 40 people to its first regional networking event, held at Ercol’s Princes Risborough HQ READ MORE ONLINE AT FURNITURENEWS.NET
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MANAGEMENT SHAKE-UP AT BENSONS Bensons for Beds has made several leadership changes, after CEO Mark Jackson announced his departure after leading the company for three years, which saw him steer Bensons through a refinancing and restructuring deal in 2020 to emerge as a standalone company, backed by Alteri Investors. The retailer’s chief commercial and digital officer Nick Collard (pictured) has taken over as CEO. Nick joined in July 2021 to lead commercial change at the business after holding board roles at Holland & Barrett International, DFS Furniture and Morrisons, as well as senior roles at Walgreens Boots Alliance. Taking the role of CFO will be Gordon Brown – replacing existing CFO John Sidebotham, who has decided to step down after completing the restructuring.Gordon joined the business in October 2020 as finance director, having held senior positions in Asda, Jack Wills and Pets at Home. Ed Preston joins the board to lead the commercial team in the role of chief commercial and digital officer, having held senior positions at Holland and Barrett, TalkTalk and Vodafone. Frankie Haynes, who joined in May as retail director, has been appointed to the Bensons board as chief customer officer. Maxine Blackwell, who has been with Bensons for 12 years, continues on the board as chief people
officer, and Mandy Winser, who joined in November 2021, continues in her COO role. Nick Collard says: “I’m honoured to be asked to lead one of the best-known brands in Britain and take it through the next stage in its transformation. Bensons for Beds has undergone major changes over the past two years and successfully navigated difficult conditions arising from the pandemic and lockdown. We have invested across all aspects of the business, including our stores, distribution, manufacturing and revamping our website, but there is still much work to do, and our focus is now on giving customers the best standards of service possible.”
CHARITY CAMPAIGN EXCEEDS AMBITIOUS TARGET Furnishing industry businesses from around the UK helped raise a staggering £270,000 for The Furniture Makers’ Company’s Step 2 It campaign, which ran from May 2021 to April 2022, and encouraged companies and individuals to organise sports-based challenges and events in aid of the charity. Throughout the year, hundreds of people got involved, helping the charity beat its £250,000 target. Step 2 It was also heavily supported by several trade sponsors. David Woodward, The Furniture Makers’ Company’s immediate past master, says: “Step 2 It clearly resonated with the industry, as the support we received was phenomenal. Every month there
seemed to be a new supporter-led event going on, whether it be a staff abseil, 24-hour ping pong tournament, fun run, hike, long-distance cycle, danceathon, charity ball, canal walk … we had the lot. Thank you so much to everyone who organised or took part in a fundraiser, or if you sponsored someone who was challenging themselves.” Members of the livery company are now gearing up for a 300-mile charity bike ride from Hertfordshire to Lancashire this autumn in a bid to raise £50,000 for the charity. Seven people have signed up for the charity bike ride so far, which is being organised by new master Tony Attard OBE DL, and will take place from 12-16th September.
NBF TESTING REVEALS FLAWS IN NON-MEMBER PRODUCTS The National Bed Federation (NBF) says its latest round of due diligence finished product testing continues to highlight the benefits of the association’s audited code of practice, with several major flammability and trade descriptions issues identified in non-member products – but none in products bought from members. During 2021, a total of 21 mattresses, headboards, and mattress toppers were purchased – 11 from members and 10 from non-members. The products were tested, opened and examined. The investigations carried out on the NBF member products showed that there were no major concerns regarding appropriate levels of due
diligence testing being conducted for flammability, and no major issues in relation to trade descriptions, states the federation. Some areas for improvement were identified, discussed and resolved directly with the NBF members concerned. Conversely, the results for the non-NBF member products showed several major failures in both flammability testing results and trade description issues, with some advertised fillings not being present in certain products at all, states the NBF. All results have been shared with the retailers of the non-NBF member company products so they can use this information to conduct their own investigations.
