Mattress fraud costing industry £100m a year, says NBF

The National Bed Federation (NBF) has again raised the issue of mattress fraud, in which unsuspecting consumers are tricked into buying cheap mattresses that purport to be made with higher specifications.

Via a consumer PR campaign, the NBF is warning consumers to be wary of buying mattresses from ‘back of the van’ traders and certain marketplace platforms where the origins of the products offered and the identity of the manufacturer are often unknown. The federation estimates that around 280,000 consumers each year buy a mattress in this manner – a number which is only increasing as people try to cut spending.

The fraud is estimated to be costing the UK bed and mattress industry around £100m per annum. The NBF is warning that not only is buying a mattress in this way a false economy, but that they may actually be unhygienic, secondhand, or even unsafe.

The NBF’s Simon Williams says: “It’s basically part of the shadow economy – traders flogging cheap, and often unsafe or reclaimed, mattresses door to door for cash. We’ve been told of rogue traders touring the country targeting neighbourhoods with so-called ‘bargain mattresses’ at prices that claim to be a fraction of their normal price. The traders are very plausible, often saying that the mattresses are from cancelled orders, surplus stock, from shops that are closing down or from show homes – they are not.

“Unfortunately, our latest research backs up the anecdotal information we’ve received in recent months that this activity is on the rise as fraudsters look to prey on the most vulnerable in society who are struggling under the burden of rising costs. We’ve also heard from retailers and recycling centres that they’ve seen an increase in requests from traders wanting to take old, used mattresses off them.”

Gallery Direct acquires wall decor specialist

Gallery Direct has acquired Art Marketing. With its development strategy of organic expansion and acquisition of selected brands, Gallery has fast become a complete home and outdoor supplier to retail and contract customers. Art Marketing joining the Gallery group is set to further strengthen the business, bringing deeper expertise to its wall decor category and an opportunity to widen Gallery’s art offering through the skills of the former’s in-house artists and designers.

leading, being the stand-out brand within the wall decor sector.”

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Peter Delaney, Gallery’s sales and product director, comments: “We have long admired the Art Marketing business and its ability to produce on-trend artwork, clocks and photo frames, fashioned by talented artists and graphic designers under the guidance of founders Nigel and Anthony Waller. They have created an outstanding business, trading for over 40 years. The quality and depth of their range is industry

Nigel Waller, MD of Art Marketing, is remaining within the Gallery business, and will take a new role as category director for wall decor. He says: “It is an exciting time, and joining a larger, design-led business will have benefits to our team and customers. Working with our new colleagues, I want to broaden Gallery’s category offer with fresh, new, innovative collections of wall art, clocks, photo frames and decorative mirrors.”

Former MD Peter Delaney has taken take on the new role of sales and product director to “focus on bringing products to the market and driving the sales and marketing functions further within the business”. Michael Last, CEO of the Gallery group, will oversee finance, customer service, people and operations, becoming MD of Gallery Direct.