Innovative sleep solutions John Cotton

INNOVATIVE SLEEP SOLUTIONS

John Cotton is Europe’s leading manufacturer of pillows, duvets and mattress protectors. Philip Yorke talked to John Cotton, the company’s chairman about its move into new export markets and its latest range of innovative, eco-friendly and anti-allergenic products.

Since 1916 John Cotton has been an independent family business and continues to be a pioneer in its field. Initially the company produced sound-proofing material for the automotive industry before becoming a major supplier of fillings to the upholstery and bedding industry. The company has enjoyed steady growth thanks to its culture of innovation and customer service. This trend continues today and in 2010 John Cotton won a coveted award as ‘Supplier of the Year’ to ASDA, one of Europe’s largest supermarket chains. The company’s on-going commitment to quality and efficiency has earned it a special place in the industry, and its pro-active stance concerning new product development has kept it one step ahead of its competitors.

Today the company invests in excess of £3 million annually in new manufacturing technology and production efficiency programmes at its extensive, state-of-the-art facilities at Mirfield, in West Yorkshire, UK.

The company owns some of the biggest brands in the business and these include, Snuggledown, a Norwegian brand, Slumberdown and of course the famous John Cotton brand itself. John Cotton supplies a wide range of bedding products to large retailers for their ‘own-label’ brands, in addition to manufacturing its own product lines. Famous brands such as Silentnight, Sealy, Rely-on, Debenhams, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis, as well as many of Europe’s leading supermarkets, depend on John Cotton quality and service. In 2011 the company recorded sales of more than £125 million and employed over 800 people at its plants in the UK and Poland.

Innovation and investment driving sales

In addition to its investments in manufacturing technology the company also invests heavily in new product development, marketing and packaging innovation. John Cotton continually tracks and monitors changes in its market and carries out extensive research into consumer trends and their buying habits, and every year refines its product range to satisfy changing demand. Furthermore, investment has not been restricted to R&D and new technology at John Cotton. In 2008 the company acquired a pillow and duvet manufacturer in Wroclaw in Poland that employs 150 people and it has completely modernised the plant to produce high-quality pillows, duvets and mattress protectors for the European market.

Mr John Cotton said, “Our move into Poland was part of a strategy to extend our European footprint and in particular to serve the Polish and German markets which share a common border. We have invested heavily in the latest automated technology there in order to manufacture high-quality mattress toppers and mattress protectors, pillows and duvets. Last year we spent £4.5 million in capital investment and a further £3 million in new equipment. This investment has resulted in our turnover going from just over £110 million a year or two ago to more than £125 million today.”

John Cotton added, “During the last few years there has been an explosion in the cost of raw materials and cotton prices have doubled. This has resulted in a lot of manufacturers dramatically reducing their cotton blend from 100 per cent cotton to 50:50 polyester/cotton and in some cases 90 per cent polyester and 10 per cent cotton. In our case we have virtually maintained our high cotton blends through improved efficiencies and employing new production technologies to keep manufacturing costs down as low as possible. This in turn has brought other benefits to our customers as we can now turn around a large volume order within 3 days of receiving it. For example, our pillow volumes can be huge, currently we produce more than 300,000 pillows per week and over 180,000 duvets. We have our

own extensive warehousing facilities and our big supermarket and retail customers collect their orders directly from our own warehouses located close to our plants in Yorkshire.”

Natural, anti-allergy filled bedding

John Cotton is the clear market leader in Europe when it comes to filled bedding products and regularly carries out extensive research into the bedding market. The inhouse laboratory daily monitors all aspects of raw materials and finished product while maintaining a commitment to bringing new sleep solutions to market. Every part of the product is tested and refined working closely with customers to produce the right product at the right price.

The company’s latest range of pillows and duvets offers allergy sufferers chemical-free protection against allergens with a natural barrier that prevents house dust mites from entering the bedding.

The company carried out extensive research in the UK that has proven that fabrics that are very densely woven with a particular thread pattern, will by their very composition act as a natural barrier to house dust mites. These are the most commonly found allergen in bedding that both aggravate and trigger asthma and other allergies. The company’s range therefore offers chemical-free protection and the bespoke cover ensures that consumers are naturally protected at all times.

In another ‘first’, John Cotton has launched an all-new ‘Eco-responsible’ range of bedding products, which uses 100 per cent cotton and recycled PET (polyethylene) products. This new range of pillows and duvets is called ‘Eternity’ and follows the wel-known principle, commonly known as the 3R’s approach: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. The company’s sales and marketing director, Phil Atherton said, “Eternity is a new concept from John Cotton that allows consumers to make an ethical decision when purchasing pillows and duvets without compromising on either quality or comfort. We are proud to be able to offer a range of products that has been produced with the impact on our planet in mind, at a price that consumers can really afford”. n