Timothy Oulton dies

Timothy Oulton, Sofa Workshop owner and founder of Halo International and Timothy Oulton died on 3 March.

Oulton got his start in 1976 in a small antiques shop in Manchester, owned by his father. In 1990, he took the helm at Halo and began focusing on reinventing antiques for the wholesale market.

Today the company has more than 70 retail locations and distribution in more than 60 countries, as well as five global manufacturing hubs, and more than 350 employees across a dozen countries. ‘Tim’s legacy of creativity, excellence and authenticity will endure. These principles – and an ongoing commitment to the company’s growth agenda – will guide our leadership team as we move forward, and drive continued success for the business,’ says James Dilley, Halo cfo, who has become interim ceo.

Mattress Online secures first store expansion deal

Mattress Online has completed the first of its planned clicks and mortar expansion, buying Skipton Bed & Sofa Centre, a family-owned business that has been operated by the Turner family since 1970.

The etailer wants to open a network of 10 stores over the next five years, combining its customer experience and quick turnaround times with a traditional in-store experience.

‘Skipton Bed & Sofa Centre is a business that’s ready to go. We’ll be keeping the same name and staff. Our data tells us that North Yorkshire is an area where there’s a lot of opportunity and by investing in the high street, we’re supporting town centre infrastructure and customers can still benefit from our extensive product range and economies of scale,’ says Steve Adams, Mattress Online ceo.

The company will open a warehouse to support the store. ‘Products will be easily accessible and delivered quickly as we further invest in our warehousing,’ says Adams.

Nectar Sleep set for stores move

Mattress etailer Nectar Sleep is to debut an in-store collection as it looks to join other direct-to-consumer mattress brands selling through stores.

The in-store collection will include exclusive hybrid models, and Nectar’s website will see a store locator introduced this month.

The collection will be manufactured by GNG Group, and the brand’s owner Resident UK says it hopes to double sales of the mattressess in the next year.

Its US parent has sales of more than US$500m.

It has appointed Darren Crowshaw, former Breasley md as sales director.

Sales rocket at Emma

Bed brand Emma saw its sales leap by more than half last year.

Sales jumped by 59% to €645m, while the company says it was its fourth year of increased profits: it does not disclose profits.

‘We are proud to have closed another year with a high double-digit growth, over-passing our international competitors. Becoming the world’s leading D2C sleep brand involves more than just high revenues: we have been improving people’s sleep and lives around the globe and will continue to do so. We aim to make good sleep accessible to everyone,’ says Dennis Schmoltzi, Emma – The Sleep Company ceo.

Heart of oak

Wooden flooring manufacturer Bjelin is to accelerate the construction of a new factory as it predicts Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will hit availability of oak floors.

The Swedish company says a quarter of oak slats produced for the European market come from Ukraine and Russia.

Bjelin sources its oak from Croatian forests and already has a factory in the north-west of the country at Ogulin. Now it says it will increase production ‘and work proactively with licence holders and other flooring manufacturers’ while speeding up work on the second factory, construction of which began in 2021. When completed, it will be the world’s largest wood flooring factory.

Bjelin is part of the £160m-turnover family-owned Pervanovo group.

The existing site in Ogulin, Croatia