There have been sweeping changes in the furniture retailing sector in recent years because of a downturn in demand. Several groups have been through rationalisation or administration and some famous names have closed their doors. MFI, a major presence in furniture in the UK, went out of business in 2008 and other big names followed including Land of Leather. We also saw HomeForm Group go into administration in 2011 and the subsequent buyout of Sharps, the fitted bedroom furniture specialist. Habitat was another casualty, subsequently bought by Home Retail Group as part of its strategy to develop exclusive brands. And the once-promising Dwell also ran into difficulties and the remaining business has been bought by DFS. The UK’s biggest bed retailer, Dreams, over-extended itself and was bought out of administration by Sun European Capital, adding to its stable of furniture retailers which also includes ScS (sofas and carpets) as well as Sharps.

Howdens Joinery (with a trade-only model) and Wren Living stepped in to fill the gap created by MFI and other companies have also expanded furniture within their product mix including John Lewis, Tesco and Next. Meanwhile Homebase and IKEA among others have invested in better ranges, stronger branding and more comprehensive services including online selling. And Steinhoff has streamlined its UK furniture operations and is rolling out a successful new store design which incorporates Bensons for Beds.

Even through tough times there have been some remarkable successes, notably the high growth of Oak Furniture Land, The Range, DFS and Sofaworks. And Jysk, a major Scandinavian retailer, is expanding its UK presence.

This report examines furniture retailing, profiles the largest furniture retail companies and examines consumer attitudes towards shopping for furniture.

This report covers the retailing of the following types of furniture:

• Living and dining room furniture

• Bedroom furniture, including beds and mattresses

• Home office furniture.

We cover bathroom and kitchen furniture in more detail in separate reports and have included beds and bedroom retailers in this report, but these are also covered in more detail in a separate report.

See:

Bathrooms and Bathroom Accessories – UK, August 2014

Kitchens and Kitchen Furniture – UK, September 2014

Bedrooms and Bedroom Furniture – UK, October 2014

This report does not cover any furniture sold on contract for the non-domestic market (such as hotels and hospitals) and excludes second-hand and antique furniture. Other specialist sectors not included in the scope of this report are nursery furniture (ie cots, cribs and cot mattresses, a sector covered in Baby and Nursery Equipment – UK, February 2014). And we exclude retailers of garden furniture.

Financial definitions used are:

• Sales: Turnover as reported by the company, excluding VAT.

• Operating profits: pre-tax profits plus interest, less non-trading income such as the sale of fixed assets and any exceptional items, including provisions.

• Pre-tax profits: the net trading profit after deducting all operating costs including depreciation and finance charges, but before deduction of tax, dividends and other appropriations.

• Operating margin: operating profits as a percentage of sales.

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