The outlook for British-made furniture

Last year, pandemic pressures prompted traders and consumers to wake up to the benefits of buying British. In part a result of severed supply chains, in part a declaration of support for local businesses and jobs, those national manufacturers able to operate were spurred on to meet demand as best as they could.

In June, Barker and Stonehouse called for the industry to champion British furnituremaking in a marketing campaign entitled ‘Let’s Get Going Britain!’ – an later, in September, the British Furniture Confederation (BFC) led the UK’s key trade associations in its ‘Buy the Best, Buy British, Save Jobs’ campaign, stating that Covid-19 had made a third (+34%) of the population more inclined to buy British furniture.

“UK furniture manufacturing has dramatically declined over the past 50 years, mostly because of cheaper labour in other countries,” said BFC chairman, Jonathan Hindle. “Factories overseas don’t always meet the UK’s requirements for a minimum living wage, safe working conditions and product compliance standards.

Full article available at Furniture News