The Furniture Awards are bestowed on the industry's champion suppliers at the January Furniture Show each year. Organised by Furniture News in partnership with the event, the awards aim to recognise the businesses leading the way in various categories.
This year's Best of British category winner was Shire Beds.
This category covers businesses that principally manufacture in the UK, and demonstrate high standards of output with regard for their place in the local economy and industry.
Winner Shire Beds demonstrated its ability to considerably up-spec its models in order to deliver higher margins for retailers, offering extended guarantees and reinforcing its national presence.
“Shire is a family business that’s built on strong British values – if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” says Shire’s marketing director, Fara Butt. “Shire has been able to increase its share of the mid-market and move into the higher-end market by increasing the quality of offering whilst still keeping a close eye on costs.
“The Shire Signature Collection, for example, has been developed to achieve high shopfloor margins comfortably on the cost price, while still being considered good value and below the cost of the larger well-established brands. In this challenging trading environment, this is exactly what the retailer and end-consumer are looking for – quality products at great value.”
Shire, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, has also embraced eco-design principles.
The judges said: “They care so much about what they’re doing, and are striving to do better by their stockists. Shire embodies what this award is all about.”
From left: Shire’s head of sales and business development, Bill Parkinson; Furniture News' Paul Farley; Shire’s Fara Butt; and the portfolio director of Clarion Events’ Retail Division, Zoë Bonser
