This report covers:

Companies covered include:

Key Areas

Executive Summary

Table of Contents

Back to Wood Products Index and Shopping Cart

Back To REPORTFINDER home page and Search Engine

KEY AREAS

OVERALL UPHOLSTERY & BEDS MARKET

• Overall market background, size by value - trends since 1994.
• Key trends in market influencing both sectors e.g. housing market, housebuilding, demographics, consumer spending etc.

UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE

• Market growth since 1994, forecasts to 2002. Key underlying trends e.g. trading up among consumers, value-added products from manufacturers, housing trends, influences of IFC etc.
• Imports & exports for main product groups, and key trends - growth of imports etc.
• Sales mix by product type i.e. 3 piece suites, sofas & armchairs, action furniture, sofabeds. Review of each product, key trends, changing product mix, strengths and weaknesses, key suppliers.
• Sales mix by materials; fabric & leather covers, fillings - key trends in material usage, key suppliers.
• Sales mix for suites by retail price ranges and key underlying trends.
• Sales mix according to end use i.e. domestic and contract, key trends in contract sector.
• Suppliers of upholstery and market shares for leading companies. Review of major suppliers, market positioning etc.

BEDS & MATTRESSES

• Market growth since 1994, forecasts to 2002, key underlying trends e.g. trading up, value added products, promotional campaigns, increasing size of hotel stock etc.
• Imports and exports for main product groups, and key trends.
• Sales mix by product type I
• .e. divan seats, bedsteads, mattresses, futons and other. Review of each product sector, key trends, growth sectors, changing mix, strengths and weaknesses, key suppliers.
• Suppliers of beds & mattresses and market shares for leading companies. Review of major suppliers, market positioning etc.

DISTRIBUTION / SUPPLIERS PER MARKET

• Major manufacturers - market shares of leading manufacturers, by product-market.
• Summary of key suppliers, product and market positioning, growing companies, changes in supply structure etc.
• Major channels of distribution - multiples, independents, department stores etc. - shares by type of outlets, areas of growth/decline, future trends.
• Summary of key distribution/retailing companies within major distribution channels.

Back to Top

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The upholstered furniture and beds market is estimated to be worth around £1.54bn msp at current prices in 1999. As both markets are mature, overall annual growth rates have been, and are forecast to continue to be, modest.

Underlying annual growth rates are around 4 percent, although a slightly higher figure of 5 percent in 1997 was due to the impact of building society windfalls. By the autumn of 1998, the majority of these had been spent, after which furniture sales declined sharply. However, the beds sector managed to withstand the overall downturn in demand, which was exacerbated by depressed consumer confidence against the background of the threat of recession.

In early 2000, the outlook is generally more optimistic, owing largely to a recovery in the housing market during 1999, with the number of house moves and average house prices having risen by 6 percent and 11 percent respectively. Underlying these improvements was a resurgence in consumer confidence, with the threat of a major world recession having been largely dispelled.

In 1999 the Upholstered Furniture Market was worth an estimated £1.03bn MSP, with the domestic market accounting for around 90 percent. The remaining 10 percent is mainly split between hotels and the healthcare sector.

With upholstery generally seen as a discretionary purchase, retail sales growth during 1998 declined substantially, with sales of 3 piece suites affected more than other products. The decline in the growth rate for 3-piece suites has primarily been to a combination of several factors including the trend towards single person households, smaller living rooms in new housing and changing patterns in consumer tastes.

The latter has been marked by the trend among the under 40s away from the traditional/formal style towards the modern/contemporary and informal, thereby generating growth in demand for alternative combinations of sofas/sofabeds and armchairs.

In spite of the declining market share for 3 piece suites, they account for around 53 percent of the market by value. In the longer term, demand is expected to be sustained by the increasing numbers of older age groups who are typically traditional in tastes. Separate armchairs and sofas account for approximately 17 percent of the market, with demand having grown significantly at the expense of 3 piece suites. In particular, growth in demand for leather upholstery has far exceeded overall growth for the overall upholstery sector, resulting from lower raw materials prices together with larger product options. Leather is widely used for recliners, which constitute the fastest growing sub-sector, accounting for around 14 percent of the market by value. Key factors behind increasing demand levels include positive changes in consumer perceptions, a fall in average prices and a widening of the target market to include younger consumers as well as the core over 50s age group. After recliners, the other main area of growth is likely to be for sofabeds, which account for around 9 percent of the upholstery market. The key drivers behind demand are the trends towards smaller living rooms, single households and casual furnishing.

Although the current trend towards modern/contemporary and casual is pronounced, there still remains a strong underlying demand for ‘traditional’ styles. This sector has benefited from a general trend away towards less price-sensitive middle-upper market products. Cane and rattan is beginning to move upmarket after experiencing some problems in terms of quality.

Import penetration has risen from around 17 percent to 21 percent of the market, due to a 23 percent increase between 1996 and 1998 to £213m. Imports are sourced mainly from within the EC including Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden and France. Exports are estimated to be worth 9 percent of UK production of upholstered furniture, but have declined by 16 percent to around £65m.

Major suppliers of upholstery are Hillsdown Holding’s subsidiaries, Christie Tyler and Walker & Homer, which dominate the market with a combined share of 35 percent. Other major suppliers include Wade Furniture Group, Cornwell Parker, Tetrad, Ian Walker and Frayling with a combined share of around 20 percent.

The beds market has outperformed the overall furniture market, having grown by around 5-7 percent a year to an estimated £509m msp in 1999. In addition to underlying macro-economic factors, the main reason for the bed industry’s strength is that consumers typically regard beds as essential and not discretionary purchases.

The market is also benefiting from consumers’ trading-up and purchasing better quality beds, while promotional work carried out by the Sleep Council is reported as having had some success in persuading consumers to replace their beds more frequently. Other growth contributors include increased demand in certain key non-domestic markets, e.g. budget lodges and private long-term care homes.

Imports and exports of bed bases and mattresses are experiencing underlying growth, but continue to be a very minor part of the UK beds market.

In terms of product mix, divans account for around 55 percent of the market by value, but market share has slowly been eroded by strong growth in demand for bedsteads, particular metal bedsteads, which account for 19 percent of the market in terms of both value and volume. By value, however, sales growth for divans remains stable owing to a general trading up among consumers towards higher value products such as adjustable beds and king size beds. As an increasingly greater proportion of divans now have storage drawers in the base, there is still likely to be strong demand in modern housing, where there are typically no fitted bedroom cupboards.

Since 1996, there has been a marked trend away from single to double beds, although this is expected to be reversed, as the number of single person households increases over the next decade.

By value, mattresses account for around 14 percent of the market. Steady growth in the market has been underpinned by growth in the bedstead sector and in replacements for divan bases. Spring interiors continue to dominate, accounting for 84 percent of the market, although rubber/latex mattresses are growing their share due to a combination of health factors and the growth in bedsteads.

The beds sector is more concentrated in terms of suppliers than the upholstered furniture market with major suppliers including Silentnight 27 percent, Airsprung 14 percent, the French-owned Cauval Industries 11 percent (combined sales for the three UK subsidiaries Sleepeezee, Nestledown and Cumfilux), Relyon 9 percent, and Slumberland and Horatio Myer with 6 percent each.

Back to Top

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLES & CHARTS

Text © 2000 AMA Research

Back to Top

Back To REPORTFINDER HOME PAGE

Ariadne - working together with our customers to enhance productivity and increase knowledge

© 2000 www.the-list.co.uk Ariadne

Last updated by Jacob van Eldik 26th February 2000