British furniture industry facing ‘jobs crisis’

Tens of thousands of jobs are at risk in the British Furniture Industry as the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, according to the British Furniture Confederation. The BFC is warning that many companies in the sector, nearly half, say they may be forced to make redundancies of up to 50% of their workforce.  Manufacturers also say that, on average, their sales will be down by about 25%-30% this year. There are around 6,500 companies manufacturing furniture in the UK, supporting 93,000 jobs, and the industry is worth an estimated £12bn a year. The furniture industry has been hit hard by the pandemic because the majority of companies in the sector are micro businesses, more than half have annual turnovers of less than £250,000.

The British Furniture Confederation (BFC) is launching a new campaign to urge consumers to buy British to make the public aware of how many jobs are at stake in the wake of Covid 19. New research has revealed that more than three-quarters (78%) of consumers say their buying decisions would be influenced if they knew buying British would help safeguard the 93,000 jobs in the furniture industry. The effect of Covid 19 on the economy has also had a significant impact on buying decisions, with more than a third (34%) saying they would be more inclined to support buying British furniture than they were six months ago (before Covid). Half (50%) of those questioned had bought furniture in the past 12 months, although nearly a quarter (24%) didn’t know where it was made.

Aston spoke to Nick Garratt, managing director at British Furniture Manufacturers Association to discuss the research and the issues surrounding the furniture industry in further detail.

Photo by Phillip Goldsberry on Unsplash