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Industry body unveils “Plan for Growth” to Government
April 1, 2025
The British Furniture Confederation (BFC), the public affairs umbrella body of furniture and beds, furnishings and flooring sector trade associations, has unveiled its new Plan for Growth. The document is said to support BFC’s advocacy across four key pillars: skills and education; trade and exports; standards and regulations; and the environment and circular economy. It has been developed over the past few months, the organisation says, evolving from a combination of position papers written by the associations’ executives and a comprehensive survey of their collective members.
“The BFC is committed to working closely with government and devolved administrations to foster a thriving, resilient and forward-looking furniture & beds, furnishings and flooring industry” says BFC Chairman Jonathan Hindle. “Our Plan for Growth examines the key challenges our sector in particular is facing and sets out a series of recommendations for government to support us in delivering growth.”
A key message to government is to convey the size and significance of the sector to the UK economy. According to official figures, collectively (and including retail), it contributes over £41bn, supporting more than 260,000 jobs across over 33,000 businesses. UK-based manufacturing accounts for £9.8bn of this, emanating from around 9,000 companies employing over 91,000.
However, it is also a sector dominated by micro and small to medium sized enterprises – less than 500 companies turn over more than £5m and, despite there being some clusters of manufacturing activity, it is widely spread throughout the country.
“The importance of our sector and in particular our manufacturing capabilities here in the UK should not be under-estimated,” says Hindle. “From heritage handcraftsmanship to the latest AI driven robotic technology, our sector is truly world beating, universally admired and keen to invest. Targeted support in terms of finance but also guidance and early, regular and meaningful consultation are at the heart of our Plan.”
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