In January 2024, ScS, a cornerstone of British furniture retail with roots dating back to 1894, went Italian – its new owner, Poltronesofà, boasting a 30-year heritage and successive European expansions. Much of that transition has taken place behind closed doors … until now. With the initial phase of the brand’s UK journey delivering encouraging results, CEO Mike Schmidt offered Paul Farley an exclusive insight …
Poltronesofà UK has come a long way. Its full-year results, published last month, outline how the parent group’s strategy and £60m investment have transformed the retailer formerly known as ScS.
Post-acquisition, the Italian group has rebranded the UK business, delivered a comprehensive showroom upgrade, rolled out an entirely new range defined by a unique ‘any sofa, any fabric’ proposition, and upgraded its internal systems and processes across an estate of 97 stores (including new premises in Carlisle and Warrington).
Despite the disruption caused by the mass refurb, Poltronesofà grew order intake by 2.1% to £267.8m in 2025, delivering a gross revenue of £253.5m (in line with the previous year’s). Gross margin went from 47.4% to 49.4%, a refined cost and sourcing base ultimately delivering a result “close to breakeven”.
This year, the brand hit home, the revamped stores supported by TV ads in which three of its Italian craftsmen deliver their mission statement – “quality sofas, Italian touch”. The company also secured three new locations and, given this year’s results to date, says it is confident of achieving a positive operating profit in 2026, “with a further significant improvement in profitability in 2027”.
Transformation at scale
Mike Schmidt is no stranger to the industry, having worked with DFS (2014-22) and B&M (2022-25), chiefly in finance lead roles, before being appointed Poltronesofà UK’s CEO in March this year.
While he’s unable to comment on what happened before he joined – the acquisition process, changes to staffing and suppliers, and the industry rumour mill that continued to churn in the absence of greater transparency – he admits he’s no stranger to ScS or Poltronesofà, having followed the progress of both for more than eight years.
“At first, Poltronesofà sought to understand and learn about the UK market, to make sure the proposition was right,” he begins, “before recognising that it needed a strong UK management team to make absolutely sure of that.
“The group’s been going 30 years in Italy, and yes, it’s been private in terms of its corporate affairs, but that’s because it’s been focused on making the customer proposition as strong as possible – and you can see the progress it’s made. Ultimately, we want to let the customer proposition, results and progress we make do the talking – not the PR.”
Despite the scale of the business, its transformation has been rapid and holistic, and the benefits are now being felt.
“Operationally, in addition to focusing the business purely on upholstery, there’s been a new ERP system put in place, we’ve gone through a refit of 97 stores in a two-year period – not many retailers would be brave enough to take on that amount of change – and delivering our ‘any sofa, any fabric’ proposition meant getting numerous manufacturing partners and fabric suppliers on board,” Mike explains.
“The scale of the transformation we’ve gone through speaks for itself. Having worked at an executive level in other retail businesses, I think it’s a testament to the strengths of our colleagues.”
Indeed, Poltronesofà’s adjusted operating profit going into the black this early in its UK journey seems quite the accomplishment.
“It’s pleasing to see we’re now generating cash as a return on all the investment that’s been made,” he says. “One of the privileges of being a private business is that you’re able to look at a different earnings and investment cycle. As a group, Poltronesofà is financially successful across the whole of Europe – but it takes a long-term view, making sure each investment decision is consistent with the proposition that has worked so well across the Continent.”
Any sofa, any fabric
It seems Poltronesofà’s success – to coin a cliché – is down to an old family recipe, namely ‘any sofa, any fabric’, and having an environment in which it can prosper.
“It’s fundamental to our proposition,” Mike explains. “The group’s ethos is to focus on where your specialities lie, and ours is in sofas.”
Of course, as its early staffing changes demonstrated, any expansion into new territories demands a degree of localisation.
“There have been some tweaks made, in particular making sure the group has the right range for the UK market,” Mike explains. “The UK customer is different to a degree, with their own preferences of style, sit comfort and fabrics. The Europeans commonly want a firmer sit and really appreciate the Italian design aesthetic, while the UK market tends to opt for more traditional and classic designs, so there has been a degree of bespoking, but we’re also offering some of our bestselling models from across Europe.
“Ultimately, consumers in any market want great comfort, design and prices, and much of our journey over the last two years has been about making sure the offer is as strong as possible for the UK in that regard.”
Poltronesofà aims to offer a sofa for every customer group. The price architecture has changed little since the ScS days, ranging from premium own-branded product to a sharp entry-level proposition, at £399 for a static fabric model to upwards of £3000 for leather corner sofas (“all Poltronesofà branded, so we make sure we’re giving the customer the best value for money,” Mike notes).
“If you want a high-end, all-singing, all-dancing, tech-recliner sofa, we have something that’s right for you,” he continues. “Likewise, if it’s your first property, you’ve a young family and you want something functional, we’ve something right for you too. It’s an Italian philosophy to make your home as comfortable and as right for you as possible, and that’s what we’re trying to bring to the UK market.”
The choices are manifold. In any one showroom, approaching 90 ranges will be on display (and 20-30 available exclusively online). These offer over 240 fabric choices, plus a selection of leathers. This means hundreds of thousands of SKUs, given the huge range of covers available.
Poltronesofà’s swatches are displayed on bannière (meaning ‘banner’ or flag’) around the walls, which can be taken down and placed on the customer’s model of choice.
“It’s very different from the typical UK proposition, where you’ve got to flick through the swatch book and see what’s available,” says Mike.
While some customers will revel in the depth of choice, others will need more guidance, and the sales team has been extensively trained to offer expert assistance.
“We talk about the Italian touch – it’s that link with the Italian design, like the craftsmen in our advert who actually help train our store staff,” says Mike. “Any sofa, any fabric is certainly a unique proposition in the UK mass market, and a powerful differentiator for customers looking for exactly the right model.”
Mike acknowledges that while many customers appreciate the heritage of Italian design, having the right product range, in-store experience, price point and comfort is key.
“Either way,” he says, “customers are responding well to the proposition.”
Read the rest of the interview in September's issue.
