28 March 2024, 11:23
By Furniture News Sept 17, 2018

Research association hosts House of Lords reception

On 11th September the Furniture Industry Research Association held its 22nd annual reception at the House of Lords. For the second year running, Baroness Warsi was the reception host.

The reception serves as a platform to celebrate the furniture industry, to welcome new members of the research association, acknowledge the achievements of organisations which have recently achieved FIRA Gold Certification, received a FIRA Ergonomics Excellence Award or become a Certified Company under the new FIRA Compliance Scheme for the Fire Performance of Upholstered Furniture, and to provide networking opportunities for some 250 guests from across the furniture industry.

As part of the reception, guests had the opportunity to have a behind-the-scenes tour of the Houses of Parliament.

Speaking on the event, Charles Vernon, chairman of the Furniture Industry Research Association, said: “I would like to thank all our guests who attended the reception, and of course thanks go to Baroness Warsi for once again hosting us. As the only research association for the furniture sector it’s key that we hold events such as this to not only showcase our work but to also highlight the importance of the industry which we serve.

“As such, our annual reception gives a platform for many across the furniture industry to come together and celebrate the achievements of our members and others across the sector. It also gives the opportunity to acknowledge the work of the research association. We’ve undertaken a lot of projects over the last 12 months which garnered a lot of interest from our guests. Whilst this work has built on our regular content, for example around standards, we have also been exploring new areas such as bariatric standards, electrically actuated furniture and of course our recently launched FIRA Compliance Scheme for the Fire Performance of Upholstered Furniture.

“I look forward to the 2019 reception where we’ll be updating members on work from our current projects, and those planned, including work on flammability compliance and how technology can improve UK furniture productivity.”

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