It’s a cold, blustery winter day in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, but the fires of industry are fierce throughout Whitemeadow’s factories – this week alone, they’ll turn out some 3500 sofas, chairs and beds for the peak season sales. And, with the January Furniture Show just around the corner, things are still hotting up, reports Furniture News’ Paul Farley, who was given behind-the-scenes access to the Midlands manufacturing giant …
Whitemeadow is Britain’s largest independently-owned upholstery manufacturer, and an exemplar of exclusive design and volume manufacture. The business turned over £48.6m in 2017, and expects that figure to be in excess of £50m for 2018 once its year-end accounts are finalised.
With a footprint covering 209,000 sqft – encompassing seven factories, administrative areas and a new, purpose-built design and product development centre – Whitemeadow is a mammoth enterprise, employing 570 and playing a crucial role in the local economy.
Whitemeadow majors in upholstery, with four of its factories producing white label product for national retailers and an independent section that’s some 30 models strong. The business also manufactures the Content by Terence Conran brand, and recently announced a tie-up with the Branded Furniture Company to produce an exclusive licensed line with design doyenne Orla Kiely.
Prompted by a stockist’s suggestion six years ago, Whitemeadow also makes beds (the independent line numbers around 20 models), which now account for 8% of its business.
Right now, Whitemeadow is busily preparing for the January Furniture Show, at which it promises to unveil its most ambitious and innovative collections to date. Since Whitemeadow chose to exhibit there four years ago, the NEC event has proved an effective bridge to the wider trade – and particularly the independent sector, which accounts for a quarter of its business, explains sales director Paul Wesson.
“After months of development, this show is the single most important opportunity for retailers to see our new products and fabrics, displayed in a manner which will hopefully inspire them to invest,” he says, “so I really hope we get the chance to see the majority of our customers there this month.”
As a staging ground, it’s hard to rival the big show – but with the completion of its design and development centre, Whitemeadow has a facility of its own which offers visitors far greater insight into the skills and working practices behind the product.
Seven months in the making and representing an investment of £700,000, the centre covers 13,750 sqft across two floors, and contains a showroom, design studio, prototyping floor and various technical offices.
MD Ian Oscroft describes it as “the best facility of its type in the UK furnituremaking industry – it’s primarily about wowing our customers with product”.
The showroom is in a constant state of flux, its content shuffling in and out to reflect the needs of each visitor. Currently, it’s in full-on independents mode – and so too are the 25 design and development staff working in the adjoining offices.
Whitemeadow develops around 100 new sofa products and 25 bed products each year. “We’ve got a pretty good idea of what people want by the time of the show,” comments design director Paul Ainley, who oversees five designers, six upholsterers, three machinists, three CAD operators and several auxiliary staff members.
“Our customers want short development lead times,” Ian comments, “and I like to think that being able to do things so quickly gives us a real advantage.
“That said, it’s more important to get the product right. At Whitemeadow, we have opportunities to implement all manner of manufacturing efficiencies across the board, but we’d never do so at the expense of our design – design should run production, not the other way around.”
Yet the manufacturing operation is also evolving fast. A third fabric-cutting machine has significantly accelerated the cutting process, while this year will see the introduction of two biomass burners, a new mezzanine, investment in CNC machinery in the frames factory, and expansion of the transport fleet to 20 HGVs and 15 smaller LGVs.
It’s a good thing, too. Whitemeadow usually operates around two weeks ahead of its output schedule, but currently demand is such that it’s just a few days in front.
When the pressure’s high, it’s crucial to maintain your edge, says Ian. “In this business, you should never start thinking too much of yourself,” he comments, soberly. “You’re only as good as yesterday’s performance, and you’re never more than three months from potential disaster.
“Saying that, there’s probably room to be more optimistic, though. British manufacturing on the whole has had a pretty good run of late, and our business is in a decent position – and that’s all because we’ve got good product and good people.”
Ian owns the lion’s share of the company, and his sons, Dan and Oliver, occupy senior sales roles within the business. With this second generation in position, Whitemeadow has something of a family feel at its heart – but Ian’s sons mirror a wider trend here.
Ian self-effacingly describes himself and Paul Wesson as members of “the older generation”, and emphasises the importance of younger staff members, stating “the person matters more than their experience”.
Paul agrees. “We’ve made a conscious effort to get younger people involved in the business,” he says. “Whichever way you look at it, upholstery is a fashion industry – you’ve got to have plenty of energy and ideas, and ask lots of questions. People buy from people, and they generally prefer to buy from people closer to their own age.”
This philosophy applies to the production process, too. Last June, as part of a strategy to tackle the growing shortage of skilled upholstery sewing machinists, Whitemeadow announced the launch of its own sewing school, and this initiative kicks off in earnest this year as six trainee machinists embark on a programme of training under expert tutelage. These will be joined by another six in a few months’ time.
Progressive initiatives like this have helped Whitemeadow win numerous plaudits – from local awards to featuring in London Stock Exchange Group’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain and Europe list – but there’s a palpable substance to these achievements.
The secret of Whitemeadow’s success? Ian says it all comes down to product and people – visitors to the January Furniture Show can discover what he’s talking about by visiting stands 1-F40 (upholstery) and 1-G21 (beds).
