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 supports 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, 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.”
The document will be circulated widely to government departments, Ministers and MPs within parliament and form the basis of the BFC’s ongoing engagement with government, both directly and with the support of the industry’s All Party Parliamentary Group, chaired by Adam Thompson. MP for Erewash (home of the Long Eaton upholstery industry).
Says Mr Thompson: “I’m very pleased that the British Furniture Confederation have launched their Plan for Growth, to explain how the furniture manufacturing industry can feed into the wider growth and skills agenda in Britain. This government is powerfully committed to transform opportunities and drive growth and I am very proud, as the MP for Erewash, home of UK upholstery, that the furniture manufacturing industry is similarly committed.”
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 £41 billion, supporting more than 260,000 jobs across over 33,000 businesses. UK-based manufacturing accounts for £9.8 billion 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 Mr 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.”
Skills & education
With the majority of companies – manufacturing in particular – facing significant skills shortages and an aging workforce, it’s not surprising that the sector is looking to engage with the government’s new Skills England taskforce and see better support to help it plug the gap. In schools, access to more design & technology lessons, and careers advice which is more informed about and positive towards careers in manufacturing would make a real difference.
Trade & exports
While a significant number of companies already export and others are keen to do so,, many find the prospect daunting and meaningful financial support significantly below that offered by other countries. . As well as reversing the reducing amount of support of recent years, The BFC is calling for a single source of guidance on accessing international markets, grants, tax relief and other financial support.
Standards & regulations
The Plan for Growth underlines the sector’s commitment to maintaining high standards, particularly in product safety and is looking forward to working closely with government on the ongoing review of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) regulations review. There are also concerns about the divergence from Europe of product safety regime and how this will be managed; and on the effective enforcement of safety regulations. The BFC is calling for recognition as an expert industry body to be consulted early and frequently on any regulatory and safety issues of relevance.
The environment and circular economy
The sector is strongly committed to adopting sustainability practice, but want the government to be sensitive to the significant costs and barriers involved and in particular to ensure a level playing field with imported products. There are concerns about divergence as Europe adopts regulations such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulations (ESPR). The industry is broadly in favour of going down the route of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) initiatives but urges government to let these be industry driven and designed. Early and ongoing engagement with the Government’s new Circular Economy Taskforce (largely comprised of academics) is an immediate and ongoing request.
