Keiran Hewkin, founder and CEO of sofa-in-a-box brand Swyft, talks about their recent ownership transition and what it means for the business moving forward.
Swyft has seen huge growth since it launched in December 2019, with a run rate of £24m. The online furniture delivery company recently secured a £10m with Sleep Brands Limited to accelerate further growth and fund its global expansion.
The new partnership delivers an opportunity for “broader confidence across the category”, signalling plans to expand outside the UK. “This new partnership gives Swyft the ability to leverage a global network of suppliers and customers,” Keiran Hewkin, founder of Swyft said. “With their experience supplying brands around the world and Swyft’s successful concept and industry-leading next day delivery we have a great base to build upon.”
Sleep Brands Limited, the company on the other side of the deal, is an SPV owned by Gian Fazio, who is mainly active on the furniture components market in the USA and contract manufacturing in Europe, both in bedding and upholstery. The group of companies owned by Gian Fazio’s family employs over 2,000 staff.
Adding Swyft to its group follows the acquisition of Dormeo UK, which has been present as a mattress brand in the UK for over 10 years and is headquartered in High Wycombe. The company, which was purchased as part of a distress sale in February 2023, is heading for revenues of £30m.
For Swyft, Keiran will remain at the helm with the business while confirming that there are no senior changes following the acquisition. The investment will be used to launch into international markets, with an aim of Germany by the end of 2024, followed by at least two additional European territories in early 2025.
“The acquisition has been in progress for the past few months,” Keiran said. “It offers a fantastic opportunity for Swyft to scale much faster in the UK and expand into international markets more quickly. We are still in discussions about global expansion plans, but we are likely to launch the full product portfolio in a major European market in the Autumn 2024, followed by further launches in 2025.
“The acquisition will provide customers with a wider and more consistent choice of next-day sofas, with the rest of the product portfolio available on a 7-day lead time. The entire portfolio will be held in inventory and can be dispatched as customers order.
“This also rapidly expands our product capabilities, allowing us to offer new shapes, materials, and sizes that we couldn’t before. This will further appeal to Swyft’s design-conscious but time-poor customers, making it more convenient and faster to furnish their homes with stylish and modern designs.”
On consumer demand, Keiran revealed that they are seeing more certain areas that are trending, while for the industry, AI adoption and sustainability are also notable movements. “We’re seeing increased adoption of AI technology across many areas of the industry, from design and customer support to marketing and logistics.
“In terms of design trends, curved, organic-shaped furniture and natural materials, underlining comfort, and a soft minimal aesthetic are popular. Sustainability continues to drive innovation. There is an emphasis on natural materials like wood and organic textiles, which promote eco-friendly living environments.”
For now, Swyft says that despite the market being a “challenging environment”, the business has seen a 16% year-on-year increase in revenues since the start of the calendar year, (to the end of April), and expects to continue this momentum moving forward.
Looking to the future, Keiran added that there are many plans underway, although none include a partnership with Dormeo. He continued: “Dormeo and Swyft remain seperate businesses. There will be close collaboration and opportunities to learn from each other, but no product initiatives are planned at this time.
“However, there is a lot happening at the moment. Our aim is to initially launch in one international territory before expanding to additional markets. Additionally, we will introduce complementary product ranges, including hard furniture, occasional chairs, and home accessories.
“The acquisition offers a great opportunity for Swyft, and we have a great base to build upon, so both sides are excited to get to work. All things like this take a huge amount of effort to get done, but we won’t be hanging around patting ourselves on the back.”
