MADE To Last? UK Furniture Company Close To Collapse

Made.com website is down with a maintenance page in place as the company has confirmed it has ceased to take any new orders. The furniture retailer that enjoyed the benefit of increased homeware sales during the pandemic announced it was struggling and has since been unable to find a buyer.

The Telegraph today reported the company which had only recently listed on the London Stock Exchange, had “taken the decision to temporarily suspend new customer orders”.

Since the listing in April 2021, Made.com has issued three profit warnings and has seen both Chief Executive Officer Philippe Chainieux and Chief Financial Officer Adrian Evans step down from the business.

The furniture and homewares brand that had appealed to home-loving UK consumers was founded 12 years ago by Brent Hoberman, co-founder of travel dotcom pioneering brand Lastminute.com and Ning Li, creator of beauty brand, Typology.

The concept for the initial business was to support buyers in a ‘try before you buy’ technology allowing users to visualise pieces of furniture in their home before purchasing. The brand then transitioned into its own branded collections of plush velvet seating and glamorous lighting.

After a surge in awareness and sales following the rush to improve homes and gardens triggered during the on-off lockdowns, many households invested in furniture to the extent some factories could not even keep up with demand. Predictions for the Made.com brand was that its sales could quadruple to £1.2 billion by 2025 and such the business floated in June last year at £2 per share.

A spokesperson for the British Furniture Manufacturers Association said this at the time of the industry’s pandemic related boom: “Once we sort out the virus thing you can bet your bottom dollar that the travel industry will go bonkers, and the last thing anyone will be spending their money on is furniture.

For Made.com the nose-dive back to reality and a cost of living crisis has hit hard. Yesterday, prospects seemed bleak as the business warned that without further funding or a firm offer before cash reserves were fully depleted “appropriate steps” would be taken to preserve value.

The brand promised to be a ‘destination for creating dream-homes’. As the cost of living crisis rages on, the consumers focus has shifted from creating a dream-home to simply keeping it warm.