Popular British retailer RETURNING after 18 years after collapsing and shutting 111 stores
A MAJOR British retailer is set to return after 18 years following its collapse which saw 111 stores close for good.
MFI, known for selling kitchenware, bedroom and flat-pack furniture, will re-launch online between April and September next year.
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It comes after the household name fell into administration in 2008 which saw hundreds of workers lose their jobs and 111 stores shut.
The MFI brand was obtained by Victorian Plumbing in May last year as part of its acquisition of Victoria Plum.
In its most recent results published yesterday, it said it would look at re-launching the name as a standalone website from 2026, selling dining room, bedroom and homeware products.
MFI will lean on Victorian Plumbing's existing infrastructure, including two warehouses based in Lancashire.
It's not clear at this stage exactly when MFI will be re-launched by Victorian Plumbing.
Mark Radcliffe, founder and chief executive officer, said: "I am very excited about the upcoming re-invention of MFI, allowing us to tap in to more of the £20bn UK Homewares market.
"Our dedicated and ambitious team, decades of e-commerce knowledge and best-in-class proprietary software, together with the recognisable MFI brand, will help to deliver our strategic ambition over the medium-term."
The announcement comes after Victorian Plumbing toasted 6% year-on-year growth between 2024 and 2025 with revenue totalling £152.7million.
The retailer said it had seen revenues increase due to customers buying more of its own-brand items.
It added forecasting how well sales for MFI would perform was "challenging" but that it would "react and adapt" after the brand's launch.
Radcliffe added: "Having invested significantly in preparing the business for future growth last year, I am pleased with the group's strategic progress in the first half.
"We are fully operational in our new purpose built warehouse and have continued to improve our customer proposition, while expanding product range into other rooms within the home and taking significant market share gains in a subdued trading backdrop.
"Victorian Plumbing has always taken an opportunistic and entrepreneurial approach; alongside this we have built a business that invests in the future, has solid financial foundations and is committed to delivering long-term value to all shareholders, as epitomised by our enhanced capital allocation policy and increased interim dividend."
BRANDS MAKING A COMEBACK
A number of iconic and household brands have returned to the UK in recent years and to shopper fanfare.
British shirt maker T.M Lewin shut all 66 of its stores back in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on profits.
But it confirmed in April it was opening a new physical store in London after relaunching its website in 2022.
Meanwhile, ASOS last month revealed plans to relaunch a Topshop website.
The two names have joined a host of other brands that have announced they will make some form of return.
Toys R Us, Cath Kidston and M&Co all said last year they would be making a comeback after previously falling into administration.
Meanwhile, major brand Wilko is already back on the high street after closing 400 stores in 2023.
Its new owners, CDS Superstores, have opened branches across the UK.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
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