Latest news with #VictoriaPlum
Scotsman
15-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
MFI: high street furniture and kitchen shop to be relaunched
Once a staple of British homes, the brand is being reimagined for a new generation 🛋️ Sign up to the weekly Cost Of Living newsletter. Saving tips, deals and money hacks. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Iconic furniture brand MFI is set to relaunch online in 2026, nearly 20 years after collapsing in 2008 Victorian Plumbing, which acquired the brand via its purchase of Victoria Plum, is investing £3m in the comeback The revived MFI will operate as a standalone website, selling bedroom, dining, and homeware products It will be supported by existing Victorian Plumbing infrastructure, including two warehouses in Lancashire MFI's return marks a strategic push into the £20bn UK homewares market by Victorian Plumbing An iconic flatpack furniture brand is set to make a comeback nearly two decades after its collapse during the 2008 financial crisis. Bathroom retailer Victorian Plumbing acquired the dormant MFI brand and domain as part of its purchase of rival Victoria Plum last year, and has announced a £3 million investment ahead of a planned relaunch. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Victorian Plumbing revealed plans to relaunch the brand as a standalone website in 2026, offering dining room, bedroom, and general homeware products. The revived MFI will be supported by Victorian Plumbing's existing operations, including its two Lancashire-based warehouses. (Photo: Brian Robert Marshall/Wikimedia Commons) | Brian Robert Marshall/Wikimedia Commons An exact launch date has yet to be confirmed by Victorian Plumbing, but MFI is expected to relaunch online sometime between April and September next year. Once a staple of British retail with more than 200 stores and over 50 million annual deliveries, MFI became synonymous with the DIY furniture boom of the 1960s through to the early 2000s. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Its return marks a push by Victorian Plumbing to expand further into the £20 billion UK homewares market. Victorian Plumbing chief executive and founder Mark Radcliffe 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.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The relaunch will see investment in both people and property as the company brings the once-familiar name back to UK consumers, this time with a modern e-commerce edge that aligns with Victorian Plumbing's existing customer base.
The Sun
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
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. 1 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."
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
MFI returns: Defunct furniture retailer is relaunched after 2008 collapse
Defunct furniture brand MFI will return to the UK after almost 20 years, as owner Victorian Plumbing sets about a 're-invention' of the brand. MFI, which was once one of the largest suppliers of kitchens and bedroom furniture in the country, collapsed into administration in 2008 alongside rivals like Courts and Land of Leather as the global financial crisis hit household budgets. But the brand domain was quietly obtained by Victorian Plumbing in May last year as part of its acquisition of Victoria Plum. It will trade as a standalone online homewares business, targeting bedroom, living room, dining room, hallway and home accessories, Victorian Plumbing said. The group is targeting a launch date in the second half of next year. London-listed Victorian Plumbing told investors on Wednesday alongside its half-year results that MFI would be run by a 'dedicated and experienced management team', including buyers formerly employed by Mike Ashley's Frasers. MFI will use the existing infrastructure of the wider group, including two warehouses vacated by Victorian Plumbing in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. It marks Victorian Plumbing's entry into the UK homewares sector, which is worth an estimated £20billion. Victorian Plumbing, which said MFI's product range 'fits' with its existing customer base, plans to invest £3million in 'people and property' this year as part of the launch. Founder and chief executive Mark Radcliffe said: 'I am very excited about the upcoming re-invention of MFI, allowing us to tap in to more of the £20billion 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.' It came as Victorian Plumbing reported 6 per cent year-on-year revenue growth to £152.7million for the six months to 31 March, with adjusted earnings before nasties up 15 per cent to £15.2million. Profits were boosted by a 10 per cent jump in orders and more customers buying Victorian Plumbing's own-brand products. The group expects full-year profits of £31million to £32million, weighed down by £2million as a result of investment in MFI. It said: 'Forecasting MFI at this stage, without any history, is challenging. As an entrepreneurial business we will react and adapt over time.' 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.'
