HOMESERVEFURNITURE REPAIRS

HomeserveFurniture Repairsiscurrently moving into itsnew home in the BlackCountry

Thebusiness, whichwas formed in 2004, hasbeenbased at Delph Industrial Estate,Delph Road,BrierleyHill

It is nowthe UK’s largestnational furniturerepaircompany forretailers, manufacturersand theinsurance and warranty sectors.

HomeserveFurniture Repairs, which currentlyemploys 248, hasquickly boundedbackfromthe impact of the pandemic

Forthe firsttimeinover10years, turnover forHomeservewas down on thepreviousyearfor 2020-2021asfor April, Mayand half of June of 2020 the business wasclosedwithnoincomewith furlough theonlysupport available.

Threecustomers in thetop 10 largest volumeswentintoadministration duringthe lockdown

HomeserveFurniture Repairsrecovered by achievingrecordturnover,staff numbers, profitability andnumberof customers traded with in thefollowing year

Thecompany beganworking with the largestfurniture retailer in theUK, DFS, whohavenever outsourced their furniturerepairs before September 2020,but choseHomeserveafter years of ‘knockingonthe door’totry andwin thebusiness. It hasalso just wonthe insurancewarrantycontract with one of thelargestfurniture retailersinthe UK,Furniture Village, aftertheyhad been with acompetitorfor 30 years.

Homeservenow commands more than

50 percentofthe furniturerepairmarket in theUKand Ireland.

AfterstartingtoworkwithDFS, it wasasked aboutthe possibility of their customers bookingappointmentsonline

In just sixweeks itswas up andrunning andworkedsowellthataround half of HFR customers nowuse theonline bookingsystem.

Half of themanagementteamat Homeserve, includingthe owner, were furniturerepairtechnicians on theroad working zonesit hopestocreateanimprovedstress-free working environment to supportmentalhealthand wellbeing.

Thenew factoryisdue to startoperation in theautumn

Theinvestmentisahugestatement forUSP Steels andwill provideitwitha platform to continue its growth

USPSteelswas started by Mr Costiganand ateamofsix staff.

It hasdeveloped astrongrelationship with SSAB Steel, renowned forhigh qualityproducts andeventually became an exclusivesupplypartner forone of its specialistproducts within theUK.

USPisforecasttoachieve volumesof 113,000 tonnes despatchedand annual salesrevenue of £100 million

Theprofits arecontinuingtobereinvested back into thebusiness to ensure that USPSteelsremains thefastest growingindependent stockholderinthe UK.

In addition,all employeeshavebenefited from multiple bonusesasrewards forthe hard worktheyhaveinvested.

It continuestoemployeeapprentices with onecurrently active at USPand planstoopenupanother twovacancies in thesecond half of this year

Opportunities

Mr Costigan is nowinvestigatingfurther investmentopportunitiestofurther expand theUSP Steels’brand andgroup andheisalso exploringwaystoexpand theservicesthatitisabletooffer to the UK manufacturingsector.

Over theyears USPSteelshas continuedtoincreaseits productranges and invest heavilyinimproving stockvariety.

Thebusinesshas also invested heavilyinyoung people over theyearsand hasworkedwithNovaTrainingtobring apprenticestothe business andslowly grow theworkforce

Currentlysix membersofits team have successfullycompleted apprenticeshipsatUSP Steels andearnedpermanent contracts.

Will Trainthe Next Generation Of Repair Technicians

In September last year Homeserve FurnitureRepairs purchased abuildingonthe Waterfront Business Park in Brierley Hill,which couldeasilyhave been purposebuilt.

As thecompany hadgrown over the yearsit hadtaken on moreand more unitsonthe Delph Industrial Estate and foryears hadbeenlooking at buying a building

Thenew building hasundergone atotalrenovation. It hasadedicated trainingareafor theapprenticeprogramme andtotrain newrepairtechnicians as they arerecruited.

Allstaff completedthe move to the newsiteonMay 27 andthe remaining equipment is in theprocess of being moved.

That Have Boughttheir Experience Into Theoffice

Even themostexperienced furniture technicians that it recruits have to go through atrainingprogramme, firstlyat theheadoffice in Brierley Hill,thenout on theroadfor at leastaweekwitharepair technicianlocal to wheretheylive, andthenbacktoheadoffice forafurther week before signoff

Thecompany is also investinginan in-house apprenticeship course,which

EachyearHomeserveFurniture Repairsdonates to charities. December 2021 sawdonations to Crisis (tofeed a homeless personatChristmas)and CircusStarr,which pays forchildren to have agreat time at thecircus. It also sponsors twolocal professional boxers, a young localgolfprofessional, anda local under-10sfootballteam.

Thecompany’s target is to achieve£20 million turnover within thenextthree yearshelpedbyanew ventureinproperty repairswhich started in April.

It hasset up anetworkofcontractors throughout theUKthatcan carryout repairstowalls, floors, doorsand driveways forfurniture retailerswhentheir delivery driverscause damage at homes when furnitureisdelivered

Lastyearsaw arecord commercial performancebythe Thomas Dudley Group.

Thebusiness in Birmingham NewRoad, Dudley,which was formed in 1920 andemploys 477 specialises in innovative utility andengineering products as well as bathroom,washroomand plumbing products

Turnover forthe last financialyearwas £56.6million –up £10.5m on theCovid affected year of 2020 butalso up £5mon 2019

Thegroup of companieshas invested in itsmanufacturing capacity to takeadvantage of the opportunitiesfromBrexit and FarEastsupplyissuesfollowing the pandemic

Since1920, Thomas Dudley hasformedveryclose ties with thelocal communitytakingcorporate socialresponsibility seriously.

Thefamilybusinessispassionateabout promotinginclusion,supportingsocialmobility, andgivingyoung people an opportunitytosecurea more prosperous future

Thebusinesshas closelinks with Dudley AcademyTrust,isa CornerstoneEmployer, haspartnerships with Dudley College andhas anumberofdirectors on boards andasenterprise advisors

Thebusinessiskeentohelp supportthe workforce of thefuture andinspire young people to take theopportunitytoembark on careersinmanufacturing

In 2017 it demonstrated commitmenttothe next generation of Britishengineers by donating land forthe construction of The

EliteCentre forManufacturing Skills.

Over thelasttwo yearsthe grouphas donated £50,000to localcharities includingBeaconCentrefor theBlind,Black County Food Bank,Holiday Hunger Projectand many more Thegroup maximises use of theApprenticeshipLevyand has sixapprentices.Itisrecruiting a further five for2022.