Each day, millions of people go to sleep on mattresses featuring microcoils manufactured by Spinks, one of the world’s most significant producers of pocketed microcoils for the bedding and furniture industries. Now, thanks to its uniquely bold sustainability vision, Spinks has developed several industry-leading innovations that continue to drive a greener path-not only for itself but for the industry as well. Managing Director Darren Marcangelo sprung into a discussion with Richard Hagan.
Spinks specialises in manufacturing unique low-height microcoils –essentially miniature pocket springs – for customers all over the world, the vast majority of which (95%) are mattress manufacturers, with the balance going to furniture manufacturers.
Thanks to its ability to compress and vacuum pack its products, Spinks costeffectively ships products to customers across the UK and Europe and as far afield as Australia and China.
Spinks’ microcoils act primarily as a comfort layer in mattress and furniture
construction. The company pioneered the microcoil concept in the early 2000s for use in its own products, before deciding to sell it to other mattress manufacturers. Its 2019 launch of Flexecore was a major milestone in this journey. Offering a full-height pocket spring, Flexecore is differentiated by its sustainably glued construction which contributed to its almost overnight success in the Australian and US markets. This sustainable glue technology is a major differentiator for Spinks microcoils and ensures that its mattresses can be fully recycled.
Spinks is a member of the larger Harrison Spinks Group; a mattress manufacturer with a history stretching back to 1840. Currently in its fifth generation of family ownership by the Spinks family, Harrison Spinks employs over
600 people and sells its range of beds under the Harrison Spinks brand as well as white-label mattresses for retailers including John Lewis and Dreams.
Of its 600+ staff, 100 are employed at Spinks across five sites, comprising two factories, its wire-drawing facility, an R&D facility and the company’s farm.
Sustainability by design
The Harrison Spinks Group is focused on sustainability. Consequently, each new mattress made by Harrison Spinks is foam-free, glue-free and FR chemical treatment-free.
Sustainability is similarly core to Spinks’ operation, and it starts in the design office. “We design every product with sustainability in mind,” said Managing Director Darren Marcangelo. “That process ensures
that the raw materials we’re using, all the way through to the end product, meet our sustainability credentials. But it also ensures that customers can recycle the product at the end of its life. That’s always at the forefront of the Spinks business model.”
It’s been like that since day one. In 2009 – the year that Spinks was formed: – its owner and founder, Simon Spinks, simultaneously bought a 300-acre farm. His vision was to grow natural fibres in the UK for use in mattresses.
“This was at a time in which the whole mattress industry was going the petrochemical
memory foam route,” Mr Marcangelo continued. “Back then, Simon already wanted to go the natural route, which demonstrates that we’ve been a sustainability thought leader in the industry since then.”
The farm produces natural fibres, including hemp and flax, as well as wool from sheep reared on the farm, both for sale to the industry and for use in its own mattresses. The farm is a key part of the Harrison Spinks Group’s commitment to sustainable bed making.
The group is also a member of the UN Global Compact and has committed itself to Science Based Targets, a global initiative to help businesses set out clear, realistic climate actions. By 2024, Harrison Spinks will send zero waste to either landfill or incineration, and by 2033 it plans to cut its carbon emissions by 95%. Additionally, the group has an advanced mattress circularity strategy, in terms of which it is working with its partners to ensure that Harrison Spinks mattresses never need to go to landfill, by repurposing all of the useful materials in every
used mattress and limiting its consumption of virgin materials.
Spinks’ efforts to address the circularity of its products were recognised in 2022 when its products were awarded Cradle to Cradle certification, with Spinks being the only pocket springs manufacturer in the world to receive this stringent certification.
Down to the wire
Steel wire remains a key part of Spinks’ microcoils. Its main wiredrawing facility is in Scunthorpe, where it processes wire manufactured on-site by British Steel. While the production of steel has some remaining climate challenges, Mr Marcangelo highlighted how the company and British Steel are actively working to address those issues: “Steel is our biggest challenge because it makes up the biggest part of a coil and its manufacturing process is quite carbon intensive.
“Currently, all of the steel we buy is predominantly made in a blast furnace, which isn’t the most sustainable route. Over the next two years, however, British Steel will move from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces, which require less energy and can use recycled steel that melts at a lower temperature.”
The new furnaces present a fresh manufacturing challenge for Spinks that the company is actively innovating to meet.
“We draw the finest wire in the industry because the resulting coils behave very softly and comfortably,” Mr Marcangelo explained. “This fine wire must be of a very high quality as we can have up to 5,000 coils in a single king-size mattress sheet, but if we use too much recycled steel content, then we find that the wire doesn’t meet our quality standards. So, the challenge we’re working to solve now
is how to sustainably incorporate enough high-quality raw material as possible.”
This kind of innovation is a significant part of Spinks’ DNA. In 2023, it was awarded two King’s Awards for Enterprise in Innovation and International Trade, bringing to seven the company’s total number of King’s and Queen's awards that it has won over the years.
Concluding, Mr Marcangelo commented: “Innovation is something that we pride ourselves on. I’m confident that we’ll find the solution to the wire challenge very soon.”n
