__________________________________________________________________________________________ Leisure Furnishings
From humble origins with a team of just five people, Leisure Furnishings has become a leading supplier of soft furnishings to the leisure industry, and as a result has worked with most of the major manufacturers in the sector. Founded in 1999, the business has grown to accommodate a team of over 200 people that is still expanding. Managing Director, Robert Hunter, elaborates:“ Leisure Furnishings is a family-owned business which celebrated its 25th anniversary in October of last year.
“ It was founded by husband-and-wife team Colin and Kirsty Crewther in Long Eaton where we are still based today. Although we have grown considerably as a company over that time we still try and provide that personal touch for our employees and run it as a small to medium family-owned business.”
Robert continues, outlining the company’ s current offering and range of services:“ We’ re a very hands-on business with people making things from scratch rather than assembling. We have a sewing facility, cutting rooms, and a wood mill which we utilize to make mattresses, divans, headboards, and sofas. Essentially, anything in your home that has fabric on it, we make. Our core business is providing the leisure industry with soft furnishings such as seats and backs for caravans( both towed and static), as well as motorhomes and campervans. We’ re the biggest supplier of interiors for the industry, so that’ s our specialty.”
Reflecting on the ways in which familyownership has shaped the business Robert says that it creates a more balanced approach:“ When things are busy for example, and you need a decision made quickly it’ s easy to get all the key stakeholders into a room and have those conversations. You become a part of the family- I’ ve known Colin for over 29 years- and so we’ re agile when required. Then, equally when you experience difficult moments, and you need to mitigate your losses or find ways to maintain profits, we can achieve results in a much less ruthless, less corporate way. In the end we always get to where we need to be, but through a much nicer approach. We care more than a large corporate entity; we are very aware that the decisions we make can have serious implications on other people’ s lives.”
Moving on, Robert explains how Covid, which caused enormous challenges for many industries triggered a significant uptick in certain areas of the business:“ With the travel restrictions put in place by the government and indeed governments all over the world, there was a pent-up frustration. People wanted to go on holiday and had the money to spend so the full leisure industry exploded.
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