Furniture Village announced Jon Simon to the Board after having secured £6M investment from Business Growth Fund

– UK – Furniture Village, the largest independent furniture retailer in the UK, secured a £6m investment from the BGF in August 2014.

Furniture Village was established in 1989 by co-founder and CEO, Peter Harrison, with a simple philosophy: to offer truly excellent products, prices and service to all its customers. The company’s core product category is sofas, alongside cabinet furniture, beds and accessories. Marking its 25th anniversary of trading at the time of BGF’s investment and still independently owned, the business has 40 stores across the UK, employs 760 people and generates revenues of £200m per annum.

BGF’s funding is enabling Furniture Village to accelerate a roll-out expansion of new stores across the UK, as well as bolstering an ongoing investment in technology: to enhance the customer experience in-store and further develop the company’s e-commerce platform. BGF took a minority stake in the business and Jon Simon joined the board as BGF’s representative.

Furniture Village is uniquely positioned at the top end of the volume market and prides itself in being the largest retailer of leading brands in the sector, the majority of which are sourced from the UK. With its accent on quality and design it is well-placed to take advantage of improving economic and market conditions.

Peter Harrison, CEO of Furniture Village commented: “Having achieved a significant improvement in trading performance in our last financial year ending March 2014, which has continued strongly into this current year, this is an ideal time for us to expand and further enhance our presence, both in terms of physical stores and online.

We are appreciative of BGF’s support and confidence, and beyond the many other potential benefits that will arise from our new and close association, this substantial investment will enable us to accelerate our plans and for Furniture Village to remain at the forefront of British retail in its sector.”

Jon Simon, Senior Investment Manager, BGF commented: “This represents an exciting opportunity for BGF to back a well known British brand with a strong heritage and a track record of profitability. We are supporting a clear growth strategy based on selective store roll-out and investment in new software. This in turn, will improve the operational efficiencies of the business and increase the focus on e-commerce, all of which will add to the customer experience. Over 25 years Furniture Village has developed into one of the UK’s leading furniture retailers and we look forward to supporting the management team as the company embarks on this next phase of growth.”