‘Opportunistic’ Willis & Gambier can treble turnover to £100m within two years

23rd April | furniture | More product placements will help Willis & Gambier take its turnover beyond £100m in just a couple of years, according to md Mark Symes. He says the firm will continue to ramp up its living and dining offer to match that of its bedroom cabinet ranges, which have historically accounted for 70% of the firm’s business.

He also says the imminent launch of Originals – a value driven brand that Symes describes as ‘the bread and butter products that every retailer knows they have to have on the shop floor,’ will also boost turnover to the tune of £10m within two years of its launch, which is slated for July’s Manchester Furniture Show.

Willis & Gambier, which was rescued from administration last Autumn by Samson Holding, the parent company to Chinese manufacturing giant Lacquercraft, will this year turnover ‘not less than the £28m it did in 2008’ according to Symes.

‘We surprised a lot of people at the NEC with the breadth of the dining offer, given our past focus on bedroom cabinet,’ he says.

‘But living and dining represents a larger part of the wider furniture market, so our aim is to maintain our bedroom sales while rapidly growing in other areas. Even in a recession, if we can move into new areas and take increased retail floor space, we can continue to grow sales.’

A much awaited move into upholstery is yet to materialise, but Symes says given the current market it may be better to take an ‘opportunistic approach’ as companies may become available if they run into difficulty.