Celebrations

Highgrove is celebrating 21 years of success.

When Wazarat Ali took over ownership of a small bed manufacturing business in Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire in 2001, he had little knowledge of the industry. But he did have a strong belief that he would build Highgrove into a successful brand.

Fast-forward 21 years and Highgrove is now one of the UK’s fastest growing bed brands, reporting year-end sales in 2022 of more than £28m: a £5m increase. The ambition of Ali to compete at all levels with the well-established traditional brands hasn’t been easy; however, his long-term commitment to investing in all aspects of the business has paid dividends. 

Now, the Highgrove operation based in Liversedge is one of the largest and most modern in Europe, producing up to 5,000 beds a week. Ali purchased the 22acre site in 2017 and following £12m of further investment now has about 600,000sqft of manufacturing and warehousing, which also includes a 100,000sqft distribution centre and a foam conversion plant.

The latest site investment is a new headboard manufacturing unit, which will soon have the additional capability of producing fashionable bed frames, primarily for the UK market. 

Ali puts the success of his business down to several key factors, top being the partnership approach Highgrove has to its customers. ‘Without their continued support over the years it certainly would have taken us much longer to get where we are today,’ he says.

‘On our part, we give them the widest choice of product available in the marketplace, high quality and great value, and on top of this we provide our seven-day Fastersleep delivery service for 98% of orders placed.’

He also praises his employees. ‘Their efforts throughout the business and at all levels have been instrumental to Highgrove’s success.’

The company has three brands in its product portfolio: HG at the entry level, the flagship Highgrove brand targeting the mid-market, and Sanctum which provides traditional hand-crafted luxury to the premium price sector.

Ali’s son Saleem is now very much involved in taking the business forward and is confident that it will achieve £50m sales within the next five years as the company targets new markets both at home and abroad.

‘We now have the foundations to take the business to its next tier of development. We are particularly pleased and proud to have attained both the SEDEX and ISO 9001 standards in recent years, which further highlights our ongoing commitment to the highest quality, environmental and ethical standards,’ says Saleem.

Highgrove made a strategic decision several years ago to continue support the high street at a time when some established brands were looking to sell direct to consumers on the Internet. Since then, more than £750,000 has been invested in high-impact in-store displays, which have been made available free of charge to appointed stockists.

‘Clearly, our brands can be found on the Internet via our customers’ websites; however, our high street collections are still exclusively available to independent retailers and not available for online sales,’ says Saleem.

So what does the future hold for Highgrove? Saleem is confident despite the difficult economic forecast. ‘The business has invested well in people, plant and machinery and is well placed to take advantage of new opportunities. Our aim is to establish Highgrove as a well-known consumer brand that is a fitting legacy to my father’s original aims when he founded the business.’

The Bed Show will see Highgrove present every model in its range, including the recently introduced Coppersleep and ChiroGel models featuring an upgraded AdvantEdge spring system. Highgrove will also expand its adjustable bed offer and add several new cover innovations. HG will have a wide range of roll-up mattresses, and the Sanctum stand will feature the full collection of hand-crafted models. Highgrove will be exhibiting on stands F120 and G70.

Wazarat-and-Saleem-Ali

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