The vast majority of bed manufactures have seen sales drop over the winter, with many expecting to make staff redundant.
Some 83% of companies said sales had fallen in December and January compared with 2019/2020, according to a NBF survey.
Nearly a third (30%) said sales had fallen by 50% or more while a further 40% reported being between 20% and 40% down.
Almost three-quarters (72%) said they had already made redundancies while 56% expect to do so. Production departments have been the hardest hit with headcount reductions of between 10%-25% commonplace.
While there is some optimism around a pickup in sales as restrictions lift (43% anticipate a year-on-year rise of up to 20%), well over half (57%) of respondents expect no change or for sales to be down overall.
Almost all (90%) expressed concern about the ongoing impact of COVID restrictions on orders over the next six months while 16% think the ending of government support and 14% the lack of clarity will have a further effect.
Also causing huge concern among members are hefty material and component price rises (80%) and the volatility of materials supply: some of it linked to Brexit. Soe 30% of those importing had been severely impacted by transport issues (63%), additional paperwork (52%) and proof of origin issues (30%).
‘These are bugging both importers and exporters and there is particular concern over the increased paperwork required to send goods to Northern Ireland. And many in our sector, used to the Republic of Ireland being a seamless extension of their Northern Ireland business, feel they are now being priced out by the extra costs and duties,’ says Jessica Alexander, NBF executive director.
All members reported that they expect prices to increase over the next six months, with 45% saying they anticipated increases of between 5% and 10%. These cost pressures are inevitably being met by price rises, with 43% predicting they will need to reflect the 5% – 10% uplift in factory gate prices.
‘The overall picture is currently incredibly challenging but we remain hopeful that if the anticipated April 12 re-opening of non-essential retail In England goes ahead we will see a return of the pent-up consumer demand experienced last summer,’ says Alexander.
