Bathroom chain Victorian Plumbing is to relaunch the MFI name as an online homewares brand but it expects it to lose £6m by the end of its first year of trading.
The retailer took ownership of the brand in May 2024 as part of its £22.2m deal to buy rival Victoria Plum. It now plans to relaunch MFI between October this year and March 2026.
It says it fits with the group’s existing customer base and will use its existing ecommerce and logistics platforms – operating from warehouses in Lancashire – but it will cost it £6m by the end of its 2026 financial year.
‘Forecasting MFI at this stage, without any history, is challenging. As an entrepreneurial business we will react and adapt over time. Notwithstanding this, our current expectation is for MFI to incur the same overall loss in FY26 as expected in FY25. Additional guidance will be provided following the MFI consumer launch in H1 FY26,’ says Mark Radcliffe, Victorian Plumbing ceo.
‘”I am very excited about the upcoming re-invention of MFI, allowing us to tap in to more of the £20bn UK homewares market. Our dedicated and ambitious team, decades of e-commerce knowledge and best-in-class proprietary software, together with the recognisable MFI brand, will help to deliver our strategic ambition over the medium-term.’
Founded in 1964, MFI came to dominate the flatpack bedroom and kitchen market – by 1988 it owned the Hygena and Schreiber brands – later buying Sofa Workshop in a deal that turned sour for shareholders. However it failed to shake a reputation for perpetual sales, missing parts and the quality of its products. By 2006 MFI’s retail operations had been sold to Merchant Equity Partners for £1 with Howdens as a separate business. Two years later MEP sold out to MFI’s management and on 26 November 2008 it fell into administration, with stores closed on 19 December. In 2016 Victoria Plumb revealed plans to use the brand to sell flatpack furniture online.
Image: Creative Commons Chris1193.
