Member Article

North East furniture manufacturer defies quarterly slump with strong sales

North East furniture manufacturer Godfrey Syrett has reported a 22% growth in sales on last year, subverting a regional slump in the industry during the first quarter of 2016.

Securing sales of £6.6m, the firm said its strong first quarter is down to growth across all sectors of the business.

David Hall, Sales Director, explained: “We have had a very busy start to the year, and what is satisfying is to see that business has increased across the private sector as well as the public sector.

“We have been traditionally strong in the public sector but now we are increasingly supplying corporate businesses within the commercial market.”

The company, which has two manufacturing sites in Killingworth and Durham, is bucking the national trend, following reports that activity in the UK manufacturing sector has been sluggish.

The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index gauge for the first quarter was 51.6, the weakest result in three years, according to the report from Markit Economics, which compiles the indicators. April showed a reading of 49.2, falling below the critical 50 mark which signals a fall in output.

Neil Ross, Business Development Manager, said: “Despite the disappointing national figures we have been unaffected by the slow down and with a strong sales team in place we remain very positive about the remainder of the year.

“During Q1 I have established more than a dozen new customers within the commercial sector, ranging from call centre businesses to retail, leisure and logistics companies, and believe further growth in this sector will be key to achieving the business’ long-term goals.”

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