Nigel Griffiths gives praise to the furniture industry

The UK furniture industry employs 128,000 people in 7,400 businesses, the combined turnover of which is around ú10 billion annually. Speaking in Birmingham at The Furniture Show, the UK's biggest trade furniture exhibition, Mr Griffiths said: "The UK furniture industry is known for it's talented designers and tradition of quality.

The Government set up ukfirst and the Furniture Strategy Group to help maintain and boost the UK industry and provide a forum for sharing best practice and developing a long term strategy for success. "This is just one example of the Government's commitment to create the environment, framework and structure for business to flourish."

Ukfirst has identified 17 ways to improve furniture firms business processes and has already held over a dozen seminars to help share best practice as widely as possible and support firms as they move to the new working practices. They have also undertaken over 50 individual business reviews with individual organisations and more are planned.

The Furniture Strategy Group (FISG) includes manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, representatives from the GMB (trade union) and academia. It is looking at:

* Industry skills and training needs,

* the development of an export strategy,

* making more of opportunities in the public sector,

* encouraging a greater awareness of design, and

* addressing regulatory concerns.

Later in the day, the Minister welcomed guests from Russia, Bulgaria and Dubai to an overseas trade reception. The key overseas buyers were invited to meet UK manufacturers and discover their latest range of products. It also gave the UK companies a chance to assess the requirements of these potential buyers and explore this new export opportunity.

After meeting the delegates, Nigel Griffiths said: "Inward missions are vital to the industry. This country's diverse furniture designs range from the traditional to the cutting edge and opportunities like this allow us to show potential buyers that we are at the forefront of modern furniture design and to compete with the strong Italian and German furniture export markets."

This visit follows a similar successful pilot event last year, when a group of Russian buyers attended the furniture show and placed ú50k of business. The networking event was co-sponsored by Furniture West Midlands, a new group which represents the West Midlands' furniture industry on a regional, national and international level.

West Midlands companies attending the event included Shropshire-based CS Contract Furniture and NEJ Stevenson, a company from Warwickshire, which has made furniture for Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Furniture is the second largest industrial sector in the region with 2,000 businesses and 23,000 workers. Mr Griffiths also took a tour of the exhibition, meeting some of the UK's top furniture manufacturers and trade organisations.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Furniture Industry Strategy Group (FISG) was formed in June 2003 and provides a forum for discussing issues of concern to the UK furniture sector. Martin Jourdan is Chairman of FISG and members include furniture manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, representatives from the GMB (trade union) and academia. Priority activities for FISG include an examination of skills and training needs, the development of an export strategy, making more of opportunities in the public sector, encouraging a greater awareness of design, and addressing regulatory concerns.

2. ukfirst is supported by DTI as part of the Industry Forum Adaptation Programme. It was formally launched on 14 January 2004 and will receive DTI support of ú1.74 million over 4.5 years. ukfirst represents the largest single initiative undertaken by the furniture sector. Its own contributions amount to around ú785k in cash and some ú1.4 million in kind costs.

UK Trade & Investment is the government organisation that provides integrated support services for UK companies engaged in overseas trade and foreign businesses focused on the UK as an inward investment location. It brings together the work of teams in British embassies and FCO posts overseas and government departments across Whitehall. In England, UK Trade & Investment services are delivered through the 45 Business Links and other partners including Regional Development Agencies and Chambers of Commerce, coordinated by nine regional International Trade Directors. The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements for local delivery of services. 

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