Furnish & Fettle Harrogate: Leading Yorkshire interior design company announce plans to close store - but it will save all its staff

Despite the setback, Furnish & Fettle's husband and wife team Glyn and Eleanor Goddard said there would be no job cuts and all of the staff would move to their branch in Wetherby, which is around 10 miles away.

The decision to move away from Crescent Road is part of a “change of direction” for the family-run business, which said it want to learn lessons from the pandemic and respond to the changing economic climate.

“Footfall has changed dramatically over the past couple of years and the marketplace has polarised,” said Furnish & Fettle owner Glyn Goddard. “The more price-sensitive shoppers are increasingly turning to the internet, while at the other end of the spectrum are people looking for expertise and service, and these are the majority of our clients. With rising costs, it just makes no sense to have two showrooms so close to each other, so we have taken the opportunity of a break in our lease to refocus how we can best serve our clients."

As part of the new strategy, Furnish & Fettle have taken on new premises at Thorp Arch with extra storage and a dedicated workshop, and invested in new larger vans to make delivering larger pieces of furniture easier. It is also recruiting an additional experienced interior designer and a tradesperson for the installations team.

Joint owner Eleanor Goddard said: "It is a bit sad to be leaving Harrogate, especially as we are in such a beautiful building, but our Wetherby showroom is less than 10 miles away. It is a really exciting time. We have seen a huge increase in the projects side of our business, while the retail side has become a bit of a distraction.

"Both our Wetherby and Pocklington showrooms will continue to display inspirational room sets and will still feature pieces that can be bought there and then. But they will mainly serve to showcase design ideas and our bespoke craftsmanship. This move just makes sense on every level.”