Takeover rescues online furniture retailer

Buy It Direct’s managing director Nick Glynne declined to put a price on the deal but said it was “cheap”.

“You need to have critical mass to be an online retailer. Furniture123 is one of many I’ve seen go bust in the last year or two,” he said.

Leeds-based Furniture123, the UK’s first online furniture retail business, has annual sales of £2.2m.

Huddersfield-based Buy It Direct said it plans to increase the business’s sales to £10m over the next three years.

Buy It Direct sells household goods such as kitchen appliances, televisions, laptops and nursery products on the internet and has annual sales of £90m.

The purchase will be its first move into furniture retailing.

It has bought five separate businesses in the last few years, all of which were in distressed circumstances.

Following these acquisitions the company now sells laptops, TVs, appliances, pushchairs and other nursery goods, air conditioning systems and CCTV for homeowners and businesses.

Mr Glynne said there are no plans to change Furniture123’s name.

“It’s got such a heritage. Our ambition is to turn it into the largest profitable online furniture business,” he said.

“Furniture123 is one of the best known names in online furniture retailing. We understand online retailing very well and are excited at the prospect of moving into the furniture sector.

“There’s not much loyalty out there. You have always got to fight for your customers,” he added.

In a statement, Furniture123’s chief executive Julian Field said: “We are pleased that Furniture123 has been acquired by a large and well-established online retailer.

“The synergies that Buy It Direct can bring to bear will ensure that Furniture123 will prosper in an increasingly competitive market.”

Buy It Direct offers white label services to a number of UK retailers including Debenhams and BHS. It also supplies insurance replacement products for UK insurance companies.

It claims to offer goods at 40 per cent off the retailers’ recommended price.

Its head office and showroom are in Huddersfield.

Furniture123’s website allows shoppers to choose from a selection of over 17,000 furniture items for the home including furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom, home office and garden.

It sells some of the UK’s best known furniture brands including Silentnight, Relyon, Airsprung, Sealy, Rest Assured, Lloyd Loom, Morris and Caxtons.

It went into administration earlier this month.