The BFC 2010 Five Year Strategic Plan    

Introduction

The British Furniture Confederation (BFC) works with Government on behalf of the UK furniture industry. This strategic plan clarifies the BFC’s role and identifies activities and actions that will benefit the industry.

Furniture is supplied to a diverse marketplace including houses, offices, hotels, schools, cruise liners, hospitals, restaurants, residential accommodation, stadia, airports and other public spaces.

In this respect the industry is deceptively large, with Government statistics indicating that 8360 manufacturers produce £8.3 billion of product and employ 112000 people. In addition to this, it is estimated that the industry comprises 18800 self employed individuals and 7000 interior designers.

Mission statement

To sustain a strong and influential dialogue with Government, ensuring that its policies support a thriving UK furniture industry

Aims

  • help secure the long term future and prosperity of the British furniture industry
  • raise the profile of the industry at a political level to ensure that the industry gains the recognition and attention that its size deserves
  • formulate strategies for dealing with key industry issues support and inform politicians of all parties through the All Party Parliamentary Furniture Group
  • identify industry and regional efficiency measures to reduce costs for both business and Government

Strategic focus

To be truly effective, the BFC will be selective by focusing on a smaller number of “high-impact” initiatives and pursuing these rigorously.

This does not preclude involvement where the impact is judged to be less significant. Also, there may be circumstances where other parties adopt the primary lobbying role. Under these circumstances, the BFC will monitor the issues concerned and adopt either supportive or advisory roles.

The main strategic focus of the BFC’s lobbying activities will be:

  • Supporting competitive UK furniture manufacturing
  • Reducing red tape and unnecessary legislation
  • Making short term finance accessible
  • Raising the profile of the “furniture sector” so that it is recognised as an important, sustainable, core, UK manufacturing industry
  • Ensuring that the UK Government actively lobbies to force European companies to comply with European legislation
  • Supporting lean manufacturing and process improvements
  • Facilitating innovation, research and development
  • Ensuring that industry receives a fair allocation of Government funding
  • Consulting with Government to ensure that policies and legislation are realistic and do not penalise UK manufacturers to the extent that they become uncompetitive

Committing to environmental and sustainability excellence

  • Supporting industry schemes that enhance the industry’s environmental and sustainability credentials such as the Furniture Industry Sustainability Programme (FISP)
  • Differentiating those UK manufacturers who choose a sustainable agenda, especially compared with less sustainable furniture suppliers from the UK and overseas

Intellectual Property (IP) and Design - raising awareness about the industry’s contribution to the UK’s GDP

  • Encouraging respect for good design and the protection of all IP rights in declared corporate social responsibility
  • Seeking to improve intellectual property design legislation nationally and internationally
  • Ensuring Government procurement IP policy falls in line with respect for original design ownership
  • Promoting, developing and marketing the value of original design within the UK furnishings industry worldwide

Maintaining quality and safety standards

  • Ensuring that legislative penalties are applied equally to both importers and UK manufacturers
  • Supporting UK manufacturers and retailers who differentiate their products through the adoption of performance, quality and safety standards
  • Gathering evidence of unfair practice and publishing findings
  • Impressing the importance of, and need of support for, the development of UK, European and International Standards
  • Working with organisations such as Consumer Direct, Trading Standards and the OFT and impressing on them that consumers deserve to be supplied with products that are safe and fit for purpose
  • Ensuring that there is no dilution of UK Safety Regulations, particularly, though not exclusively, those relating to the flammability of furniture and furnishings

Increasing and improving the skills base

  • Influencing the school curriculum and further education establishments to develop individuals that meet industry’s skills requirements
  • Making skills funding available direct to the employers
  • Enabling industry to influence the skills agenda
  • Supporting the Sector Skills Council in the prevention of any dilution of Government support for industry’s education and training needs

Maximising the market in the UK

  • Changing European, and hence UK, procurement rules to ensure that they do not compromise specifiers by preventing them from purchasing furniture that meets the performance, sustainability, safety and quality criteria they demand
  • Continuing to make procurement recommendations that generate a fair playing field for all suppliers
  • Encouraging Government, specifiers and retailers to recognise the benefits of British manufactured goods and to take a more holistic “cost / benefit” view of the purchasing process rather than focussing solely on the market price of a product
  • Promoting the importance and capabilities of companies who invest in membership of trade bodies

Encouraging exports

  • Reviewing the industry’s export study and encouraging support for its recommendations
  • Influencing Government export strategies and generating greater “practical” assistance for exporters
  • Re-focussing effort on outward trade as opposed to financing other countries to export to the UK

The generic term “furniture” within this document means furniture, beds and furnishings