Whitemeadow has been identified as one of London Stock Exchange Group’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2018. The report is a celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing and most dynamic small and medium sized businesses across the UK.

To be included in the list, companies needed to show consistent revenue growth over a minimum of three years, significantly outperforming their industry peers. More detail on the methodology can be found in the report online at www.1000companies.com.

Whitemeadow is the largest independently owned upholstery manufacturer in Britain today, producing a wide range of sofas and upholstered bed frames for many of the country’s blue chip high street brands and premium independent retailers.

Situated in the heart of the upholstery manufacturing centre of the UK, Whitemeadow began in 1994, handcrafting products in our Nottinghamshire factory. Fast forward to today and we’re proud to maintain our commitment to craftmanship, now on a much larger scale.

As a major employer in the local area, we currently employ over 500 colleagues over 6 sites, all within a 2-mile radius which totals over 170,000 ft2 of manufacturing space. Focussing on design leadership, an efficient production process and attention to quality, we have grown to become one of Britain’s leading upholstery manufacturers.

Whitemeadow Managing Director, Ian Oscroft commented “We are delighted to be included again in the LSE’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report. We have focused heavily on improving our infrastructure, from both a people and operative perspective. Investment in new production equipment such as CNC routers and automated fabric cutting machines have allowed us to increase output efficiency, whilst educating and encouraging career development of our employees has improved productivity. We look forward to continuing this progress.”

Nikhil Rathi, CEO, London Stock Exchange Plc:

“We warmly congratulate all of the companies identified in this year’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report. Five years on, the report continues to demonstrate the strength and diversity of British businesses across the country. These dynamic companies are the backbone of our economy, playing an important role in the UK’s ability to innovate, export and grow. This report is a significant part of London Stock Exchange Group’s broader campaign to support UK high growth companies. We are committed to championing British businesses and Britain’s dynamic entrepreneurial spirit.”

A full searchable database of all of the companies along with a downloadable pdf of the publication can be found online at www.1000companies.com

Whitemeadow were delighted to exhibit at the first ever Creative Industries Expo at Nottingham Trent University last month. Managing Director Ian Oscroft, Human Resource Manager, Karen Clarridge and Marketing Manager, Zehra Gezer manned the Whitemeadow stand throughout the day. Ian commented: "We know that to ensure Whitemeadow stays at the forefront of the industry, we need to continually bring fresh new designs to the market and to that end we encourage a working climate for inspiration. It was particularly refreshing to attend the fair and talk with so many young people who are passionate about design and have a desire to innovate".

The Expo was aimed at students enrolled on creative courses such as Product Design, Furniture Design and Textiles who are looking for opportunities including graduate jobs, work experience, freelance projects during their studies or volunteer work. Over 40 companies exhibited on the day,  including Next Retail Ltd, New Look Retailers Ltd, Design Council and Games Workshop. In total, 739 students attended the fair and was deemed a great success by the organisers.

Karen commented:"Whitemeadow already have a strong relationship with Leicester De Montfort University where we launched the first ever Whitemeadow Upholstery Design Award in 2017. Product Design student Josh Greaves was the winner and is currently completing a very successful one year work placement with our Design department. This event has given us some great exposure amongst local students, and meeting so many talented and enthusiastic individuals has given me confidence in the pool of talent from which we can attract future employees".

We have been busy shouting about our fantastic new models and fabrics in recent weeks across our social media platforms. Below is some of the great feedback we have been receiving from both within the industry and end consumers.

We have also had some positive coverage within the trade press regarding our sponsorship of local schools for the Furniture Makers' Company School Design Prize. More on this in the following weeks...

And because March was National Bed Month, we ran a weekly campaign to promote our current and new range of bed frames.

So if you are not already following us on Twitter and Instagram please do and keep up to date with all the latest news and goings on at Whitemeadow!