MFI Group

MFI

Industry	Retail
Founded	1964
Headquarters	London, England, UK
Products	Kitchens Bedrooms Bathrooms Sofas Living room furniture
Website	www.mfi.co.uk

MFI Group Limited, trading as MFI, was a national British furniture retailer. It was one of the largest suppliers of kitchens and bedroom furniture in the UK, and operated mainly in retail parks in out-of-town locations. After success in its early decades it more recently experienced recurring financial problems accompanied by several changes of ownership, and on 26 November 2008 it was announced that the company had been placed into administration.^[1] Merchant Equity Partners, headed by Henry Jackson, was the last company to own it, before it was sold to the management in September 2008 for a "small profit."^[2] The company ceased trading by 19 December 2008 after the administrators failed to find a buyer.^[3]

History

MFI was founded in 1964 as Mullard Furniture Industries by two British men, Noel Lister and Donald Searle, who previously traded in war surplus goods. The new company was named after Searle's wife's maiden name. The company became a public company in 1971, as MFI Warehouses. An external manager, Derek Hunt, was recruited soon afterwards.^[4]

In the 1980s, MFI entered into partnerships, firstly in 1985 with Asda and then with Schreiber Furniture. The Asda connection was soon dissolved over concerns about the company's future and there was a management buy-out in October 1987.

In the new millennium, serious and highly publicised IT problems affecting customers damaged the company's credibility and the finance director and chief operating officer left the company.^[4]

With the advent of out of town shopping during the 1980s, MFI opened a host of stores in such developments. In 1985, MFI was the very first tenant of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre at Brierley Hill in the West Midlands - opening a new store which within four years was part of the largest shopping complex in Western Europe.^[5]

MFI gained a new rival in 1987 when Swedish furniture retailer IKEA began trading in Britain and expanded over the coming years. Soon afterwards, DIY retail giant B&Q expanded into the furniture market and emerged as a surprise new rival for MFI.

Despite this, MFI was still expanding as late as 2002, when it took over Sofa Workshop.

By 2006, it was clear that MFI's fortunes were declining. Despite the British economy still being strong and recession not even on the horizon, it was reported that sales for the previous year had fallen to £742million compared to £854million in 2003. In September 2006 the retail arm of the company acquired by Merchant Equity Partners for £1 after which the parent company changed its name to Galiform.^[6]

MFI Retail was the subject of a second management buyout in September 2008, but by this stage the British economy was sliding into recession, unemployment was rising and retail sales were falling. MFI's future was looking bleak.^[7]

MFI store in Kew Retail Park, Southport.

Early on 25 November 2008, the BBC first reported the possibility of MFI going into administration, with MFI desiring a three-month rent-free period from landlords. Later the following day it was announced that no agreement could be reached and PropertyWeek reported that Menzies Corporate Restructuring had been appointed as administrators.^[8] On the 26 November 2008, after a board meeting MFI went into administration.^[9] The Company was unable to confirm what would happen to consumers with pending orders. On 19 December 2008 all 111 MFI stores were closed with the loss of 1,200 jobs .^[3]

Operations

MFI operated over 100 stores across the UK of between 15,000 & 30,000 square feet (2,800 m²). Home deliveries amounted for over 50 million items a year going to 2.5 million households in the UK & Northern Ireland.

It was one of the first tenants of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre, opening a store there in 1985 in the retail warehousing section of the development.

The Company had sought to upgrade many aspects of the business, including greater focus on customer service; updating and improving the product range; improving utilisation of floor space; establishing closer supplier relationships; investing in logistics, IT, supply systems and product development and enhancing internal communications.

It offered a full range of furniture for bedrooms, bathroooms, kitchens, lounges, dining rooms and home offices. It was particularly associated with self-assembly furniture.

Its products were mainly targeted to value-oriented customers with the "Hygena" brand, and those on a higher income with the "Schreiber" brand. MFI was also one of the largest suppliers of installed appliances in the UK with its own brand "Diplomat". New and exclusive to MFI was its "Space Genie" range which were ingenious storage solutions for the kitchen and bedroom. MFI sold beds directly from Silentnight, Rest Assured and Layezee, and also sold dining furniture from The Chair Company. Other MFI brands included "Viva Sofa" and "The Bath Co."

Criticisms

MFI had been criticised for the excessive frequency and length of its sales. In a six month survey by consumer magazine Which? it emerged that 4 out of 5 kitchens in the "sale" had never actually been sold at the higher price against which the discount claims were being made. Which? stated that "MFI's pricing policy deceived its customers into thinking they are getting a better deal than they are. In some cases, its pricing is downright misleading". MFI's advertising of such sales also came in for criticism for using phrases such as "Hurry! Only four days left" or "Prices too good to last" even though a new sale would almost always be launched immediately afterwards.^[10]

MFI was also known for being one of the first ever companies to be investigated by the BBC programme "Watchdog". The programme attempted to buy a £600 kitchen advertised by MFI, though the price only actually included kitchen units and not the appliances shown.^[11]

Controversies

In September 2007 MFI was forced to withdraw a television advert featuring a woman slapping her husband in the face twice and shouting at him for leaving the toilet seat up. Those complaining felt that the advert trivialised the issue of domestic violence against men. The ASA concluded that it "was likely to cause serious or widespread offence to viewers and could be seen to condone intimidation, domestic violence and aggression as an acceptable way to resolve issues". The ASA went as far as to state that "it could also cause social, moral or psychological harm to children" and they were "concerned that it had been broadcast at all". As a result the advertisement was banned.^[12][13][14]

References

1. ^ "MFI set to go into administration". BBC Online (BBC). 17:24 GMT, Wednesday, 26 November 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7750250.stm. Retrieved 2008-11-26. 
2. ^ Official MEP website and news
3. ^ ^{a b} "Furniture chain MFI closes down". BBC Online (BBC). 17:05 GMT, Friday, 19 December 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7792498.stm. Retrieved 2008-12-19. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Ramnarayan, Abhinav (26 November 2008). "MFI: The flatpack giant that fell flat on its back". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/26/mfi-furniture-high-street-retailers-recession. Retrieved 8 Mar 2010. 
5. ^ Real estate twins do nothing by halves
6. ^ MFI sells store chain in £1 deal BBC News, 22 September 2006
7. ^ "Why did it go flat-packed at MFI?". BBC News. 26 November 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7751407.stm. 
8. ^ MFI has gone into administration
9. ^ Furniture giant MFI collapses into administration
10. ^ MFI accused over all-year 'sales' | This is Money
11. ^ Watchdog continued to cover MFI and called it "so familiar it feels like an old friend" 1st December 2008 BBC - Press Office - Watchdog 25th anniversary
12. ^ ASA adjudications: MFI Retail Ltd
13. ^ MFI's domestic violence ad banned after hundreds complain
14. ^ "The bathroom ad slap that landed MFI in hot water for 'trivialising' domestic violence". Daily Mail (London). 25 September 2007. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483921/The-bathroom-ad-slap-landed-MFI-hot-water-trivialising-domestic-violence.html. 

External links

• MFI