Multiyork

Multiyork Furniture Ltd

Industry	Retail
Founded	1978
Headquarters	Thetford, United Kingdom
Number of locations	58 (February 2011)
Key people	Indira Thambiah (Chairman)
Products	Furniture
Owner(s)	Privately Owned
Website	Multiyork Furniture Website

Multiyork is a British furniture retailer based in Thetford, Norfolk. The company employs over 660 people across the United Kingdom and over 300 at its factory and head office in Thetford, where it is a major business.

Multiyork is a member of the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers and carries the Manufacturing Guild Mark.^{[citation needed]}

History

Multiyork was founded is 1978 and initially operated out of the Old Mill site in Mellis – a small village in Suffolk - as of 1981.

Multiyork was purchased by the Wade Furniture Group in February 1995. At that time there were 28 stores.

The factory and Head Office have been based at Thetford in Norfolk since 1992 and in 2000 Multiyork expanded its site increasing factory capacity to the production of over 1,000 pieces of furniture a week.

Multiyork's 60th store opened in Lakeside Retail Park in Thurrock in October 2008 and was the first to follow a new lifestyle led in-store format.^{[clarification needed]}

Craftsmanship

All Multiyork sofas are made at its Thetford factory. The company employs a team of 60 seamstresses who stitch the upholstery fabrics. Multiyork operates a sewing apprenticeship school to ensure that these skills are passed down from one generation to the next and to preserve the craft within the local region. Not only do Multiyork use their own fabrics but also offer designer fabrics such as Mulberry, Designers Guild, Arthur Sanderson, Romo and Jane Churchill.

The Factory Store

Multiyork’s Factory outlet is run out of its original site in Mellis. The 10,000 sq ft (930 m²) store has over 4,000 sq ft (370 m²) dedicated to clearance stock, including ex display and end of line stock, as well as cancelled customer orders and customer returns.

Fundraising

In 2009 Multiyork raised £25,000 for BBC Children in Need. The company’s in-house design team created six limited edition Pudsey sofas, five of which toured its stores and travelled a total of 3,000 miles (4,800 km) between them to raise funds.

The sofas, which incorporated Pudsey Bear and the ‘We’re Supporting BBC Children in Need’ banner, were also featured on BBC1 on the appeals night programme and were auctioned off through the BBC’s Children in Need eBay auction to raise further cash.

Gallery

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  Multiyork in the St.Mark's shopping area

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  Multiyork Furniture Shop, Calverley Rd

References

• The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers
• Manufacturing Guild Mark holders
• Retail Week
• Diss Express
• Southwestbusiness.co.uk news article
• Thetford and Brandon Times
• Multiyork's Pudsey sofa in Sheffield
• Norwich Evening News24 article

External links

• Official website