Dunelm Mill

Dunelm Mill

Type	Public (LSE: DNLM)
Industry	Soft furnishing retailing & manufacturing (Homewares)
Founded	Leicester, Leicestershire, England 1969 by Bill Mandaley & Jean Mandaley
Headquarters	Syston, Leicestershire, UK
Number of locations	1,063 (February 2011)
Key people	Geoff Cooper, (Chairman) Will Adderley, (Executive Deputy Chairman) Nick Wharton, (CEO)
Products	Homewares - Dining, Cookshop, Crafts, Utility, Pictures & Mirrors, Lighting, Storage, Flowers & Decor, Rugs & Doormats, Duvets & Pillows, Bathroom, Fabrics & Custom Made (Curtains, Blinds & Accessories), Bedlinen, Furniture, Seasonal, Pets, Cushions, Throws & Beanbags, Curtain Tracks & Poles, Dorma, Pausa Coffee Shop
Revenue	£492.8 million (June 2010)[1]
Operating income	£76.8 million (June 2010)[1]
Net income	£54.4 million (June 2010)[1]
Employees	6 million approx (August 2011)
Website	www.dunelm-mill.com

Dunelm Mill, also known as 'Dunelm Soft Furnishings Ltd', (LSE: DNLM) (sometimes informally Dunelm) is a major British-based home furnishings retailer with over 100 stores and over 40 implant Pausa coffee shops throughout the United Kingdom. One of the largest homewares retailers in United Kingdom Dunelm Mill's headquarters are based in Watermead Business Park, Syston in Leicestershire. It also has its own UK factory for curtains, blinds and accessories also based in Leicester.

It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

Dunelm Mill was founded in 1969 by Bill Adderley & Jean Adderley, initially trading in home textiles from a market stall in Leicester.^[2] The first Dunelm Mill store opened in Churchgate Leicester in 1984^[2] with the first superstore opening in Rotherham in 1991.^[2]

In 1996 Will Adderley took over full responsibility for the day to day running of the company from his father, Bill Adderley. The expansion of Dunelm Mill continued with a new Head Office and Warehouse being established in 1991 in Syston, Leicestershire.^[2]

In 2001 the Company ventured into manufacturing, acquiring Bellbird producing custom-made curtains, blinds and accessories, with the facility now being known as Dunelm Mill's Manufacturing Centre. On reaching their 50th store (Walsall) Dunelm Mill opened a new warehouse in Burton.^[2]

Key appointments were made in 2003 with David Stead being brought in as Finance Director; this also coinciding with Dunelm Mill's 60th store (Ilkeston) and the roll out of EPOS.^[2]

2004 saw the company appointing Geoff Cooper as Non-Executive Chairman and Marion Sears as a Non-Executive Director. It also saw the opening of their 70th store (Trafford). Two years later Dunelm Mill was seen to be continuing its expansion and opened not only its 80th store (Bradford), a new distribution centre in Stoke but also launched their online shopping facility, offering 13,000 homewares products and floated on the London Stock Exchange with it now being a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. ^[3]

2007 saw the appointment of Simon Emney as Non-Executive Director followed in 2008 with their 90th store (Plymouth) and the acquisition of the worldwide rights to the 'Dorma' brand, famous for bed linen, for £5m in July.^[4] In 2009 Dunelm Mill appointed Nick Wharton as Non-Executive Director and re-launched their online shopping website.^[5] September 2009 saw the announcement that Nick Wharton would be taking over from Will Adderley as Chief Executive in March 2011 with Will Adderley still remaining heavily involved with the company as Executive Deputy Chairman.^[6]

Operations

As of October 2010 Dunelm Mill operated over 106 stores, spread across the UK and a webstore. The majority of the retail network is superstore based operating from an average net sales area of 29,000 sq ft; there still remain a few high street stores that Dunelm Mill established from its earlier trading years.

It was announced on August 2, 2011, that a new store would be opening in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire.^[7]

On October 6th 2011 the Dunelm Mill store located at the Orchard Retail Park in Coventry, West Midlands, was completly destroyed by fire.^[8] The cause is still unknown, however it is suspected that arson may have been the cause. ^[9]

Product ranges

The main focus for Dunelm Mill is home textiles - bedding, curtains & blinds, cushions, fabrics, quilts, rugs, kitchenware, utility, dining, lighting, storage solutions, gifts and seasonal products. Dunelm also offers customers a made-to-measure service for Curtains, blinds and accessories which runs from Dunelm's factory in Leicester, this will also be available in the upcoming Grimsby store, set to open sometime late 2011 / early 2012.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Annual Report 2010
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Dunelm Mill: Timeline
3. ^ Family pocket £100m in Dunelm float The Independent, 20 October 2006
4. ^ Dunelm buys Dorma for £5m Retail Week, 29 July 2008
5. ^ Homewares retailer Dunelm Mill re-launches website to make Internet its largest store Screenpages
6. ^ Dunelm chief to step down to deputy position FT.com, 16 September 2010
7. ^ Grimsby sews up new Dunelm Mill store ThisisGrimsby.co.uk, 2 August 2011
8. ^ Dunelm Mill fire bbc.co.uk, 7 October 2011
9. ^ Coventry fire deliberate? mercia.co.uk, 7 October 2011

External links

• Dunelm Mill Official Website
• Dorma Official Website