Naughtone Placed No. 22 in the Sunday Times Lloyds SME Export Track 100

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Naughtone, a furniture design and manufacturing company based in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, is one of eight Yorkshire based companies to appear on the Sunday Times’ league table of Britain’s small and medium-sized private companies with the fastest-growing international sales.

Published on Sunday 25th February in the Sunday Times paper, the annual Sunday Times Lloyds SME Export Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s small and medium-sized private companies with the fastest-growing international sales. naughtone, whose headquarters are in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, makes furniture for high-profile global clients including Facebook, Amazon and Google. New showrooms in London and Chicago helped it grow its exports by an average of 107% a year to £9.2m in 2017.

“We’re once again extremely delighted to have been recognised in such a highly regarded and broadly distributed publication as the Sunday Times. Our naughtone team spans across global sites and our placement in this league table is testament to their dedication to growing the business.” – Matt Welsh, naughtone Sales Director.

Read more: (NAUGHTONE)

http://www.naughtone.com/news/naughtone-placed-no-22-in-the-sunday-times-lloyds-sme-export-track-100 

Takkt AG acquires Brittish Equip4Work

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Takkt AG has acquired 100 percent of the shares of Equip4Work Ltd. Signing and closing of the transaction took place on January 29. The company generated sales of roughly 40 million pounds and an ebitda margin in the low double-digit percentage range in the 2016/2017 financial year. It will become part of the newport group founded at the beginning of January within the Takkt Europe segment.

Read more: (OFFICE REPUBLIC)

https://officerepublic.news/en/2018/02/takkt-ag-acquires-brittish-equip4work/

Merger of Holmris and B8 – New Holmris B8 in European Top 10

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Holmris and B8 have signed an agreement to merge the two companies. The merger of the two large office furniture factories based in Bjerringbro, Denmark, is also the story of two families who find themselves in a new strong common unit. The merger will create a strong Nordic supplier of furniture for the professional market with a total turnover of 1.1 billion DKK (€ 147.7 mln) and more than 400 employees. The combined turnover will bring the new company in the top 10 of European Office Furniture Manufacturers

Read more: (OFFICE REPUBLIC)

https://officerepublic.news/en/2018/02/merger-holmris-and-b8-new-holmris-b8-european-top-10

Steelcase survey reveals informal space trend

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A recent study by office furniture vendor Steelcase has shed some light on what people really want from their workplace.

A survey of global office employees revealed that although 77% have their own assigned workstations such as a desk or cubicle, 87% spend as many as four hours every day working elsewhere in so-called ‘informal spaces’.

The inclination towards this kind of space – which includes lounge areas, cafes, bars and break rooms – is fuelled by an increasing need to move away from the desk, with 51% saying they wanted an escape from sitting at the same place each day.

Nearly a quarter of respondents (24%) said they used informal areas for quiet or focused work, supporting the findings of a similar study by design firm Unispace.

Read more: (OPI)

https://www.opi.net/news/steelcase-survey-reveals-informal-space-trend/

Bene and Neudörfler acquire Hali and Svoboda

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The investment company BGO, led by Erhard Grossnigg and former Minister Martin Bartenstein, has bought the Austrian office furniture manufacturer Hali. In addition, the company has taken an option on all shares of Svoboda declared bankrupt last week. BGO already owns the other two major Austrian manufacturers: Bene and Neudörfler.

Subject to approval from the competition authorities, Hali was bought by BGO in early February, the company said in a press release. “Our goal is to form a group of office furniture producers at European level“. The acquisition was reported to the competition authority last Monday.

According to the latest available information, Hali is market leader in Austria with a market share of 16%, which is slightly larger than Bene. Number three is Neudörfler with 13%, followed by Svoboda with 9%. Hali realized a turnover of around € 45 million per year, and employs 230 employees at the head office in Eferding, and at the company’s 7 sales locations in Austria.

Read more: (OFFICE REPUBLIC)

https://officerepublic.news/en/2018/02/bene-and-neudorfler-acquire-hali-and-svoboda/

Haworth 2017 sales surpass $2B

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HOLLAND, MI – Haworth, Inc. had a good 2017.

The Holland office furniture-maker reported sales of $2.04 billion for the year, a 5.3 percent increase from 2016.

The last time Haworth sales topped $2 billion was in 2000.

Rising revenues were fueled by growth in every region of the world, the manufacturer said in a statement announcing 2017 revenues. The private company doesn’t report profits or any additional financial information in its annual announcement.

“The industry was largely flat. The growth we had was significant market share gain,” Chief Financial Officer John Mooney told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press.

Read more: (MLIVE MEDIA GROUP)

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2018/02/haworth_2017_sales_surpass_2b.html​

Knoll Q4 furniture sales recover

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Knoll’s expansion into new product lines has paid off for the office furniture maker, as Q4 sales returned to growth.
For the three months ended 31 December 2017, sales in its Office segment rose 9.9% to $198.9 million.
However, adjusted operating profit fell 12% to $15.7 million as one-off impairments, acquisition costs and changes in tax law during the quarter weighed down margins.
For FY2017, the category reported sales of $682.9 million, 6% lower than the previous year, thanks to a poor performance in Q1 and Q2.

Read more: (OPI)

https://www.opi.net/news/knoll-q4-furniture-sales-recover/

Knoll reports mixed results in fourth quarter

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EAST GREENVILLE, Pa. – The turnaround path continues for Knoll, Inc. and fourth quarter 2017 showed an increase in sales and net earnings when compared to fourth quarter 2016. However, net sales for the full year declined by 2.6 percent from 2016, and net earnings and diluted earnings per share fell as well.
During the first quarter of 2018, the company completed the acquisition of Muuto A.P.S., the Copenhagen-based designer and provider of affordable luxury furniture, lighting and accessories for the workplace and home, for approximately $300 million in cash, less certain customary adjustments.

Concurrent with the Muuto acquisition, the Company amended its credit facility, which provides for a $750 million borrowing that matures in five years. The proceeds of the credit facility were used to fund the Muuto acquisition, refinance certain indebtedness and for ongoing working capital requirements.

Read more: (WFMZ-TV 69 NEWS)

http://www.wfmz.com/business/knoll-reports-mixed-results-in-fourth-quarter/699099827

Peter Veer – Senior Vice President of Royal Ahrend – leaves the company

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Peter Veer, Senior Vice President, left Royal Ahrend BV on 5 February 2018. Veer came on board at Ahrend in 2015 after the Dutch office furniture manufacturer acquired Gispen Group BV, where he was one of the shareholders. Since then he was, as a member of the Management Board of Royal Ahrend BV, responsible for the commercial integration of Gispen within the group. Now that this process has been successfully completed, Peter Veer decided in consultation to look for a new challenge outside of Ahrend.

Read more: (OFFICE REPUBLIC)

https://officerepublic.news/en/2018/02/peter-veer-senior-vice-president-royal-ahrend-leaves-the-company/

Lithuanian furniture manufacturer Narbutas reports record turnover again

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In 2016, the Lithuanian office furniture maker Narbutas reported a turnover of € 33.1 million. Now the company states in a press release, their turnover in 2017 grew with 53%  to € 51 million. In line with their increasing turnover, the EBITDA also improved, and amounted to € 10.7 mln.
“Our successful results are driven by new and in-demand products, competitive pricing and active sales growth. We currently export office furniture to 51 countries and we have over 440 trading partners. The fastest growth in sales was recorded in our largest export market – the United Kingdom, as well as France, Germany and the United States. We actively strengthened our position in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and we are glad about the results in the Middle East, “said Gabriel Vaitonytė,

Read more: (OFFICE REPUBLIC)

https://officerepublic.news/en/2018/02/lithuanian-furniture-manufacturer-narbutas-reports-record-turnover-again/