Shropshire furniture manufacturer marks 20 successful years

Retail Furniture started life with two staff in modest surroundings in Oakengates but now boasts a workforce of more than 50 in a 50,000 square foot workshop at Halesfield, Telford, and is looking to acquire more units in the next few years to meet increasing demand for its services.

The company manufactures bespoke shopfitting solutions and display stands primarily for retail clients but also supplies customers in the health, leisure, education, commercial and finance sectors. Its large client-base includes supermarket giants Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose, Harrods, John Lewis Starbucks, BP and Boots. The firm also works extensively within the rail industry.

Neil Enefer, Retail Furniture managing director, said: “It’s been an exciting 20 years and we are looking forward to carrying that success forward with new challenges and a growing client-base in the future.

“We are proud of how far we have come but it’s important for us to let people know that we are here, what we do and that we’re a great team to work with in helping them meet their requirements.

“Retail Furniture is a specialist manufacturer primarily serving the retail sector but we also provide bespoke work for other sectors, including health, and have supplied items like screening boards and other protection equipment for furniture used by the NHS and individual companies throughout the pandemic.

“We provide a whole range of bespoke furniture for further locations such as schools, colleges and libraries, supply to offices, vet practices, commercial and leisure establishments.

“Another interesting thing we are involved in is the rail industry, where we can provide a polyurethane solution for train table tops which acts as an antibacterial protection barrier. We are one of the few companies that can supply this solution on a large scale, it’s a brilliant necessity to have, especially where hygiene has been at the forefront of people’s minds due to the pandemic.”

Retail Furniture opened for business in Oakengates in 2002, spending 18 months in the town before moving to Stafford Park for the next three years. The company then moved to its present home on Halesfield – a bigger unit which was needed to facilitate the continuing growth of the business.

“We would love to expand our capacity, taking on more units and making them more specific to the sectors we work with,” said Mr Enefer. “It’s a natural and necessary development for the company.

“Retail Furniture kick-started its success manufacturing bespoke till points, counters and shelving primarily for the convenience sector but have now evolved into a business with a much wider offering across a greater range of sectors. We will need that additional space to meet the needs of the anticipated growth of the business.

“The future is looking very bright. We were able to weather the difficulties of the great recession, getting through by working together and staying focused – not giving up hope and always believing we could pull through.

“We have survived the awful consequences of the pandemic and, because of the range of sectors we operate in, have been able to keep busy servicing the needs of those who kept working - areas like hospitals, doctors, schools and supermarkets.

Mr Enefer paid tribute to his loyal staff and clients which are at the heart of his company's success.

He said the production process has greatly developed within 20 years, from manufacturing everything manually working 14 hour days, seven days a week to the range of high-specification machinery, CAD design, exceptional joinery and talented workforce which is now at the helm of the business