Hereford Furniture: Sir Digby Jones helps a family-owned company with over 40 employees.

"British manufacturing is something we should be proud of!" says Lord Digby Jones. This may be why he has decided that his next task would be to help Hereford Furniture - a family owned business who was doing fairly well until making a loss of £80,000 last year. Digby believes that there is a market for different types of furniture but in order to beat the market, Hereford Furniture will have to increase the efforts they are putting in.

There are a few key problems Digby planned to solve during his time working with the company. One of the 'nagging points' for Digby was that Hereford Furniture was focusing on three things - manufacturing, retailing and importing. His question is - can the business succeed in all three? MD Mike Muxworthy responds with 'Why not?'

Digby argues that Hereford Furniture may not have the specialist knowledge for all three areas they are focusing on. It may be better for a business to focus on the area that they have the most knowledge in; this might give them a better chance at being successful. This is what Digby believes that Hereford Furniture should do.

Another issue that Digby wants to tackle is the problem of branding. The company wants to be recognised as a household name but they do not display their brand on any of the furniture they sell. Digby's question is "How can you hope to build a brand when you by your actions value it so little?" Hereford Furniture aimed to introduce a new brand known as 'Hereford by Design' which would only be sold to companies who agree to sell it under the brand. The question is, is this the right brand for the company who wants to catch the attention of their customers?

The team met with Emma Bridgewater and presented their new ideas to her - taking the current range of furniture and upgrading to a premium so that they would have additional features but how were they going to make something that Emma would not look past? How can they have a 'buy me effect' on the customer? In addition to this, Do Emma and Digby think that Hereford by Design is actually good enough to go to the market? Emma suggested that the company should offer a variety of colours.


Digby believes that Hereford is not the right word if they want customers to be talking about them. It only lets the customers believe that the furniture is functional and that they would get the value for money but where is the uniqueness which will push the customers towards actually making the purchase? Louise suggested a Danish word - Hygge - which was about social interaction and being home and wanting to be there. Digby agrees and suggested that this was the right idea for the new brand. Hygge gives the company personality and Digby believes that people will question it since there is no definition in English for it.This is an ideal way for them to increase brand awareness.

To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the company, Mike informs the shop floor staff that they are going to cut a lot of ranges - approximately 49 out of every 50 products - and that they need to get the customer to order what they actually manufacture. Digby thinks that it is important for the business to have accurate forecasts and Kate agrees since she thinks that they are seeing the benefits of the new model but have no way of actually showing them on paper. Mike argues that it is a family business and that they do not necessarily need forecasts. An accurate forecast would be beneficial to the company since this would show them the financial implications.

Another problem Digby aimed to solve is the way the shop floor staff worked. Communication is key for them to increase their productivity. Some employees believed that they do not normally work together so a team building exercise was arranged for them. For them to maximise their productivity, the shop floor team would need more of these. Team building cannot be done in a day!

Small and medium sized businesses are important for the community because these companies are the ones who would hire that one extra person to solve unemployment in their economy. Therefore, it is important for businesses such as Hereford Furniture to continue their business.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.