A Cheltenham-based company that specialises in premium linen bedding has reported a record year with sales up sevenfold in 2020.
Bedfolk, founded by couple Jo and Nick James in 2018, experienced a rise in demand that saw it recruit a team of 10 full-time staff over the past 12 months.
Last year the business moved into a new office space to accommodate its growing team, warehouse space for stock and a photography studio to support new product launches.
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It now expects to expand its workforce to more than 30 this year, with most of the new recruits to be hired and based in the Gloucestershire area.
The company’s range of bedding essentials, which are produced in a family-run textiles mill in the Portuguese city of Guimaraes, has proven popular with customers. The brand has attracted an average score of 4.9/5 in more than 1,500 online reviews.
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Co-founder Nick James partly attributes the success to the national lockdown causing people to spend more time at home.
Mr James said: “We were seeing strong growth before lockdown with sales increasing by 500% in 2019 and this accelerated further during 2020.
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“Interiors is an area that has reported increased sales during lockdown as consumers focus on their home surroundings and invest in high quality items to keep them comfortable.
“We’ve seen an uplift in sales across the board in terms of age demographic and we’ve seen a particularly big boom in over-55s shopping with us. All of the adopted technology for family video calls is clearly leading to more confidence in online purchases.”
“The growth we’ve seen in the past 12 months has allowed us to bring forward recruitment and investment plans to support our continued growth in 2021.”
Do you know a company in Gloucestershire that has succeeded despite the challenges of the pandemic? for the Gloucestershire Business Awards 2021, which are being staged by BusinessLive and our sister website GloucestershireLive with returning headline sponsors Randall & Payne.