a result of the Russia-Ukraine war which is pushing up the cost of materials.
At the end of last year, UK’s biggest furniture retailer, Ikea, announced plans to hike prices as the firm struggled to absorb significant increases in the cost of raw materials, transport and logistics, among others, because of the upheaval caused by Covid. Since then, prices of a wide range of materials, from hard woods to fabrics, fibre, foam, MDF and steel have been increasing, according to the British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM). “We have never seen anything like this in terms of across-the-board price increases for materials,” Sean Holt, the managing director of the BFM, said. “It is putting a lot of pressure on manufacturing in the UK and that will have to be shared with retailers and consumers.”
This would mean the cost of a new sofa, along with other furniture, will race higher, feeding into the higher cost of living in the UK. Inflation is currently running at a 30-year high of 7 per cent. Furniture prices have hiked by 17 per cent, and are expected to increased further, as the war in Ukraine is heaping more pressure on British furniture makers who were sourcing timber from Russia until a few months ago.
“We’ve seen a pattern of material increases over the last two years, but the situation has escalated significantly in recent weeks,” Holt said. “Compound price hikes of up to 100% are not unusual, and this is on top of the energy cost increases affecting manufacturing. Fuel and labour costs are other factors. Our members are saying there will be further price hikes over the next few months.”
