Newsletter - December 2021

NEWSLETTER

Autumn / Winter Edition

THE JANUARY FURNITURE
SHOW RETURNS!

In this issue... ChicagoSee the stunning...

This beautiful current model will
be making an appearance along
with many new and exciting
designs at the January Furniture
Show 2022

Statement from As a the furniture Slave Free We’re leading the way in the
our MD industry re-adjusts post pandemic Alliance furniture industry when it
our MD reflects on 2021. comes to worker’s rights.
JFS 2022
After a 2 year absence this Exhibition Trailer Our new and improved show
January Furniture Show is set to be
our biggest ever. Heads Out trailer will hit the road in 2022.

Arafest - 3 Peaks This year the charity has raised a S.P.O.T.Y 2021 See which of our agents has
& other events substantial amount to help secured the top spot.

underpriviledged children. + much more in our biggest issue yet!

MIKE ARAMAYO REFLECTS ON 2021

and labour costs, whilst we are still taking increases
from foam suppliers and springs to mention but a
couple. Timber has also increased a great amount
between 50% and 85% and the story goes on in
many other areas of the business.

Brexit also came and made its own challenges and
British manufacturing was hit from every angle.

Here at Buoyant we have increased our expenditure
on employee training and we are starting to see this
bear fruit within the business in regards to both the
speed and quality of our manufacturing.

The demand for sofas remains high and we are
remaining diligent as to not let a single customer
sold order down before we close.

We have of course signed up for the January
Furniture Show at the NEC and are well on the way
with new designs and innovations that we know our
loyal customers will love.

Welcome to our 2021 Our sales force remains strong and my team have
Christmas Newsletter won gold in my eyes with the way they have handled
the last 24 months. We are working very hard on
I said last year that 2020 was the craziest year and now I’m bringing our lead times down by increasing
not so sure. I never thought in my lifetime of working in production and although this wont happen
the furniture industry that we would be arranging a overnight I am confident we will succeed.
Christmas shut off date for August but 2021 has delivered
many challenges and demand is extremely high. We need to adapt and live in a world with Covid so
please get your vaccinations and make sure you
enjoy every minute of the festive period.

Let’s hope 2022 brings us even more normality.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Just over a year and a half has passed since the beginning Thank you for supporting us.
of the first national lockdown. In that time the economy Mike Aramayo - Managing Director
has experienced unprecedented changes and
policymakers have battled to mitigate the negative
economic effects of the pandemic.

Since our last price increase we have continued to see
increases accross the board. The most notable are timber

www.buoyant-upholstery.co.uk facebook.com/BuoyantUpholsteryltd twitter.com/buoyantuph
Telephone - 01282 691631 @buoyant_uph linkedin.com/company/buoyant

ARAFEST BACK IN ACTION

3 Peaks Conquered by the 3 Arafest Amigos

They did it!

A huge well done and thank you to our
3 Arafest Amigos! Our National Sales
Manager Jackie Stobbs along with sales
agents Terry Barrow and Jason Pickett
completed the epic 27.5 mile hike and
conquered the Yorkshire 3 Peaks on
Wednesday 27/10/2021.

The weather was definitely not on their
side with constant rain and blustering
winds making the trek even more
treacherous. However, the team
managed to complete the course in just
over 11 hours after setting off in the
early hours of the morning.

As if completing the 3 Peaks wasn’t a
big enough achievement in itself they
have smashed their target and raised
over a staggering £8500 for the Arafest
charity and the amount is still
increasing!

You can still donate and congratulate
the team by going to:
justgiving.com/crowdfunding/buoyant-
arafest

FEZZIE FUN AT ARAFEST 2021

The Arafest Festival was unfortunately
another casualty of the Covid-19
pandemic last year and had to be
cancelled due to restrictions. This year
though, the event came back swinging
offering some of the finest local bands
and plenty of fun in the sun!

Once again the festival raised a
fantastic amount for the Arafest
charity. Make sure you get your tickets
for Arafest 2022 by visiting:
arafest.org

THE RETUR

This will be our biggest show ever!

This January it will have been 2 years
since the last January Furniture Show
was held at the Birmingham NEC.
Although it was sorely missed last
year we decided to hold our own
private show and invited customers
for meetings where we could
showcase our products and adhere to
Covid restrictions. These meetings
were a huge success and the feedback
for our designs was overwhelmingly
positive.

Even though this was a fantastic
solution to the show being cancelled,
we are more eager than ever to get
back on a stand and start showing off
our new products. Our design and
development team have been
working hard on some amazing
pieces and wow, do we have a show in
store for you this time!

On Trend: Jade

Jade is a timeless mid-tone with a
trans seasonal appeal. Nourishing
natural greens will remain relevant
as consumers focus on balancing
their mental and physical health.

On Trend: Honeycomb

Yellow will play a key role in the
coming year, adding a sense of
uplifting warmth. Honeycomb is a
golden yellow that forms part of a
collection of Ochre tones this
season.

RN OF JFS!

On Trend: Rich Dark Blue Once again we will have one of the largest
stands at the show and we plan on filling it
Rich dark blues will be important for with our exciting sofas, chairs and accent
22/23, driven by a desire for small pieces. We want all our loyal customers to
indulgent luxuries. For interiors, it come and visit us but please be aware that
can be used as an accent or in large there will be a sign-in process for our stand
volumes for a dramatic effect. this year.

23-26 JAN 2022 This will be to ensure that the stand does not
BIRMINGHAM NEC become overcrowded and we are still able to
HALL 5 - STAND F30 follow social distancing. Please see the pro-
cedure fully outlined on the following page.

We will be at stand F30 in Hall 5. The show
will be running from 23rd - 26th January and
we will be there on all 4 days. We’re looking
forward to seeing you there!

SIGN IN PROCEDURE FOR
JANUARY FURNITURE SHOW 2022

As this will be the first show post
pandemic we want to ensure that our
stand does not become overcrowded
and our guests feel safe and free to view
our products in their own time.

Therefore we will be implementing a to get a real feel of these beautiful pieces.
sign-in system on our stand for all
visitors who wish to view our range. We Our stand will also feature a bar full of treats and
will be setting up a reception area at the refreshments so please make sure you take
entrance to our stand where you will be advantage of this when visiting. We hope to see you
asked a few simple questions such as all there!
which store you are representing and
how many are in your party.

This will also make sure we can appoint
the right sales agent to guide you
through our new products and allow you

WE’RE SUSTAINABLE
FURNITURE CHAMPIONS!

We have reached an incredible milestone in our sustainable timber
journey and recieved a FSC® Furniture Award declaring our company
as a sustainable furniture champion!

This is an amazing achievment. The FSC® Furniture Awards promotes
best practice, rewarding the achievements of companies that have
decided to share their path towards sustainability with FSC.

FSC® recently opened this award to a number of other countries and
Buoyant Upholstery is one of the first businesses in the UK to recieve
this honor for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies.

A huge thank you to FSC®, our Compliance Manager Marius Munteanu
(pictured) and the rest of the Buoyant team for making this possible.

CLEARABEE HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT

Clearabee is a furniture removal company who have a sustainable
angle. They offer the consumer the best chance possible to
recycle their furniture with 95% being diverted from landfill.

Buoyant have partnered with Clearabee as part of an ongoing
effort to reduce our carbon footprint and give back to the
environment. Customers can book through your store and
recieve Buoyant’s discounted rate and no money comes to us.

Contact Clearabee’s Head of Sales Steve Plumridge for more
details: [email protected]

SALES PERSON OF THE YEAR

Our team of sales agents are the driving force behind
everything we do at Buoyant. Without the sales they
generate we would all be out of a job.

That’s why each year we reward the finest of the area
agents with the coveted Sales Person of the Year award
(or SPOTY for short). This year we would like to give a
massive congratulations to Stuart Gilchrist who
recieved the award at this year’s National Sales
Meeting.

Stuart looks after the majority of Scotland and the
Hebrides so be sure to conglatulate him on his award if
you see him in the near future.

FURNISHING REPORT
SLAVE-FREE ALLIANCE

Buoyant was recently featured on the Furnishing Report Marc Stanton, director at Slave-Free Alliance, said: "We are
website with an article detailing how we are the first absolutely delighted to be working in partnership with
company in the furniture industry to join the Slave-Free Buoyant Upholstery, which is setting a new standard as our
Alliance. What follows is the article from the Furnishing first member from the furniture sector. It’s wonderful to see
Report: this commitment from Buoyant Upholstery to ensure that
workers are not exploited, both now and in the future."
‘Buoyant Upholstery has become the first company in the
furniture sector to join the Slave-Free Alliance, the social Slave-Free Alliance offers a wide range of services and access
enterprise launched by global anti-slavery charity Hope for to its experts, including training, gap analysis, due diligence,
Justice with the aim of preventing worker exploitation in risk management resources, and help with investigations,
global supply chains. crisis response, remediation and Modern Slavery and Human
Trafficking Statements, which are required for large
Research indicates almost four-fifths of companies said they businesses under the U.K.’s Modern Slavery Act 2015, but
expected to find modern slavery in their operations or supply considered good practice for organisations irrespective of
chains, according to Slave-Free Alliance, which since its size.
creation in 2018 has become a global force for change.

It now counts global multinationals including Asda, Aviva,
AstraZeneca, Morrisons, Yodel, Hermes, Dixons Carphone,
Experian, and ALDI U.K. as members and clients with Colne
sofa maker Buoyant's decision to join making it a pioneer in
the furniture sector.

Buoyant md Mike Aramayo said: "Slave-Free Alliance is an
excellent organisation that will work with us to help protect
our supply chain from human trafficking and modern slavery.
There'll be an added benefit that when customers want to
know what we're doing we'll have the evidence to support
us."

NEW EXHIBITION TRAILER
HITS THE ROAD NEXT YEAR

Next year we will premiering our new, purpose built,
exhibition trailer will be setting off and bringing our
stunning designs to your area.

The trailer features lifestyle décor, laminate flooring and a
stunning accent wall which really gives the appearance of
a showroom setting. Natural light is also a big part of this
trailer as we have installed 3 windows in one side as well as
2 sunroofs, this means customers get real sense of the
fabric colours and textures and how they would look in an
actual home or on the shop floor. For information on when
the show trailer will be coming to an area near you please
contact your area’s Buoyant sales agent.

SAVE THE DATES...

Dates to Remember

Christmas Shutdown: January Furniture Show: Easter Shutdown: May Shutdown:

Close - 17th December 2021 23rd January 2022 - Close - 8th April 2022 Close - 27th May 2022
Re-open - 3rd January 2022 26th January 2022 Re-open - 18th April 2022 Re-open - 6th June 2022

Discontinued Models / SKUs

There has not yet been a decision on what will be discontinued at the end of January but there
were some models and SKUs discontinued in September so here is a reminder of what they were:

Models SKUs

Champ Fairfield – Corner Groups
Haridan Nicole - Corner Groups
Khaleesi (studs and no studs) Robyn – 120cm Deluxe Sofa Bed
Louis
Memphis
Newark
Salute
Tao
Verona
Virginia Footstool

Sales Contacts

1 STUART GILCHRIST - 07801 020539 6 PAUL OWEN - 07977 334 470

JOHN DAY - 01282 691631 EXT-2201 EMMA DALE - 01282 691631 EXT-2127

1 2 MARIAN HANS - 07753 567 245 7 LAURA CHAPMAN - 07764 357 461

DEBBIE WILKINSON - 01282 691631 EXT-2135 JAKE BAILEY- 01282 691631 EXT-2168

3 PAUL LONGMUIR - 07734 906 866 8 NEIL SMITH - 07979 757 522

SALLY NUTTER - 01282 691631 EXT-2128 EMMA DALE - 01282 691631 EXT-2127

2 3 4 TERRY BARROW - 07525 328 712 9 GARY SAWYER - 07831 369 608
4
DEBBIE WILKINSON - 01282 691631 EXT-2135 JAKE BAILEY- 01282 691631 EXT-2168
5
68 7 5 JASON PICKETT - 07834 375 059

SALLY NUTTER - 01282 691631 EXT-2128

9 JACKIE STOBBS - National Sales Manager - 07974 090 319

[email protected]