Dreams (bed retailer)

Dreams
Limited
Industry Furniture retailing and manufacturing
Founded 1985
Headquarters Loudwater, High Wycombe (E) , Buckinghamshire
Key people
 Mike Logue Chief executive
Products Beds
Bedroom furniture
Bedsteads
Duvets
Futons
Mattresses
Pillows
Revenue £194m GBP (2008)
Owner Sun European Partners[1]
Website www.dreams.co.uk
Dreams store in Portsmouth, England

Dreams is a UK based bed retailer and manufacturer specialising in beds, mattresses, bedroom furniture and bed linen. The first Dreams store opened in in 1987 in Uxbridge and today there are 170 stores nationwide and a transactional website dreams.co.uk. The company has its own purpose-designed mattress factory and currently employs around 1,500 people across a network of retail showrooms. Its head office, known as Bedquarters is located in High Wycombe, England.

Dreams’ mission is to be the leading bed and mattress specialist in the UK, dedicated to offering better quality of sleep to everyone. To this end they have established their own philosophy built on the core belief that ‘sleep matters’ and ‘better sleep means a better you’. Consequently, along with their retail activities Dreams is keen to consistently promote the many health and general well being advantages of a better night’s sleep through expert advice in-store and online through its Sleep Matters Club.

History

The first Dreams store opened in 1987. By 2000, Dreams had 50 stores and opened its own mattress factory.

2013 Sale to Sun European Partners

In April 2013 Dreams PLC went into a pre-packaged administration and was purchased by Sun European Partners. Now trading as Dreams ltd it is part of one of the UK’s leading retailer groups, who also amongst others own ScS, Sharps, Bon Marche, Alexon, Jacques Vert and American Golf.

Sponsorships

Dreams was the main sponsor of the Channel 4 reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother from its sixth series in 2009 to its seventh series in 2010. They then sponsored the eleventh series of the show in 2013 this time on Channel 5.

Investigations

Investigations in to the business's operations have been conducted by the UK's Office of Fair Trading in 1998[2] and again in 2001,[3] due to contracts in breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Following customer complaints, the company was also investigated and featured on BBC's Watchdog programme.[4] In response to this matter Dreams made an apology on the programme.

In 2007, Dreams was investigated and censured by the Advertising Standards Agency for misleading claims in its promotional material.[5] In 2010, another complaint against Dreams was upheld by the ASA, which ruled that Dreams' advertising broke the rules regarding truthfulness, and contained misleading advertising without evidence to back up its claims.[6][7]

Awards

As a nationwide sleep specialist and bed retailer, Dreams has won:

Dreams came bottom of the pile in the 2014 Which? Magazine "Mattress Brands League Table", with a satisfaction score of just 57% - 9 points below Bensons, the next poorest. (Dunlopillo, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and Vi-Spring scored over 80% in the same survey).

Recycling

In 1995 Dreams started to recycle its customers' old beds and mattresses and in 2004 began to backhaul the packaging from products delivered to customers on the company's delivery vehicles for recycling. In 2005 the diversion from landfill grew to 180 tonnes and metal and wood have been added to the recycling waste streams. More recently the company invested in two state-of-the-art bed shredders to recover metal, wood and other material. As mattresses are a difficult waste stream to handle at civic authority and landfills sites, the recycling work initiated by Dreams has seen 55,000 beds shredded over the past year and diverted from landfill.

Replace Every 8

Under the heading ‘Replace Every 8',[10] Dreams launched an extensive, nationwide initiative in 2015, recommending that everyone should replace their mattress at least every 8 years. With links to research by the independent trade association the UK Sleep Council and a study by the Furniture Industry Research Organisation (FIRA), Dreams’ major Replace Every 8 initiative is aimed at communicating the various health, hygiene, comfort and support benefits of regular mattress appraisal and replacement. As part of the wide-ranging Replace Every 8 programme, Dreams has developed a TV commercial featuring a cover version of the Take That hit ‘Everything Changes’ which subsequently entered the UK charts.

References

  1. ↑ "An Affiliate of Sun European Partners, LLP Acquires Dreams Stores". Sun Capital Partners. Retrieved 2013-03-07.
  2. ↑ "Issue 5" (PDF). Unfair Contract Terms. Office of Fair Trading. October 1998. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  3. ↑ "Bulletin 18" (PDF). Unfair Contract Terms. Office of Fair Trading. May 2002. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  4. ↑ Wallis, Ian (1 July 2007). "Dreams: Mike Clare (page 1)". Growing Business. Crimson Business. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  5. ↑ "ASA Adjudication on Dreams Plc". Adjudications. Advertising Standards Authority. 21 February 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  6. ↑ "ASA Adjudication on Dreams Plc". Adjudications. Advertising Standards Authority. 16 June 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "Dreams advert breached rules". Cabinet Maker (Manning Publishing Ltd.) (5527): 4–4. 3/2/2007. ISSN 0007-9278. Retrieved 29 November 2012. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ↑ "International Safety Award Winners 2015" (PDF). Retrieved 02/02/2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  9. ↑ "Winners of 2008 Awards for Excellence announced - letsrecycle.com". letsrecycle.com. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  10. ↑ "Replace Every 8 by Dreams | When did you last replace your mattress?". www.dreams.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-01.

External links

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