According to insider, it reports that the combination of a highly competitive market and an increase in costs has hit profits at a Surrey-headquartered manufacturer of high-end office furniture during a year of consolidation and restructure, Insider can reveal.
Sven Christiansen is a privately-owned furniture manufacturing company, grown from a partnership established in 1974. The business designs and makes office desk systems, reception desks, conference and meeting tables, office screens and wall storage systems.
It operates from a head office and showroom in Guildford, a factory in the West Midlands (Kingswinford) and a showroom in Cumbernauld, Scotland, which opened earlier this year. The company is also set to open a London Design Studio in Clerkenwell this month.
Sven generated revenues of £12.22m in the financial year to 30 September 2016, newly filed accounts at Companies House have revealed, a marginal increase from £12.19m a year earlier.
But pre-tax profits fell from £337,476 to £229,127, which the business blamed on a rise in manufacturing costs, a highly competitive market and heightened exchange rate uncertainty in the final quarter of the year.
Sven’s corporate structure underwent change during the year (May 2016) as managing director Andrew Ralph sold his interest in the business and left the company, which is now wholly owned by Sven Group Ltd.
William O’Brien took over the position of managing director, and Paul Johnson and Chris Plumb were appointed to the board as sales director and finance director respectively.
Sven employs approximately 200 staff members across office & management, manufacturing, retail and distribution.
