The British Furniture Confederation (BFC) is a

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...

group that represents the furniture and bed making industries of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It ensures that the views of its members are heard by Parliamentarians and government Ministers and is active in Westminster working on behalf of the industry.

Structure

The BFC was founded in 2006 under the chairmanship of Martin Jourdan. It brought together an alliance of trade associations and unions to speak with a single voice to government. The BFC’s founder members included the British Contract Furnishers Association/ Office Furniture Manufacturers Association (BCFA/OFFMA), British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM), ProSkills, the

Furniture Industry Research Association The Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA), is a United Kingdom research association which serves the furniture industry. Research and consultancy services FIRA research and development programmes feed into British, European and internat ...

(FIRA), the National Bed Federation (NBF), the

Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers referred to as The Furniture Makers' Company, is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The organisation was formed in 1952, and was granted Livery status by the City in 1963 being the 83 ...

(WCFM), the Association of Master Upholsterers & Soft Furnishers (AMUSF), and the General & Municipal Boilermakers Union. After restructuring in the summer of 2008 its slimmed down Executive Board became responsible for the daily decision making of the group. The Board now consists of Chairman Martin Jourdan, Jessica Alexander (NBF), Roger Mason (BFM), Hayden Davies (FIRA) and Peter Smith (BCFA). The BFC’s Company Secretary is Pete Beele (FIRA). The Executive meets in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

every two months to discuss issues of concern facing the industry. Along with consultants from public affairs firm PoliticsDirect they plan the BFC’s response to government announcements, initiatives and legislation, as well as general political issues affecting the industry.

Issues of interest

The BFC seeks to lobby the government on a number of issues affecting the furniture industry. It has met with Government Ministers, their relevant Shadows and Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum to lobby on a wide range of issues, such as access to

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

Funding,

procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or serv ...

of furniture, skills provision, and business support for the UK furniture industry.

All Party Parliamentary Furniture Group

The BFC is a prominent member of the

All-Party Parliamentary Group An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) is a grouping in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that is composed of members of parliament from all political parties, but have no official status within Parliament. Description and functions All-party ...

on Furniture, an association of MPs, Lords and industry representatives who seek to promote the sector within Westminster. The Furniture Group is chaired by

Madeleine Moon Madeleine Moon (born 27 March 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bridgend from 2005 to 2019, when she lost her seat to the Welsh Conservative candidate Jamie Wallis. Early life Born in No ...

MP (

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

) and meets on a twice monthly basis in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

when

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

is sitting. The group questions senior politicians on policy related to the industry, such as the Rt Hon Angela Eagle MP ( Financial Secretary at

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...

); the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP (Minister of State at the

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and was itself disbande ...

); and key stakeholders, such as Ian Harrison from the East Midlands Regional Development Authority. In June 2008 the Group hosted a reception and exhibition in the House of Commons to display and celebrate the work of the UK furniture industry.

External links

The British Furniture ConfederationThe GMB UnionBritish Furniture ManufacturersProSkillsFIRAThe National Bed FederationAMUSFBritish Contract Furniture AssociationBritish Furniture Manufacturers
Trade associations based in the United Kingdom