Oak Furnitureland is a British furniture retailer specialising in fully assembled hardwood cabinet and dining furniture, and sofa ranges. The company has stores across the UK, with its headquarters located in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England.

History

Oak Furnitureland was launched through its website on Boxing Day, 2006. The company started in 2003 by selling on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

. It opened a pop-up shop on an airfield in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

. Its first store on a retail park was in Chippenham. The company reported a turnover of £85m and a profit of £9.2m in the year to September 30, 2012. In late 2012, the business moved its national distribution centre to a 302,000 sq ft building in

South Marston South Marston is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The village is about north-east of Swindon town centre. History The earliest documentary evidence for continuous settlement dates from the 13th centur ...

near

. A new Christmas TV advert was launched in 2012, promoting their dining set offering, with the overall theme being "Don't Do This To Nan". For their Winter Sale 2013 TV advert campaign, the characters of Oak and Acorn were introduced. Oak, played by

Stephen Critchlow Stephen Anthony Critchlow (22 November 1966 – 19 September 2021) was a British actor, known for his work in the theatre and appearances on radio series such as '' Truly, Madly, Bletchley'', '' The Way We Live Right Now'', and '' Spats'', alon ...

, was the mature salesman while Acorn, played by Philip Labey, was the comedy relief within this duo. In an interview with

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

on 10 January 2015, the firm's then managing director stated that his chain has sales of £194m. In June 2015, Oak Furnitureland became the principal sponsor and home kit sponsor for association football club

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. They ceded their shirt sponsorship space at the Burnley versus

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

fixture on 9 April 2016, in place of Burnley FC in the Community — the club's official charity. In June 2020,

Davidson Kempner Capital Management Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP (“Davidson Kempner”) is a global institutional alternative investment management firm with over $38 billion in assets under management. Davidson Kempner is headquartered in New York City, with additional ...

bought Oak Furnitureland out of administration.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Furniture retailers of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 2006 Online retailers of the United Kingdom