The BFC to the All Party Parliamentary Furniture Industry Group (APPFG)

The BFC’s relationship with the All Party Parliamentary Furniture Industry Group (APPFG), which consists of MPs and members of the House of Lords with an interest in the industry, is crucial to its work. Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage and chair of the APPFG, has proved an invaluable champion of the industry’s concerns, and the best results in 2012 were derived by closer working partnerships between the two bodies.  ekonglong office workstation

“If anybody out there has issues they want to put to Government, we are here to do so,” says Paul. “We do make people aware of situations – they don’t always change things, but unless it’s brought to the Government’s attention, nothing happens at all. It’s a busy time right now, but the BFC is doing what it can.”

A number of issues rose to the top of the BFC’s agenda last year, the first being a threat to the UK’s stringent flammability regulations. Although these laws elicit mixed views from the trade, the BFC stands by them, helping ensure that UK upholstery and bedding products are safer for consumers. “It’s an important piece of legislation from a health and safety – and the British manufacturers’ – point of view.”

Next was the biomass subsidy issue – energy companies receiving subsidies for burning a quota of wood fuels, pushing the prices of raw materials up for furniture manufacturers – to which the BFC responded by organising an online campaign. This culminated in the delivery of petitions to Downing Street, signed by several thousand individuals and an impressive number of companies.

“It’s not that we disapprove of burning biomass,” says Paul, “but we do find it hard to stomach that that the energy companies are subsidised to do it. We just want a level playing field for the industry. As it stands, we’ll just keep the pressure on and hope it’ll make the difference.”