Accommodation Furniture Solutions Case Study
Accommodation Furniture Solutions is a worker co-operative based in large industrial
premises in Fforestfach, Swansea. The business manufactures and assembles
furniture that is used for social housing, care homes and education establishments.
The business was formed in 2013 by seven ex-employees of the Swansea Remploy
factory. Each employee had been made redundant by Remploy and they all invested
their redundancy money into setting up the new business. This ‘phoenix’ worker cooperative needed extensive support in its early stages to get it operating. The Wales
Co-operative Centre has helped with governance, incorporation, business planning,
finance and marketing in the businesses early stages.
Accommodation Furniture Solutions is fully owned and controlled by its employees
utilising democratic co-operative principles. As the firm grows every new employee is
encouraged to become a member and participate in the running of the company.
The co-operative utilises the extensive knowledge and skills available in the exRemploy workforce and the existing customer relationships to build a profitable and
sustainable business.
The business was launched with support from the Welsh Government and the Welsh
Government Employer Support Grant, Wales Co-operative Centre, Collaborative
Communities, Communities 2.0, Social Firms Wales, the Department of Work and
Pensions and Unity Trust Bank but is now operating independently and growing at
an impressive rate.
At the launch of the business in October 2013, the workforce assembled twenty
kitchens a week. They are currently assembling fifty kitchens a week with production
scheduled to double over the summer of 2014. They also have a number of smaller
contracts for manufacturing bedroom and accommodation furniture for several large
local authorities and housing associations. Since 2013 the workforce has increased
from seven to fifteen and more jobs are expected to be created as demand
increases.
The Wales Co-operative Centre has supported Accommodation Furniture Solutions
since the individual members first came together in early 2013. They supplied the
new company with support on incorporation, business planning and marketing. As
the business has grown they have supported with financial planning and governance
support. The Centre also brokered mentoring support from a similar worker cooperative, Primepac Solutions Ltd based in Ebbw Vale.
Managing Director Kevin Edwards, commented:
“What’s very important is that whilst we welcome growth and we welcome a lot more
orders coming in we have to be very careful not to overcommit ourselves because
the last thing we want to do is compromise on quality or delivery performance.
“Accommodation Furniture Solutions is not just a co-operative, there’s a hard edge to
it as well, there’s a lot of realism here and we know the business has to succeed
first, but we use democratic methods to get to the result that we want to get to.”