Discover how Airsprung Group’s brands deliver comfort and quality while upholding sustainable principles
Founded in 1870, Airsprung Group is a privately owned furniture manufacturer boasting a rich heritage. As a proud British manufacturer, the group employs over 300 people in two sites in Bristol and Trowbridge across its beds, mattresses and upholstery manufacturing brands: Airsprung Beds and Gainsborough, with support from Swanglen, Airofreem, and Arena Design. Quality and safety have always been at the heart of Airsprung Group’s operations. Its bed and headboard businesses were among the first in the UK to earn the National Bed Federation (NBF) code of practice approval. By adhering to such strict standards, Airsprung Group ensures that its products meet the highest safety and quality requirements. Let’s take a closer look at the companies making up the group.
In the 1870s, Hedley Chapman began advertising his new mattress making business, Airsprung Beds, with a promise of utmost quality at a fair price and prompt delivery. Over 140 years later, the business has grown to be one of the largest bed manufacturers in the country, all while staying true to those founding principles. In the years that followed, Airsprung Beds established itself as a major innovative force in the industry, introducing the interior spring mattress to the UK in the 1930s and becoming one of the first companies to develop pocket spring units. Consistently moving with the times, the company was an early player in the growing home shopping and online markets and quickly realized that effective logistics would be critical for future success. Through partnerships with leading digital brands, Airsprung Beds has pioneered highly efficient home delivery, mattress rolling and next day distribution systems. From its base in Wiltshire, the business now stands as a prominent and much-loved bed brand in the UK, manufacturing comfortable yet affordable beds available in simple and modern designs.
Integration drive
Swanglen operates in a similar environment, offering headboards complemented by a collection of bedroom furniture and beds. For 30 years, this division of Airsprung Group has maintained a reputation for design, quality, and attention to detail, backed by a first-class service. In addition to the headboards made specifically for the group’s bed companies, Swanglen offers a highly successful standalone range for general retail, including headboards, divans, stools, chairs, and ottomans.
The group’s higher end brand, Gainsborough, has always focused on pocket springs, which serve as the perfect foundation for its mattresses. September saw the launch of its new Mayfair range of high end beds, featuring natural materials and spring counts up to 15,000. Gainsborough has built strong partnerships with numerous independent retailers, as well as some of the UK’s most well-known furniture retailers. Before the company started making sofa beds 30 years ago, the market offered few high-quality options. Gainsborough aimed to improve the market by combining the best mechanism with extensive development to produce sofa beds that are exceptionally comfortable both as a sofa and as a bed.
The last 12 months has seen a continuation of the drive toward integration. Moving away from individual silos the aim has been to production units. As Paul Little, Commercial and Sales director said: “Historically the different brands occupied different spaces. We have now consolidated the operation so that we have different bed brands in one location. This brings benefits in all areas including supply chain, production and QC.”
Airofreem provides foam for various applications, from sports stadium seating to luxury yacht beds. Passionate about problem solving, Airofreem’s designers and technical team work closely with customers to deliver the most relevant solutions, which ultimately reduce waste and save money.
Lastly, Airsprung Group’s 35 -year-old venture, Arena Design, is an integrated agency with design expertise in graphics, web, exhibition, and retail interiors. It features a full in-house photography studio which delivers, as one leading retailer described it, best-in-class collateral.
Carbon reductions
When it comes to sustainability, Airsprung Group is dedicated to eliminating any negative impact on the environment and has committed to reducing its carbon
footprint and achieving net zero by 2050. To that end, the group has partnered with industry leaders to create a circular recycling process that transforms fabric waste into comfortable padding for its mattresses, enabling the entire site to be zero waste to landfill. Airsprung Group is also making changes to reduce its energy needs, such as transitioning the main factory to LED lighting and completely switching the showroom lighting from halogen and fluorescent to LED, resulting in an energy reduction in the exhibition centre of 80 percent.
Alongside its energy reduction efforts, the group is dedicated to decreasing its fuel consumption. In line with that, Airsprung Group has begun replacing its diesel-powered forklift trucks with electric units and collaborated with retail partners to minimize the impact of its fleet. By implementing reciprocal back-haul arrangements, the group effectively reduces the number of trips with empty vehicles, resulting in a decreased carbon footprint. Airsprung was the first to roll pocket springs in the UK and this has a significant impact on the number of products per load, thereby greatly reducing CO2 emissions.
Additionally, the Airsprung Beds brand has launched the Eco range, featuring many components that are recycled and recyclable at end of life. One of the key components in the Eco range is the innovative Repreve Our Ocean fabric, made from plastic bottles collected within 50 kilometers of coastlines without a formal waste or recycling system. The bottles are transformed into certifiable, traceable, high-performance yarn, contributing to cleaner oceans and coastlines.
As it continues to focus on innovation across all areas, the Airsprung Group is looking forward to meeting the needs of customers in 2025 and onwards. Thanks to strong relationships with major retailers and continuous improvements within its operations, the business is setting itself up in a comfortable position for the future.