How Sealy’s new foundations are springboarding it towards growth
Over the last four years, Sealy, a renowned mattress manufacturer, has undergone a significant transformation. Previously under the ownership of the Silentnight Group, Sealy UK is now a joint venture with its principal operational partner Sealy Australia, alongside the brand owner, Tempur Sealy International, in the US, marking a strategic shift towards global collaboration and innovation.
Chief Commercial Officer, Mark Tuley, outlines how this change has impacted the business: “Towards the end of the Covid period, Silentnight took the decision to consolidate its manufacturing operations. This triggered a review by the brand owners and has resulted in us becoming part of the joint venture we are today, with shared ownership split evenly between Tempur Sealy International in the US and Sealy of Australia, who have been running similar joint ventures together around the world now for 20 years. At that time, we were also overcoming the challenges presented by the pandemic in relation to supply chain and cost pressures. We have now just had our four-year anniversary since that ownership changed and in those four years, we have completely reinvented the business. 
“Our approach to the product is entirely different, we have invested heavily in manufacturing our own springs and incorporating proprietary technology which is backed by extensive scientific research. Having a more premium product, naturally some of the retailers that we work with operate towards the luxury end of the market. We have revamped our product offering and messaging to cater to both retailers and customers and have expanded our network of retail partners. Implementing these changes has been challenging, but after four years of hard work, the business is now in a much healthier position.
Factory regeneration
“The initial 18 months were perhaps the most difficult, as we faced retail closures, inflationary pressures, rising costs, and diminished consumer confidence. During this time, we also restructured our manufacturing facilities,” Mark explains. “Our previous owners had commenced the shutdown of our spring manufacturing facility. Together with the new ownership, we reversed this decision, refurbishing old machines to meet our standards and transforming the building, with guidance from our partners in Australia, into a dedicated spring making facility. Alongside this, we introduced three new spring-making machines customized for creating our unique, geometrically designed springs.
“Creating this facility also provided the necessary space to completely reorganize the mattress assembly factory, which under its old layout was inefficient and saw us moving raw materials much more than was necessary. There is now a flow from one end of the facility to the other. This evolution allows us to make more mattresses, it also requires slightly fewer staff to operate, and through the addition of features like lifting aids it now provides a much better working environment. These changes to our manufacturing facilities represent multi-million-pound investments and form a major part of the success we are currently experiencing as a profitable business with growing sales figures. We simply wouldn’t have been able to produce our current products in the old factory.”
This overhaul also provided the company with opportunities to analyze and enhance sustainable practices throughout the process. Mark elaborates: “We are part of an industry body called the National Bed Federation which has been a driving force behind many industry-wide initiatives that we have also implemented to improve our footprint. Most of the components we utilize can either be reused, recycled or made with recycled material. Our springs, for example, are made from steel which is produced using recycled content which can be melted and reused. Also, there are now companies which can take our waste and repurpose it. By taking advantage of these initiatives and third-party providers, we are able to ensure that zero waste ends up in landfill.
Sharing best practice
“We have also updated our product development procedures to improve sustainability,” Mark continues. “We are now utilizing a tool that analyzes the whole process; from identifying raw materials and highlighting the ways we manufacture those raw materials to the techniques and processes we use. This enables us to ensure that each new product we make is better for the environment than its predecessor.
“Sealy Australia, our operating partner, also recognizes the need to take sustainability more seriously. Together we have created a system where we can learn best practices in the UK and then share that globally with the rest of the business. In our research and development facility in Australia for example, we now have a global sustainability manager who reports directly to the CEO, and these insights can then be shared globally across the business.”
Looking to the future, Mark is excited about the expansion opportunities deriving from the company’s improved infrastructure. “Now we are through the period of transformation, the objective from here is to continue to grow our sales. We have achieved over 20 percent growth this year, in a market which analysts suggest is either stagnant or down by five percent. We want to take the platform we have developed, take more market share and ultimately become the market leader within the premium bedding sector.”
Following on, Mark highlights some of the ways the business will achieve these goals: “Product innovation is very important to us. We want to introduce new products that use exciting new technologies to help people improve their sleep rather than simply offering a different aesthetic. We know we can create products that give people an even better night’s sleep than we did before. We’re constantly investing in that research and development to deliver better sleep solutions. In 2025 and beyond, we’ll have new products to launch and many more in development, helping the British public sleep better than ever before.”