A LOT CAN CHANGE IN 70 YEARS BUT SILENTNIGHT’S COMMITMENT TO QUALITY AND INNOVATION HAS MADE IT A BRITISH MANUFACTURING SUCCESS STORY

It was the year Winston Churchill delivered his famous ‘Iron Curtain’ speech, the House of Commons voted to nationalise the UK’s coal mines and the Jitterbug dance craze swept the country.

A lot has changed since 1946, when the UK’s leading bed manufacturing business was formed, but the company’s commitment to quality and innovation remains as important now as it was then.

2016 sees Silentnight celebrate its 70th anniversary and the Lancashire-based business – one of the best-loved, most recognised and bestselling brands in the UK market – continues to grow.

In the face of tough economic times, the company is proud of its heritage and its status as a British manufacturing success story.

In its last financial year (ending January 30th 2016), Silentnight Group  recorded a record sales performance across its Silentnight, Sealy and Rest Assured brands with total net sales reaching £137.5m, +10% over prior year and operating profit performance growing to £8.3m +26% over prior year.

But its ambition and goal is not simply as a quality manufacturer but to provide the perfect sleep solution for all the family.

As such, Silentnight is committed to continuous investment in research into people’s sleeping habits, building the latest scientific developments and technical innovations into its products.

Its commitment to quality and innovation includes a research partnership with psychologists from the University of Leeds and sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, regular and rigorous testing of mattresses in the company’s in-house testing lab (one of only seven SATRA accredited labs in the UK) and a five-year guarantee on all upholstered beds and mattresses.

This year, a consumer survey revealed that Silentnight is the UK’s most trusted bed brand with 1 in 5 homes owning a Silentnight branded product.

Silentnight’s managing director Steve Freeman said the company’s success is based on its knowledge of what makes a great night’s sleep.

“Our continuous investment has focused on providing perfect sleep solutions for all the family, and at the heart of this is our in-house testing lab, with state-of-the-art-machinery that reenacts real-life sleeping scenarios, ensuring that our mattresses provide the optimum temperature, tension and breathability for a great night’s sleep.”

Of course, Silentnight didn’t become UK’s most-trusted and best-loved bed brand overnight and its 70 year history is marked by key milestones. To celebrate its anniversary, Silentnight has unveiled a new ‘Stitch in Time’ video to mark its finest hours in fascinating archive footage and materials.

The Silentnight story so far:

• In 1946, in the North Yorkshire town of Skipton, Tom and Joan Clarke formed a brand new company under the name Clarke’s Mattresses Limited.

• In 1948 they registered the company (Clarke’s Mattresses Limited) and rented a small premises in the centre of Skipton and the very first shop was opened to the public.

• The company began producing high quality but affordable beds and mattresses and demand led to operations being moved to a much larger site in Barnoldswick in 1949.

• In 1951 the company’s name changed from Clarke’s Mattresses to Silentnight Limited.

• Production continued to expand at such rapid rate that in 1961 the business moved to its current Barnoldswick premises.

• In 1986 it cemented its position as the UK’s number one bed brand by launching an entirely new spring system. To demonstrate the ultimate spring system’s unique no-roll together properties, the iconic Hippo and Duck brand icons were launched. They became instantly recognisable through entertaining and informative TV advertising and are still loved by the public today.

• In the late 1990s, the company’s unique spring system was improved and renamed the ‘Miracoil® Spring System’.

• In 2000, the brand identity was refreshed with a new, more contemporary illustration of Hippo and Duck. The new illustrations were used on our liveries, literature and of course, in our TV commercials.

• In 2002, an animated TV commercial aired. Featuring the voices of Jane Horrocks and Clive Rowe and set to a specially reworked version of Hot Chocolate’s ‘You Sexy Thing’ (I Believe In Miracoil’s), Hippo and Duck caught the attention of the nation yet again and sales continued to grow.

• In 2003, the company starts to produce beds and mattresses for children. ‘My first bed’ won ‘bed of the year’ at the furniture awards. A new set of commercials aired informing the public about the quality of products

• In 2004 Superbrand status is achieved for the first time.

• 2006 – 60 year anniversary celebrated with a Sleep etc campaign.

• In 2008, ‘convenience’ became the nation’s favourite buzzword. So mattress-now® becomes Silentnight’s first ‘convenience’ rolled mattress.

• The following year sees the launch of many more new products, the most popular being a new pocket spring system.

• In 2010, Silentnight returned to television screens across the country with sponsorship of American Idol.

• In 2011, Facebook and Twitter communities sprang into action and have continued to grow at a rapid rate.

• April 2012 – launch of Safe Nights and Healthy Growth ranges – cot bed mattresses and children’s beds specifically designed to help a new generation sleep well at night. At the end of 2012, a new mattress technology ‘Pocket spring’ is launched.

• 2012 continued….brand identity updated to reflect improvements in quality and products on offer to a wider customer audience. First Which? Best Buy award for Mattress-Now 3 zone rolled mattress.

• In 2013 a brand new technology called Geltex® is launched, which is a premium gel-infused foam comfort layer which enables easy movement and with unique breathability properties to help prevent overheating.

• In 2015 Silentnight was awarded Superbrand status for the 10th year running, as well as two Which? Best Buy awards for mattresses.

• 2015 continued… became members of the Institute of customer service, helping to reinforce the company’s position as the UK’s leading sleep brand, and launched the ‘Achievements’ campaign fronted by Olympic Gold medallist Jo Pavey.

• 2016 awarded Which? Best Buys for both the Silentnight Mirapocket 1200 and the Mattress-Now 3 Zone memory foam mattresses.  Again Silentnight achieves Superbrand status.  It also launches its My Sleep Secret consumer advertising campaign, using real life consumer quotes to reinforce its quality sleep solutions for all the family.

Impressive, isn’t it?

In addition, Silentnight’s award-winning apprenticeship scheme has been running for over a decade, and has so far given more than 50 young people the opportunity to build a career with one of the UK’s leading brands.  

It offers a range of apprenticeships in areas such as manufacturing, junior management, warehousing and storage, human resources, IT, and finance and apprentices are guaranteed a full time, permanent position upon successful completion of their training.

Silentnight’s achievements in this area were formally acknowledged when former Prime Minister David Cameron visited the company in 2014.

Naturally, the company wanted to mark its 70 year anniversary with the launch of several new products.

The Silentnight limited edition  Anniversary Collection Miracoil and Mirapocket mattresses have over 70 years of British-made heritage and expertise behind them. They feature a luxurious Geltex® comfort layer that offers unparalleled breathability and immediate bounce back, helping to prevent overheating and supporting easy movement for ultimate comfort and a restful night’s sleep.

Also launching in 2016 is Studio by Silentnight, an entirely new brand targeted at a design-conscious consumer with style and simplicity at its heart and even a range of luxury pet beds!

Steve Freeman firmly believes that it is innovations such as these that help Silentnight stay ahead of the competition.

“We are extremely proud of our UK manufacturing heritage and our commitment to quality and innovation remains as important now as it was 70 years ago. It’s been great to look back at some of our favourite memories and everything we have achieved. The future promises to be just as inspiring, with a series of new product ranges already creating much excitement in the market, and more importantly amongst our retail partners and their customers.”

Silentnight has captured its 70 year history in this timeline video – www.silentnight.co.uk/anniversary