Multiyork
Encyclopedia
Multiyork is a British furniture
retailer based in Thetford
, Norfolk
. The company employs over 660 people across the United Kingdom
and over 300 at its factory and head office in Thetford
, where it is a major business.
Multiyork is a member of the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers and carries the Manufacturing Guild Mark.
– a small village in Suffolk
- as of 1981.
Multiyork was purchased by the Wade Furniture Group in February 1995. At that time there were 28 stores.
The factory and Head Office have been based at Thetford
in Norfolk
since 1992 and in 2000 Multiyork expanded its site increasing factory capacity to the production of over 1,000 pieces of furniture
a week.
Multiyork's 60th store opened in Lakeside Retail Park in Thurrock in October 2008 and was the first to follow a new lifestyle led in-store format.
factory. The company employs a team of 60 seamstresses who stitch the upholstery
fabrics. Multiyork operates a sewing
apprenticeship school to ensure that these skills are passed down from one generation to the next and to preserve the craft within the local region. Not only do Multiyork use their own fabrics but also offer designer fabrics such as Mulberry
, Designers Guild
, Arthur Sanderson, Romo and Jane Churchill.
. The 10000 sq ft (929 m²) store has over 4000 sq ft (371.6 m²) dedicated to clearance stock, including ex display and end of line stock, as well as cancelled customer orders and customer returns.
The sofas, which incorporated Pudsey Bear and the ‘We’re Supporting BBC Children in Need’ banner, were also featured on BBC1 on the appeals night programme and were auctioned off through the BBC’s Children in Need eBay
auction to raise further cash.
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
retailer based in Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. The company employs over 660 people across the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and over 300 at its factory and head office in Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...
, where it is a major business.
Multiyork is a member of the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers and carries the Manufacturing Guild Mark.
History
Multiyork was founded is 1978 and initially operated out of the Old Mill site in MellisMellis
Mellis is a small village in Suffolk, England. It has the largest area of unfenced common land in England. Oliver Cromwell exercised his troops in Mellis. It once had a railway station on the main line between London and Norwich, and a small branch line that ran to nearby Eye.In summer rare...
– a small village in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
- as of 1981.
Multiyork was purchased by the Wade Furniture Group in February 1995. At that time there were 28 stores.
The factory and Head Office have been based at Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
since 1992 and in 2000 Multiyork expanded its site increasing factory capacity to the production of over 1,000 pieces of furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
a week.
Multiyork's 60th store opened in Lakeside Retail Park in Thurrock in October 2008 and was the first to follow a new lifestyle led in-store format.
Craftsmanship
All Multiyork sofas are made at its ThetfordThetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...
factory. The company employs a team of 60 seamstresses who stitch the upholstery
Upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word upholstery comes from the Middle English word upholder, which referred to a tradesman who held up his goods. The term is equally applicable to domestic,...
fabrics. Multiyork operates a sewing
Sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era...
apprenticeship school to ensure that these skills are passed down from one generation to the next and to preserve the craft within the local region. Not only do Multiyork use their own fabrics but also offer designer fabrics such as Mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
, Designers Guild
Designers Guild
Designers Guild is an international home and lifestyle company with a flagship store and showrooms on the Kings Road and Marylebone High Street in London, and offices in London, Paris and Munich....
, Arthur Sanderson, Romo and Jane Churchill.
The Factory Store
Multiyork’s Factory outlet is run out of its original site in MellisMellis
Mellis is a small village in Suffolk, England. It has the largest area of unfenced common land in England. Oliver Cromwell exercised his troops in Mellis. It once had a railway station on the main line between London and Norwich, and a small branch line that ran to nearby Eye.In summer rare...
. The 10000 sq ft (929 m²) store has over 4000 sq ft (371.6 m²) dedicated to clearance stock, including ex display and end of line stock, as well as cancelled customer orders and customer returns.
Fundraising
In 2009 Multiyork raised £25,000 for BBC Children in Need. The company’s in-house design team created six limited edition Pudsey sofas, five of which toured its stores and travelled a total of 3000 miles (4,828 km) between them to raise funds.The sofas, which incorporated Pudsey Bear and the ‘We’re Supporting BBC Children in Need’ banner, were also featured on BBC1 on the appeals night programme and were auctioned off through the BBC’s Children in Need eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
auction to raise further cash.