Annual turnover exceeds £16m and growth is already up 24% on last year’s record for family business JBJ Midlands, based in Leicester, which together with the MNM brand , also has a flooring division and two high street stores offering both product categories. MNM large selection of major brandsfast delivery and low prices combined with the offer of a sleep trial have struck a chord over the past two years, says manager Simon Johnson, whose father Trevor founded the company 30 years ago .
“People spend a lot of time with their mattresses, we focus on those rather than complete bed sets. Customers now have peace of mind ordering a large purchase online. Many prefer our trial offer from sleep to bouncing around in a showroom. No chatbots for us, but when they go to our site, we have real people answering questions 12 hours a day,” he says.
“We were the first to adopt digital 15 years ago and we are good at reacting and adapting our online offer. We respond to customer feedback, such as how important it is for them to know the weight of a mattress.
“We now deliver from Scotland to Jersey. All of this helped us a lot as we absorbed the impact of Covid and faced a surge in customers – business doubled in a month. Last year was a huge leap forward. We believe it marks a permanent change in people’s habits. Buying a mattress online is no longer unusual and we have also seen a greater variety of customers.
So has the company’s forward-thinking approach to storage. After taking the risk a few years ago of building their own super depot, this is reaching full capacity, they are now incorporating more sites in the North, Midlands and Gloucestershire.
Most mattresses sold by MNM, such as Hypnos and Sleepeezee, are made in the UK and the company works with a recycler. “Supply availability has stabilized for UK-made products,” adds Johnson. “Trends now suggest customers want UK-produced goods, sustainability and recyclability. We’ve always been strong on low prices, another increasingly important factor for households this year.”
The company, which employs more than 50 people, operates its own delivery fleet and is currently recruiting more drivers and adding more vehicles. “Investing in this side has cemented our reputation for reliability,” says Johnson. “It paid off and now we also deliver on behalf of the manufacturers. They know we can meet customer expectations.
After ceasing to sell in Northern Ireland due to post-Brexit issues, the company is currently testing a new courier. And MNM is determined to fulfill its sweet dreams of developing its own brand of mattresses and even manufacturing one day in the UK.
“We’ve had two challenging years, our overhead continues to rise, but there’s more light now at the end of the tunnel,” Johnson says.
