Gav Boden has been involved in the furniture business for 40 years. He now works for Rhenus Logistics home delivery as the UK's sales director.

He started work in the 80s lifting furniture into vans and is now in charge of telling the world about Rhenus' global network.

He tells Ben about:

• How Ben and Gav met
• Trade shows
• How Gav got into the trade at 15 - and loved it
• His first sale of corner cabinets for £5,000
• Working on the road as a rep
• How outsourcing meant UK manufacturing took a hit
• Why having a full experience of the trade is so important
• The huge size of Rhenus
• Shipping and it's impact on retailers
• Why using a logistics network is cheaper
• Returns and the effect on their business
• What the future looks like for Rhenus in the UK
• The interest rates and how it's effecting trade
• UK manufacturers are now mid-to top end sales
• The Next empire after buying the rights to Made.com
• A new dawn for trade shows?

LINKS:

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Rhenus Logistics

Gav Boden on LinkedIn

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions

We all know that photos of our stock helps it sell, but digital techniques can help customers understand how a piece will look in their house.

Using computer generated imagery, Lesley Edgar's company, Red and Grey, creates designs which means customers can virtually drop furniture right into their front room.

She talks to Ben about:

• How it works
• What you need to provide to generate the images
• What happens with copyright issues
• How the team transform your stock
• Costs
• How AI has helped their business
• Getting a perfect digital match for the physical product
• How they market themselves

LINKS:

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Red and Grey

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions

When Joseph Shenton was 18, he was looking to make a bit of money. So he went to an auction to try and flip some stock, any kind of stock. But that's where he discovered the margin that could be made on furniture. From there, he is now the co-owner of two massive stores in the north of England - Joseph James.

In this episode he talks to Ben about:

• How he stumbled across the furniture trade
• Why Facebook marketplace was the starting point
• Covid and how that effected his brand new business
• Tik Tok and Ebay, and how they drive their business
• How they compete with the big companies like DFS
• Expansion and how they plan to grow
• Why importing isn't for them
• The importance of a decent delivery team
• Staff - and getting the right people
• How to make retail parks work
• Avoiding returns
• Breaking into the south and their plans to trade there

LINKS:

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Joseph James