BEDMAKER Silentnight has announced a 15 per cent rise in turnover to £125m – four years after it faced collapse.

The Barnoldswick-based firm also saw its operating profit rise 64 per cent from the previous year, to £6.6m.

And its position after tax has been turned around from being nearly £3.4m in the red, to a profit of just below £2.5m – a rise of more than £5.8m.

The figures, which have been hailed as ‘tremendous’, are shown in its latest accounts, for the year up to January.

Mike Damms, chief executive of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The company has been around for 60 years or so and it’s one of the most famous brands in the area so I’m delighted that it’s doing well and is on the up.

“It is a major employer in the area so it’s great for stability and manufacturing. No-one has ever doubted the quality of its products but it has had difficult times in the past with its business model.

“I think people appreciate what it does for the area to have such an iconic brand and I think it’s tremendous that everything is now in harmony.”

Silentnight Group is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers and retailers of beds, mattresses and headboards. Brands include Silentnight, Sealy, Rest Assured, Layezee, Pocket Spring Bed Company and Perfecta.

In a report to accompany the submitted accounts, bosses said that profits have increased partly due to a reduction in interest charges from previous refinancing deals. Employee numbers have risen in the past year and now stand at 972.

The company went into administration in 2011 when its creditors refused to cut its debts and renegotiate funds for its pensions deficit. But it was saved when it was bought by HIG Europe, the European arm of global private equity investment firm HIG Capital.

Restructuring has taken place in recent years and bosses say that that their strategy is to “focus on developing the company’s market leading bed brands, with the company’s portfolio making it the clear market leader in the UK”.

Silentnight says that it expects the bed market to be challenging in the coming year, but is confident of the company’s future.

“Ongoing investment in products and marketing will drive improved sales and operating profits.

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