MFI Group

MFI Group Limited, trading as MFI, was a national British furniture retailer. It was one of the largest suppliers of kitchens and bedroom furniture in the UK, and operated mainly in retail parks in out-of-town locations. After success in its early decades it more recently experienced recurring financial problems accompanied by several changes of ownership, and on 26 November 2008 it was announced that the company had been placed into administration. Merchant Equity Partners, headed by Henry Jackson, was the last company to own it, before it was sold to the management in September 2008 for a "small profit.".

History

MFI was founded in 1964 as Mullard Furniture Industries by two British men, Noel Lister and Donald Searle, who previously traded in war surplus goods. The new company was named after Searle's wife's maiden name. The company became a public company in 1971, as MFI Warehouses. An external manager, Derek Hunt, was recruited soon afterwards.

In the 1980s, MFI entered into partnerships, firstly in 1985 with Asda and then with Schreiber Furniture. The Asda connection was soon dissolved over concerns about the company's future and there was a management buy-out in...
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