PEOPLE will literally sleep easier in their beds knowing 56-acres of North Yorkshire woodland has just been bought by bed company Harrison Spinks.
The firm has spent £150,000 on a long leasehold on two plots at Sand Hutton Woods near York – Whey Carr Plantation and Scrogs Bottom Wood, from the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
Experts on woodland sustainability are now being consulted by Harrison Spinks in a bid to harvest timber for use in the manufacture of of divan bases for its high-end custom- built beds.
It is part of a £4 million investment by the company over the past two years to create a sustainable supply chain.
That included the purchase last year of its own 300-acre Hornington Manor farm at Bolton Percy near York. Its 1,000 sheep enable the company to produce wool for its mattresses and the farm also produces 100 tonnes of hemp and flax to use for the fabric.
Simon Spinks, managing director of the 270-employee family Leeds-based firm, which also manufactures its own springs, was advised by legal firm Clarion in the purchase of the two woodland plots. Previously managed by the Forestry Commission, the woodlands include a mixture of crop types, including significant reserves of timber and areas of young replanting with spruce and pine at various levels of maturity.
Local timber will also be used as fuel at the company’s factory in Beeston, where it plans to generate part of its own power. Harrison Spinks will manage the woods to rigorous FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) standards, ensuring they are sustainable and implementing a stewardship scheme to protect natural flora and fauna.
The company supplies high street names including John Lewis and Barker and Stonehouse. Its beds range from £900 to as much as £4,000.
At least initially, the fully “home-grown” Yorkshire beds will be sold under the Spink & Edgar brand through John Lewis stores.
Simon Spinks, recently elected president of the National Bed Federation, said: “Our brand has evolved to become synonymous not only with quality, but also with sustainability. The demand from responsible consumers for components to be sourced locally and to be renewable wherever possible has led to our commitment to sourcing our own materials”.
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