High Street department store set to unveil furniture range (From The Advertiser Series)
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House of Fraser works with Sunderland-based ScS on furniture and carpet move
11:19am Wednesday 6th March 2013 in Business
By Steven Hugill
FURNITURE DEAL: A HIGH street department store will launch its new furniture and carpet ranges tomorrow (Thursday, March 7).
House of Fraser has teamed up with A Share and Sons, who own Sunderland-based sofa company, ScS, to create its For Living department.
The range, including sofa brands Parker Knoll and G Plan, and hundreds of carpets, will be unveiled in stores in Darlington, Middlesbrough and Gateshead's Metrocentre.
CAR SALES: New car sales in the UK have risen for the 12th consecutive month, according to new industry figures.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said there were 66,749 new registrations in February, an eight per cent increase of figures this time last year.
A report said UK factories, including Nissan, in Sunderland, built 1.46m cars in 2012, with 1.2m shipped abroad.
AXMINSTER LOSSES: About 300 jobs will be lost at Axminster Carpets, in east Devon, after the company went into administration.
The firm will reduce manufacturing and stop making yarn. It will retain about 100 employees.
SHARP DEAL: Global electronics company Samsung has agreed a £75m deal to buy a three per cent stake in Japanese firm Sharp.
Samsung, the world's biggest TV maker, said it hoped the investment would revive Sharp's fortunes, after the company announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs and sold a 10 per cent stake to Taiwan's Hon Hai.
ENERGY RISE: Energy supplier npower has revealed its profits rose by 25 per cent.
The firm, which increased energy prices by nine per cent last November, said profits rose by £77m to £390m.
The company lost 70,000 customers last year, but said its remaining 3.9m used more energy as tempratures dropped.
ADMIRAL BOOST: Profits at Admiral, the UK's second largest car insurer, have risen by 15 per cent.
Figures show the company had pre-tax profits of £345m for the year to December 2012, compared to £299m the previous year.
Its premiums came down by around six per cent last year.
The Cardiff-based company said 6,500 staff will receive free shares worth £3,000 in an employee share scheme.
