Sales director Mark Stewart at 'conservatory furniture' manufacturer Desser has told diyweek.net about the company's plans to expand its ranges and start selling in garden centres.
Desser specialises in cane, rattan and wicker furniture ranges for the indoors but following requests from customers, Mr Stewart said the company will be introducing a range of outdoor furniture in March to be sold in garden centres, as well as through its normal retail outlets.

"We've always been in a similar industry to garden furniture. We started with baskets and things like that and moved into rattan furniture and that's still our core business. We work with a lot of garden centres and toyed with launching an outdoor furniture range, but now we've taken the plunge.

"We're doing four or five lounge ranges and a few dining sets, plus sun loungers," he added. "They're fairly summer ranges and all we do is indoor stuff but this lends itself to outdoor use as well. It's quite a competitive market but we feel that we can add a touch of our indoor knowledge to the outdoor."

Mr Stewart said this is a big investment for the company and the new products will have top-end price points and there will be various colour options on one or two of the products. The new range will be launched in March and retailers will be able to choose and order ranges for summer 2015.

"A few of our customers asked for this before," he continued. "It's something we see elsewhere and at trade shows and it's quite the 'in' thing at the moment; people want rattan furniture. Mixing this with upholstery and leather material makes it perfect for outdoor use.

"It's not going to happen overnight but it will happen gradually. It will definitely create interest."

Desser is a family run business that originated in the early 1900s; in the '70s the company moved to a purpose-built warehouse and showroom unit and today four generations of the same family have run the business. It currently supplies garden centre chains such as The Garden Centre Group, Notcutts and Dobbies (as well as Tesco Direct). The company's indoor furniture ranges are also sold in the multiples and furniture stores. Mr Stewart added that he is also launching three new indoor ranges next year.