DFS Profit Up 49%, but Sofa Volumes 20% Below Pre-Covid

Three things worth knowing this fortnight if you are furnishing a room or planning a London project. Britain’s biggest sofa retailer has reported its year, and its numbers say a lot about where furniture prices and offers are heading. A glass dining set sold by JD Williams has been recalled. And the big London interiors show for designers opens at Olympia in ten days.

DFS lifts profit 49%, but the sofa market is still 20% below pre-pandemic

DFS Furniture, which also owns Sofology, published its results for the year to 28 June 2026 on 24 September. Revenue rose 2.6% to £1,057.5 million and underlying profit before tax rose 48.7% to £44.9 million, from £30.2 million. Gross margin reached 58.1%. The group says it holds a record 40% share of the UK upholstery market by value. Orders for its non-sofa Home range (beds, mattresses, dining and living room furniture) grew 10.9%.

The more useful line for shoppers is in the outlook. DFS says core UK upholstery market volumes are still about 20% below pre-pandemic levels, and its orders in the first twelve weeks of the new year are down 2.5% on last year, which it partly blames on extreme weather hitting footfall in July and August. A shrunken market and a leader that has just hit its 58% margin target point the same way: do not expect list prices to fall, so the saving is in timing your purchase around a promotion. If you are buying a sofa this autumn, compare the delivery lead time and the guarantee as carefully as the price. Our furniture budget calculator helps you split a room budget before you shop, and the small living room design ideas guide covers sizing. The results are on the DFS investor site.

JD Williams recalls its Antonia space-saving dining set

On 30 September the Office for Product Safety and Standards published a recall of the JD Williams Antonia Space Saving Dining Set, model UK326, a glass table with metal legs and four upholstered chairs. A loose bracket can let the table legs come away from the top, so the table may collapse and the glass shatter. JD Williams has contacted affected customers directly. If you own one and have not heard from them, stop using it and contact JD Williams for a refund, repair or replacement.

Separately, on 1 October the same office reported that a Loomerig Luxury Double Mattress Topper, made in India, had been rejected at the border and destroyed because it failed the flammability requirements of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. Both are reminders to check for the permanent fire-safety label on upholstered items and to keep proof of purchase for flat-pack furniture. The notices are on GOV.UK: the dining set recall and the mattress topper report.

Decorex opens at Olympia from 11 to 14 October

Decorex, the luxury interiors show aimed at design professionals, runs at Olympia London from Sunday 11 to Wednesday 14 October, 10am to 6pm (5pm on the Wednesday). The organisers expect more than 280 exhibitors across furniture, lighting, fabric, flooring, kitchens, bathrooms, tiles and accessories, with a Design Talks programme whose speakers include Tiffany Duggan of Studio Duggan and Roisin Lafferty.

For a homeowner, Decorex is where many of the suppliers a London designer specifies from launch their new collections, so it shapes what will appear in proposals over the next year. If you are hiring a designer, it is a fair question to ask whether they are going and what they saw, and it is a good moment to ask how their trade discounts on those suppliers are passed on to you. Our guides to interior designer trade discounts and hiring an interior designer in London cover what to ask. Details are on the Decorex site.