Dow Schofield Watts has advised on the management buy-out of Flame Upholstery Ltd, a leading manufacturer of sofas and sofa beds, from its parent company Tetrad plc.

Flame, which sells its products through independent stores and also manufactures own-label furniture for retailers including John Lewis and Furniture Village, is based in Preston, Lancashire. 

The MBO on behalf of the management team comprising Janus Cooper and the current managing director of Flame, Mike Featherstone was negotiated and structured by Craig Richardson who also raised finance from Royal Bank of Scotland.

Established almost 40 years ago, Tetrad was the company which first invented removeable, machine-washable sofa covers and now employs over 500 people. Its products are sold in over 25 countries around the world. Flame was set up to market and sell own brand upholstery to multiple retailers. It has a turnover of £6.8million.