Dreams Limited is a United Kingdom-based bed retailer and manufacturer specialising in beds,

mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a person Lying (position), lying down, especially for sleeping. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a Quilting, quilted o ...

es, bedroom furniture and bed linen. The first Dreams store was opened in 1987 by Mike Clare, and today there are over 200 stores nationwide. The company has its own purpose-designed mattress factory, and currently employs around 1,500 people, across a network of retail showrooms.

History

The first Dreams store opened in

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

in 1985. By 2000, Dreams had 50 stores, and opened its own mattress factory in Oldbury, Birmingham. In April 2013, Dreams PLC went into a pre packaged administration, and was purchased by Sun European Partners. It has since traded as Dreams Ltd. Sun European Partners put the retailer up for sale in early 2017, advised by N M Rothschild & Sons. In May 2021, Dreams was acquired by

Tempur Sealy International Somnigroup International Inc. is an American manufacturer of mattresses and bedding products. The company was formed when Tempur-Pedic International, a manufacturer of memory foam mattresses, acquired its biggest competitor Sealy Corporation ...

(now known as Somnigroup International). Around 2021/2022, most Dreams stores in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

were renamed to Bedtime to match the Sofatime brand, this rebrand was backtracked in 2023, with the stores rebranding back to the Dreams name. In 2023, Dreams opened their first store in the Republic of Ireland in Galway, followed by stores in Dublin and Limerick.

TV advertising

Dreams was the main sponsor of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

reality television show ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...

'' from its sixth series in 2009 to its seventh series in 2010. In 2013, they then sponsored the eleventh series of ''Celebrity Big Brother'', this time on Channel 5.. Currently (winter 2023), Dreams are sponsoring ITV's ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series broadcast from 2006 to 2014 and then from 2018 to 2025. It was presented by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern. Other previous hosts include Phillip Schofield and Christine Lampard. The series ...

''. In 2023, Dreams changed its strapline to "Love your bed".

Investigations

Investigations into the business's operations have been conducted by the United Kingdom's

Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economi ...

in 1998 and again in 2001, due to contracts in breach of the

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 Unfair may refer to: * The negative form of the adjective ''fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting fro ...

. Following customer complaints, the company was also investigated and featured on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

Watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watchdog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet U ...

'' programme. In response to this matter Dreams made an apology on the programme. In February 2007, Dreams was investigated and censured by the Advertising Standards Agency for misleading claims in its promotional material. In 2010, another complaint against Dreams was upheld by the ASA, which ruled that Dreams' advertising broke the rules regarding truthfulness, and contained misleading advertising without evidence to back up its claims.

Awards

* High Street Recycling Champion 2008 * British Safety Council – International Safety Award 2015 *West London Business Awards – Retail Business of the Year 2017 *Sunday Times Profit Track 100 2018 *The Drum Social Buzz Awards 2018 – Best Use of Group/Community (Mumsnet) *National Bed Federation 2018-19 – Large Bed Retailer of the Year"2018 Bed Industry Awards Winners"
Retrieved 17.02.2020.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Furniture retailers of the United Kingdom Mattress retailers of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1985 British companies established in 1985 1985 establishments in England Home decor retailers Companies based in Buckinghamshire 2013 mergers and acquisitions