Furniture prices in the UK are set to race higher as the Russia-Ukraine war pushes up the cost of key materials such as timber, reports the Guardian newspaper.
“We have never seen anything like this in terms of across-the-board price increases for materials,” said Sean Holt, the managing director of the British Furniture Manufacturers, the industry’s trade body.
Speaking with the Guardian, Holt said that the increases are “putting a lot of pressure on manufacturing in the UK and that will have to be shared with retailers and consumers.”
Higher furniture prices are feeding into higher living costs in the UK. According to the Guardian, inflation is running at 7%, the highest level in three decades, with furniture prices up 17%. The invasion of Ukraine is heaping more pressure on British furniture makers who had been sourcing timber from Russia.
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