Mood of the Boardroom: Furniture firm learns lessons from the recession

Robyn de Bruin-Judge. Photo / Supplied

The furniture business has been hard-hit by the recession but for some New Zealand companies it has been a valuable learning experience.

North Shore designer and manufacturer de Bruin-Judge Furniture, formed in 1993, has had to restructure to meet the challenges of the weak market but is probably stronger for the experience. "The recession has opened up some opportunities - stuff that was not present during the skills shortage," director Robyn de Bruin-Judge says.

"It is easier to recruit staff who can do a wider range of things. The market was so constrained before that it was difficult to implement the plans you wanted to."

De Bruin-Judge, who owns the company with her husband Wim de Bruin, concedes the furniture business is tough going. "The industry as a whole has found it very hard in the past two years. There is a degree of optimism but the pipeline for construction is quite long. It is taking some time for the industry to recover."

De Bruin-Judge Furniture, which has 24 staff and aims at the top end of the market, is dependent, like others in the trade, on a confident and growing building sector. "Houses take a while to plan and all the finishing trades are at the end of that," de Bruin-Judge says. "The company has some flexibility and is definitely better placed to cope with a changing economy.

"We had to let a couple of people go over that time but we have restructured positions to deal with the changes in the economy and that has required a different mix of people."