as lse dfs industry retail founded 1969 as northern upholstery founder graham kirkham headquarters doncaster south yorkshire united kingdom key people richard baker chairman ian filby chief executive officer products furniture revenue 913.1 million 2015 1 operating income 89.2 million 2015 1 net income 3.2 million 2015 1 parent advent international website www.dfs.co.uk dfs formerly direct furnishing supplies stylised as dfs is a furniture retailer in the united kingdom and ireland specialising in sofas and soft furnishings . it is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 250 index . contents 1 history 1.1 northern upholstery 1.2 dfs 2 marketing 3 references 4 external links history edit northern upholstery edit in 1969 aged 24 kirkham was married with two children which he describes as great motivation . 2 having visited a few manufacturers in his daily work he decided that making furniture was relatively easy and that by cutting out the warehouse dealers in the middle of the supply chain he could sell direct to the public at lower prices . kirkham rented a room above a snooker hall in carcroft and started making furniture upstairs and retailing it downstairs . 2 dfs edit dfs wetherby formerly northern upholstery on the thorp arch trading estate west yorkshire by 1983 darley dale based direct furnishing supplies originally founded by herbert hardy in around 1970 had become one of northern upholstery s biggest suppliers . kirkham bought it . northern upholstery was renamed dfs although branches of northern upholstery in yorkshire had retained their original name until the mid 1990s and at the time had a total of 63 stores employing 2 000 staff . 2 in 1993 dfs was floated on the stock market and valued at 271 million with kirkham and his family trusts owning just over half of the shares . this brought the kirkham family to the attention of thieves who in 1994 broke into the family home at sprotborough while they were on holiday . the burglars bound and gagged the housekeeper and made off with money and jewels worth 2.4 million later recovered but still south yorkshire s largest armed robbery . 2 in 1998 dfs announced its first drop in profits in 28 years to the london stock exchange . the company reworked its advertising to feature younger models and in 2000 dfs announced a 79 per cent profit increase . 2 but the revival was short lived and in light of the continuing prevalence for private equity kirkham took the chain private again leveraging his family s own 9.46 % stake with 150 million of family funds 3 in an eventual 496 million deal . 4 5 kirkham told the yorkshire post it s something that s caused me fitful sleep in the time i ve been thinking about it . i ve no hobby this is my hobby it s what i do . i m an entrepreneur . it s almost as if i can feel the adrenaline running through my veins . 6 on 3 april 2010 it was announced that dfs had been sold to private equity firm advent international for a reported 500 million . 7 dfs then acquired two smaller british retailers which had been struggling in the market sofa workshop in 2013 and dwell in august 2014 . 8 9 on 6 march 2015 the company floated on the london stock exchange . 10 marketing edit for many years in the 1980s and 1990s actor tom adams was the face of dfs s television advertisements . 11 in december 2008 one television commercial by dfs was banned by the advertising standards authority following complaints that the company had doctored the footage to inflate the perceived size of their sofas relative to the actors . the advert featured actors miming nickelback s rockstar while playing air guitar in front of the sofas . 12 that month the advert was also given the distinction as one of the worst adverts of all time . 13 14 references edit a b c preliminary results 2015 pdf . dfs . retrieved 1 december 2015 . a b c d e sofa king sitting pretty on 315m pile . the star . 22 october 2002 . retrieved 1 december 2015 . increased and final offer . investegate . retrieved 1 december 2015 . outlook just say no to kirkham s insulting dfs bid . independent the london . 6 october 2013 . retrieved 1 december 2015 . world business briefing . the new york times . 23 july 2004 . latest news and features famous doncastrian graham kirkham . donny online . retrieved 1 december 2015 . dfs sofa chain sold to private equity firm . bbc news . 23 april 2010 . retrieved 12 november 2014 . blitz roger 20 august 2014 . dfs buys smaller furniture chain dwell . ft. ft. retrieved 6 november 2014 . dfs acquires aspirational brand . retail week . 1 november 2013 . retrieved 6 november 2014 . furniture chain dfs returns to stock market . bbc news . 6 march 2015 . retrieved 8 march 2015 . tom adams obituary . the telegraph . 15 december 2014 . retrieved 1 december 2015 . advert banned for inflated sofas . bbc . 3 december 2008 . retrieved 1 december 2015 . 10 of the best worst adverts of all time . daily record . 12 december 2008 . retrieved 4 july 2013 . sweney mark 11 december 2008 . the worst tv ads of 2008 federer woods and henry take a bow . london the guardian . retrieved 4 july 2013 . external links edit official website corporate website v t e ftse 100 ftse 250 companies of the united kingdom 3i infrastructure aa aberdeen asset management aberforth smaller companies trust acacia mining aggreko aldermore group alliance trust allied minds amec foster wheeler ao world ascential ashmore group assura atkins auto trader group aveva balfour beatty bankers investment trust barr a.g. bba aviation beazley group bellway berendsen berkeley group holdings bank of georgia bh macro big yellow group b & m european retail value bodycote booker group bovis homes group brewin dolphin holdings british empire trust britvic brown n. btg plc cairn energy caledonia investments capital & counties properties card factory carillion centamin cineworld city of london investment trust clarkson close brothers group cls holdings cmc markets 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