No two councils across the UK have the same policy for removing bulky waste and unwanted furniture.

Extreme differences between policies were highlighted within the research, which found some council policies charging as much as £20 for the removal of a single item, compared with other boroughs which offered free removal for up to five items.

The research is part of our bid get the nation to consider reupholstering and repairing furniture instead of simply discarding it.

Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester, Lincoln, Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, Preston and Wakefield offer the free removal of unwanted furniture, but with varying restrictions on the number of items and in some cases, type of waste.

Worcester and Cambridge were revealed as the most expensive, charging £16.10 and £20 respectively for the removal of just one single item.

The cost to remove a fridge freezer also varied dramatically between councils, with Canterbury charging the most at £25 while others offered the service for free.

Discounts for those on income support, housing benefits and pension credits were offered by some councils and not by others and in some cases, the time of year affected a council’s policy. In Chester, collection is free during the months of March and April but for the rest of the year there is a charge of £15 per collection.

Chris Plumb at Plumbs said: “According to latest government figures, the UK sends more than half its waste to landfill – that’s a huge 62 million tonnes a year in England alone. By reupholstering furniture, consumers are taking direct and effective action to help reduce our landfill problem.”

“The collection and subsequent reuse or recycling of furniture by councils is key to reducing landfill, yet our research shows that there is no consistency across UK councils with some waste policies coming out more favourable than others.”

We have created a new collection of fabrics called the ‘Bijoux Collection’. It is a co-ordinated range of four differently styled fabrics, featuring textured tweeds and crushed velvets, which are colour co-ordinated together to offer mixed furniture groupings following current trends.

The new range of fabrics have been manufactured using the very latest technology with the highest quality raw materials to offer beautiful, timeless fabrics.

The four fabrics are:

Bijoux Weave –a richly textured tweed effect combining similar tones
Bijoux Slub – a smooth textured random slub effect for perfect simplicity
Bijoux Velvet – a sumptuous crushed velvet with the very latest design trends
Bijoux Hopsack – s simply styled contemporary tweed with tonal shades

Colourways include: Grey, Mulberry, Pearl, Coca, Chocolate, Teak, Charcoal, Mist, Duck Egg, Pear and Cherry

Chris Plumb of Plumbs said, “Our new collection offers some stunning fabrics with lots of different colourways. Use them to transform a sofa or chair with loose covers or reupholstery to brighten up your room for the summer.”

We have recently put a brand new delivery van on the road, even though we are really excited about this, we imagine you are probably not!

So, to get you a little more excited. The first 5 people to send us a photo of themselves with one of our delivery vans will receive a lovely surprise. NO EMPLOYEES PLEASE

If you are lucky enough to snap a photo with our new van, you’ll get an extra special surprise.

Please post your photos on our Facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/Plumbs.Home

Just so you know, our delivery vans go all over the UK so watch out wherever you are!

Here is what our other vans look like:

Congratulations to the winners of 5 pairs of tickets to the Country Living Magazine Spring Fair. They were won by:

Rachael Giacomuzzi on Facebook
Margaret Dunlop on Twitter
Janette on Twitter
Alison: Newsletter Sign-up
Emma: Newsletter Sign-up

We hope to see you there and hope you have a great time.

It’s tough to turn on the TV and avoid shows encouraging us to make money by getting rid of our belongings – Flog It! Cash in the Attic! Car Booty! All tap into our desire to end up on telly and end up with what’ll hopefully be a tidy sum in our pockets! But what if your treasured possessions are just that? New research shows nearly three quarters of people say they believe furniture has sentimental value.

• 73% of people believe furniture has sentimental value
• A fifth of people would never sell an old family treasure to try and make some cash
• Two thirds of people would rather bring a piece of furniture back to life and have a piece of family history than by something new
• But despite feeling sentimental, around 30% of people don’t think their kids or relatives would take a piece of furniture if it was handed down!

There’s no denying that seeing a piece of furniture owned by a relative can evoke memories of being a child, or times gone past and 45% of us say we have a piece of furniture in the house that has been passed down through the family. While a fifth of us say we’ve hung onto a furniture heirloom because they like the look of it and about 14% say there’s a story attached to it.

But while it seems that many of us are furnishing our homes with memories, it could be the end of the line for many items, as a third of people don’t think their kids would want any furniture hand-me-downs!

So is it all the fault of the “Throw Away Generation”? Do the younger generations think doing-up an old tatty sofa is too much hassle and may cost more in the long-run? The study from Plumbs Upholstery has found that two thirds of us say that we tend to keep furniture for up to 10 years – even though some people claim they’re bored of their furniture within 6 months!

It appears that the recession hasn’t put the pinchers on how much we shell out on furniture, with more than half of people saying they spend between £300 and £1,000 per year on furniture and furnishings. But it does seem that the recycling message IS getting through as the statistics show over 40% would consider investing money to bring an item of furniture back to its former glory.

So, do you have a sofa that’s seen the elbows of several generations? Did you have some furniture handed down from parents in your first home that was abandoned in a skip once you started to earn more money? Do you wish you had it now? Or do you think £500 for a three piece suite is such a bargain that the memories don’t count?

Alice Beer talks to BBC local radio stations about Plumbs and keeping that in-herited piece of furniture rather than throwing it away.

A survey has revealed that two thirds of UK homeowners would rather bring a piece of furniture back to life and enjoy a piece of family history than buy something new.

What’s in and what’s not? Find out if you current decor is out of date or if you’ve pre-emptied what the interior design fashion police are saying your home should like be this year.

Excerpt: According to Pantone, “Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world” – the perfect anecdote to a turbulent 2009!

Read the full article here…

Come and see us and our Loose Covers & Reupholstery products at the BBC Summer Good Food Show and BBC Gardeners’ World Live – the Summer Hotspot for 2009 at The NEC, Birmingham.

We will be on the Stand SV128 – Hall 6 – in the Gardeners’ World Live section.

From Wednesday 10th to Sunday 14th June, The NEC in Birmingham will play host to two of the most eagerly awaited Shows of the summer celebrating two of our favourite pastimes for the long summer days – gardening and cooking for friends!

BBC Gardeners’ World Live will return with a fantastic line up of your favourite celebrity gardeners and experts to help you tackle your thorny gardening problems and provide ideas and inspiration for creating the perfect summer backdrop in your own back garden. New at the 2009 Show will be the live garden and allotment where the experts will show you what to do, and they’ll show you how to do it too!

We hope to see you there…

We have a hotel event planned for Tuesday 1st July. The Hotel event is designed to be an enjoyable trip out to look at the latest in soft furnishings and interiors. We will even treat you to refreshments and a special bag of free goodies to take home!

Come and see for yourself Plumbs extensive range of soft furnishing fabrics including our new range of Made-to-Measure Furniture Covers, Reupholstery and Curtain designs as well as some of our most popular best sellers!

Tuesday 1st July Holiday Inn Ipswich , Suffolk – map
Holiday Inn, London Road, Suffolk IP2 0UA Tel: 0870 400 9045

What’s included:

• FREE entry and refreshments
• The chance to find out more about the latest Furniture Covers, Reupholstery and Curtains ranges from Plumbs
• A friendly relaxed chat with a Plumbs design Consultant
• Take away free fabric samples
• Take away free goody bag!

We hope we see you there…

We’d like to say a big thank you everyone who came to see us at ‘The Design Weekend Home and Garden Exhibition’ in Tatton Park over the Bank Holiday weekend.  It was a great day out for us and hopefully for you too.  For all those who missed us or couldn’t make it, there is another chance to see us at the BBC Summer Festival in July.

Why not sign-up to our newsletter to receive more information and discount on the ticket.  Please click here to sign-up…

Have a look at some photos of the event at Tatton Park -