42 years in the Bed Industry: Interview with Paul Longmore

42 years in the Bed Industry: Interview with Paul Longmore

Interview with Bed Industry Expert Paul Longmore

Thursday 21st Aug 2025

This is a lightly edited transcript of an audio recorded interview with Paul Longmore, who has been in the bed industry for 42 years. From driver, to managment, repairs, building websites and winning national awards, this interview will tell Paul's journey through the trade.

Observations I’ve made about Paul (sitting across from him in head office for 4 months) – He’s always in early at 8am every day when he should start at 9am. You will never see Paul come in late; he’s always in before any member of staff. Chill-natured, Paul doesn’t get outwardly stressed, he’s cool, witty and has a very Scottish dry sense of humour.
Start of recording

Iona - A lovely sunny day here at The Archers Hillington head office. I’m sitting down with you today, Paul, because you've been in the trade longer than anyone. How many years have you worked for Archers Sleepcentre?

Paul - Just coming up to 19 years. I’ve been in the bed industry for 42 years, starting on the 25th of May 1983, 12:30, I started in the afternoon.

Iona - What was your favourite subject in school, and why?

Paul - My favourite subject was woodwork. My dad was a joiner, I wanted to go out and help him, but I ended up in engineering. I became an apprentice engineer, and unfortunately, I was made redundant. Margaret (Paul's wife) and I had just moved from a flat to a house, and three months after, I got made redundant.
I had to find a job. I got a job as a temporary driver at Howard's Bedding for two weeks. I was there for 23 years. I had progressed from a temp to Assistant Warehouse Manager, Warehouse Manager, to Customer Service Manager then Shop Manager. I’ve done it all.
 
Iona - When you were at Howards Bedding, you were known for having a special toolkit — what was in it?

Paul - There was nothing special; it was just a toolkit. They might have called it a special toolkit, but it was just a toolkit that allowed me to do repairs, if necessary, on the day. If the customer told me roughly what the problem was, I would have a fair idea of how I could fix it. I would then visit their house, bringing the tools and spares with me that would allow me to carry out the repair to the customer's satisfaction. Phil Sapsford, owner of Howards Bedding comments for Silent Night’s bed Times issue 5 1990 “since the introduction of this service the number of our complaints has been reduced by 80%”.

Iona - Are there any funny stories you remember from going to customers' houses?

Paul - There have been quite a few ... but you wouldn’t want to print any of them.
 
Iona -  You won the first national bed retailer of the year award 1990 for your advertising, customer service, and staff training. Which of these areas do you feel made the biggest impact on winning the award, and what did you take away from that success?

Paul - The customer service. That was something we were really good at. What you take away from it is pride, that the industry has recognised you. There were so many people in the trade that entered it, and then it was whittled down to 6 bed companies. For the furniture trade to say you’re the best and what they are looking for, I took so much pride from it. You can walk up the road with your chest out, thinking I’ve done something right here.

Iona - How did the transition from Howards Bedding to Archers Sleepcentre come about? What motivated the move?

Paul - What motivated the move was that Howards Bedding went into liquidation... and I lost my job.
I sent an application to Archers, Ian phoned me (director at time), and he said - I've just been looking at your CV and at your time in the trade, I really want to speak to you.

They weren’t advertising for staff at the time. I then went along for an informal interview and was there for 3 and a half hours. I came out and phoned Margaret, unsure if I had the job or not. I said my head's like a scrambled egg, I’ve not got a clue. Ian phoned me the next day, offered me a job, and I’m still here.
I can genuinely say there’s never been a day when I’ve woken up and thought I don’t want to come to work. I've never had a sick day in 19 years at Archers.


 
Iona - Looking back on your time at Archers, what’s been your favourite memory?

Paul - Looking back, when we started up The Internet (website operations), it was just the 3 of us, David, Dean and me. Sitting together at the end of a desk in Auldhouse with laptops, trying to build the website. We battered into putting products on the site and getting sales. We then expanded The Internet team, a highlight from the success of the expansion would be achieving the E-tailer of the year award 2014 and the National retailer of the year award 2017. These awards were for giving a great, quick service and for having the widest range of products available to customers. Again, that recognition from the industry is always a good feeling, and it puts a feather in our cap.

Iona - Are you a firm mattress or soft mattress kind of guy?

Paul - Medium firm

Iona - If you had to describe your career in the bed industry with a song, what would it be?

Paul - Wild Night by Van Morrison

That concludes my brief interview with Paul. Forty-two years in the industry, coming up to 2 decades at Archers, and still the first one through the door every morning. From driver, to managment, repairs, building websites and winning national awards. Paul’s left his mark on every part of the business. You get the sense Paul's not only proud of the journey but genuinely grateful for it too.
 
Posted by Iona Thomson
21st August 2025

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