Liverpool city region office furniture manufacturer and supplier Dams reports annual sales of almost £60m and, like many firms in the UK, has seen a ‘significant’ rise in employment costs and taxes. Tony McDonough reports
Knowsley-based office furniture manufacturer and supplier Dams is the latest in a long line of UK businesses to acknowledge the challenges presented by Government fiscal policy.
Changes to National Insurance introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, along with the raising of the National Minimum Wage, have significantly pushed up the costs of employing people.
Dams, which employs around 350 people, has referred to the rising costs in its latest accounts for the 12 months to September 30, 2025, posted on Companies House. They show a slight dip in sales from £60.8m to £59.2m.
Pre-tax profits also fell to £4.4m from £6.3m in the previous year. However, net assets increased by almost 6% to £27.4m and the business announced it had paid dividends of £1.8m.
Based at Knowsley Industrial Park, Dams describes itself as “the default provider of office furniture in the UK” and these latest accounts mark 16 years in business. Writing in the annual report managing director Chris Scott said the firm had made “significant progress”.
“During the year, the company strengthened its management team through a combination of new appointments and internal promotions,” he added.
He went on: “Annual and periodically updated budgets reflected changes in market conditions, investing activities and budget changes, including employment costs and taxes which increased significantly during the year.
“All costs, including material costs and overheads were tightly managed against budget throughout the year.
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“Further investments were made into the company’s infrastructure (people, systems, machinery and distribution network) during the year as part of its programme of continual investment.”
Chris also said that machinery purchased during the year had further enhanced the company’s product portfolio and production quality. Dams has also embarked on a major refurbishment of its Gores Road offices.