Consorts visit Hypnos

By Annette Ahern

Recently the Mistress Furniture Maker arranged for 20 Consorts to visit corporate member Hypnos Ltd for a day exploring how mattresses are made.  We were welcomed by chief executive James Keen and group managing director David Baldry.  David explained the heritage and vision of the company which is proud to be family run over five generations by the Keen family.  Hypnos have held a Royal Warrant for 95 years and were recently awarded the King’s Royal Warrant.  We had a tour of the factory where we were all surprised at the lack of automation and the amount of work carried out by hand.  We were impressed with the way that the layers of the mattress are put together and the skill and speed with which the edging and tufting were completed.  Hypnos prides itself on developing sustainable solutions, using natural materials such as British-grown wool making recyclable products, and making sure nothing goes to landfill from their site.  They have recently invested in two electric powered lorries and have converted the remainder of their fleet to bio-diesel fuel.

We had fun trying out the mattresses in the training room before moving on to the serious business of a competition to see which group of Consorts could edge stitch and put together the layers of a mattress – not to be the fastest but the neatest and most likely to be passed by their Quality Assurance inspector.  Needless to say there was much laughter, encouragement and competitiveness between the three teams!  The winning team was presented with prizes of pillows to help them sleep well. 

Finally there was an opportunity for everyone to try more mattresses in the showroom before heading home.

I am very grateful to the Hypnos team and all their staff who were welcoming and friendly throughout the day.  We all learnt so much and will no doubt be viewing our own mattresses with a better idea of what goes into making our sleep so important.  Some may even be planning a return visit to place an order!