Expanding portfolio in tough times

Wimmera-

based company Oscar Group Australia is continuing to add to its diverse business portfolio despite economic pressures created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oscar Group directors last week signed off on a deal to buy a bed and mattress manufacturing business in Melbourne, a little more than 12 months after purchasing Adelaide-based Lanfranco Furniture.

Oscar Group company director Daniel Op de Coul said while pandemic conditions had hit many industries hard, demand for furniture and homewares had soared.

“People haven’t been able to go anywhere and are working from home a lot more and want to be comfortable,” he said.

“A lot of people are taking money they would usually spend on holidays or social outings and putting it towards items for the home.

“We’re quite fortunate that the furniture industry is booming at the moment, with the exception of Melbourne retailers due to lockdowns.

“Hopefully those businesses will be able to get back up and running soon.”

The Oscar Group designs, manufactures, sells and services a range of products under its Oscar Furniture, Oscar Building, Oscar Commercial, Country Care Horsham, Lanfranco Furniture and Trop-pods brands.

Mr Op de Coul said throughout the past few years he had noticed a bigger emphasis on buying Australian-made products.

Australian made

He said Oscar Group was passionate about the Australian manufacturing industry, a key factor in the company’s decision to buy Melbourne-based Bedmaster Bedding.

The sale included ownership of BedMaster, Sleep Solutions and Perfect Quilting brands and an Airport West manufacturing plant.

Mr Op de Coul said the sale had been on the cards since January.

“It’s been a lengthy process,” he said.

“Because of COVID-19 we had to postpone some of the business dealings, which made things challenging.

“We had to do a lot of the negotiating remotely, which isn’t usually how we do things.

“Despite this, we are happy to have the deal completed and we are really excited about how things are going at the moment.

“We bought Lanfranco Furniture in July last year and it’s going really well.

“Throughout the pandemic we’ve gone from 32 staff over there to 40, with the surge in demand.

“Both Lanfranco Furniture and BedMaster Bedding were family owned and run businesses. The owners had worked hard for so many years and were ready to retire and were facing the challenge of whether they sold their business or closed it.

“At the end of the day they didn’t want their staff to lose their jobs, but finding a buyer for a manufacturing business can be difficult. We saw it as a good opportunity for us and it’s worked out really well for everyone involved.”

Oscar Group Australia is also a family company, with Mr Op de Coul working alongside his father, Anthony, and brother, Matthew.

He said he enjoyed looking into opportunities to expand and strengthen the organisation, while continuing to provide local jobs and quality products.

Mr Op de Coul said the company’s Horsham manufacturing business was still going strong.

“We’ve added a few extra roles at the moment and we plan to keep expanding it,” he said.

The group is developing a new product line for its Oscar Furniture brand, a high-end electric home-care bed, which will be produced by its Horsham-based steel fabrication team.

“It tied in well with the purchase of Bedmaster,” Mr Op de Coul said.

“We’ve had a lot of good feedback from customers, who think it will be a fairly successful product range, so we’re really excited about the potential there.”

The Oscar Group is also creating products for the tourism industry, which has been heavily affected by travel restrictions.

The group has a joint venture with Adelaide-based Troppo architects called ‘trop_pods’ eco tourism huts.

“They are small, self-contained units designed to fit into the bush environment,” Mr Op de Coul said.

“We are involved in a couple of tourism projects in the Northern Territory and South Australia and we have a few trop_pods waiting to be delivered, but we can’t get them across the border just yet.

“We have a few different things in the works. We’re very lucky, because we have a great team of people and our businesses cover several different industries.

“Even though they are all linked in some way, it helps spread the risk so we don’t have all of our eggs in one basket.”