Rival retailers make suite deal as experts warn of slowdown after Brexit

expected to come under pressure following the Brexit vote.

Economic forecasters from the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute last month warned that Scotland faces a sharp slowdown in growth and higher unemployment in the years ahead.

Latest high street sales figures from the British Retail Consortium revealed furniture firms recorded their lowest average three-monthly sales since February 2015 in the latest quarter. A slowdown in the e housing market would also affect t furniture sales.

Retailing consultant Nick Bubb b says more companies like Sterling g and Forrest may join forces over thee next few months because of the e threat of recession.

“So it makes sense to bulk upp against the competition andd adverse economic forces.”

Another business insider said:: “This deal makes sense for bothh parties, particularly as they aree trading well.”

Sterling Furniture Group wass founded by the Knowles family.. George Knowles Sr saw the growingg popularity of out- of- town retaill developments in America in thee 70s and converted a disused milll in Tillicoultry into the largestt furniture showroom in Scotland.

Knowles’s son George Jr took over the firm in 1985 and began to grow the business by opening stores in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Carlisle, Ayr, Uddingston and Inverness.

The company’s ad campaigns with sports broadcaster Dougie Donnelly, a friend of the Knowles family, spawned the catchphrase “Sterling – near Stirl ing” and became famous in Scotland.