The story of Finline Furniture, the Emo-based business in Laois is one of the great success.

Finline Furniture is the largest manufacturer of sofas and chairs in Ireland – and one of the biggest in the British Isles. And 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of its establishment.

The Finline factory in Emo, built in 1979 by Kieran Finane and his wife, Bridget, has expanded significantly over the years. It employs over 50 people, has exported to over 50 countries and has expanded its retail services in Ireland massively in recent years.

Finline Furniture.

It has also expanded nationally, with showrooms at the factory in Emo, on the Long Mile Road in Dublin, in St Patricks Woollen Mills in Douglas in Cork and on the Tuam Road in Galway.

As well as having exported to embassies and hotels around the world, Finline was the exclusive supplier of the G8 Summit of World Leaders in Lough Erne in 2013 and has fitted out the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Its local retail business, however, is an essential part of its continued success and the hugely popular Finline Furniture annual sale returns on 4-6 January, with up to 70% off some of the ex-display items.

Finline Furniture.

This factory sale takes place exclusively at the showrooms in Emo, Co Laois, though there are also great sale offers in Dublin, Cork and Galway.

“We have expanded our retail presence in Ireland so that people can come and buy directly from Finline at factory prices,” says sales director Ciaran Finane, who now runs the business alongside his brother, Kilian, following the decision of their dad, Kieran, to step back in the last couple of years. Bridget, who played a huge role in the business, passed away in 2013.

“We opened showrooms in Cork and Galway in recent years and in the past year we have expanded our showrooms in Dublin and at our factory in Laois.”

Having previously been a wholesale business – with clients including Arnotts, Caseys and Brown Thomas – Finline changed its model to retail in 2011.

Finline Furniture.

“As always customers are advised to come early as the queues are usually huge, particularly on the first morning of the sale.

“Everything is reduced. We’ll have thousands of fabrics with lots of bargains to be had – many ex-display items going for as much as 70% off.”

The success of the business comes down to a couple of key points: a great-quality product and a brilliant team behind it all.

“We’ve a very loyal team of staff who are with us an average of 20 plus years,” says Ciaran. “It’s skilled labour – craftspeople like cutters, sewers and upholsterers who are among the best in the world. Added to this is our unique and famous fabric collection sourced directly from the world finest mills in Italy, Belgium, Turkey and USA.”