UK furniture manufacturers face challenging market conditions, but have proved resilient and capable of embracing change, according to FIRA's competitiveness report, the first since 2001.

Furniture is relatively labour-intensive in comparison with many other manufacturing industries, according to the report. As such the industry faces additional pressures from low-wage economies, especially China and Poland, where operations are being established with the sole aim of producing low-cost exports.

However, a comparison of the current status of the UK industry, compared with that of nine years ago, reveals that many manufacturers have responded by specialising more, making significant improvements in quality and service, and operating leaner, more efficient businesses.