Brits continue to spend money on beds and bedroom furniture, despite all other areas of the furniture area struggling, according to research house Verdict.

The research firm revealed the bed and bedroom furniture market is set to grow by £79.4m this year, while the whole furniture and floorcovering market will shrink by £518.2m.

Matt Walton, retail analyst at Verdict said: “Beds have held up well even in the current economy due to the strong connection between quality of sleep and the feeling of wellbeing.

“This is illustrated by the huge growth in Tempur-Pedic products and the success of beds specialists such as Feather & Black, which has achieved growth rates of more than 40%. Shoppers have proved that they will look to replace a bed as quickly as possible, despite its big ticket price point”.

It said the overall furniture and floorcoverings market is poised to see sales fall by 3.9% this year.

Walton added: “The heavy snowfall at the start of 2010 affected furniture and floorcoverings in particular, as the majority of stores are out-of-town. In addition many shoppers held off purchases until after the election and emergency budget in order to gauge their financial position.

“The stagnant housing market, which is so pivotal to this sector, has also led to people deferring these purchases. Simply put, the majority of consumers have neither the desire nor ability to buy furniture and floorcoverings currently”.

“Bed sales have faired better, but with retailers clamouring to take advantage of the few product areas which are still growing, only the biggest retailers are enjoying the benefits. The rest are finding themselves somewhat squeezed.”