Meet the family

My name is John, and together with my wife Sandra, we are the founders of Sussex Beds.

In December 1981, we opened the doors to our first shop in Hastings. Working alongside my sister and friends, the store was an instant success. Our purpose was clear: to improve the quality of sleep by providing quality products with exceptional
service at the best possible prices.

Family remains at the heart of the business, and I am so proud and humbled that my children and now grandchildren continue to successfully grow the business, staying true to our original purpose and values.

Today, Sandra and I are happily retired, though still very much connected—just watching more from afar. I often reflect on those fun start-up days and miss the sales floor dearly.

I remain always grateful for all those who have worked tirelessly to build the business over these many years, and deeply thankful to all the customers who have supported us and continue to support us today.

Hello, I am Steve, CEO of Sussex Beds.

If you know me, you’ll know I am not your usual CEO—some would say even a little unorthodox. I don’t do suits, don’t do ties, and my preferred footwear is a pair of Vans.

Having sat in the CEO seat since 2014, I am proud to have worked with my family to grow our business successfully and award-winningly across 3 counties in the south of England, helping many thousands of people gain the benefit of a quality night’s sleep in the process.

In my free time, you’ll find me occasionally treading the boards in local theatres and I’m proud to co-produce the annual Hastings Gang Show, leading over 100 young people to perform in this local spectacle.

Fun fact: our family business was founded by my parents and spans 3 generations, all as passionate and obsessed about beds and sleep as each other. I work with my brother, sister, cousin, wife and both children… the quarterly performance review with my wife is always interesting!

Hi, I’m Matt, CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) of Sussex Beds. I oversee both the finance and IT departments of the company. I have been in charge of finance since 1998 and recently added IT to my responsibilities after overseeing “Project Mayhem”, the upgrading of all our old legacy IT systems to a single ERP!

I started working full time for Sussex Beds in 1993, initially as a sales advisor in our Haywards Heath store before becoming the store manager there, before taking up my current finance role.

In my free time, I like to exercise, either at the gym or running. I enjoy walking with my boxer dog, Bohdi and love watching her just run and play. I am heavily into most things Sci fi, either on tv, reading, computer games or playing tabletop games.

My favourite memory from working at Sussex Beds would be some of the games we used to invent to entertain ourselves while working, either shove 2p at Haywards Heath or bed nob bowles at Bexhill.

I started my Sussex Beds career way back in 1989, when my uncle John offered me a job straight from leaving school at 16. I have had many job roles over the years, but started on the sales floor, before taking over running the warehouse in 1999.

In 2010 I proudly became a director, and 15 years on from there I love working with my family running our business. My latest role as head of operations is looking at all operational costs of running our business and of course finding and opening new stores.

Paula is Steves wife and mum to Josh and Grace, she began her marketing career over 30 years ago training as a Graphic Designer. Her role in marketing has evolved over time but she still loves designing and the creative areas of her job.

Handling a fast growing Marketing budget for 14 stores is exciting and challenging at the same time. Paula really enjoys investigating the ever-changing media trends and creating awareness and developing the Sussex Beds brand.

In her spare time Paula loves travelling, walking her dogs and socialising with her family and friends.

Beds are in our blood really, so officially I’ve worked in the business over 10 years now, but in reality it’s from birth!