Dreams (bed retailer)
Dreams (branded as Bedtime in Northern Ireland) is a United Kingdom-based bed retailer and manufacturer specialising in beds, mattresses, bedroom furniture and bed linen. The first Dreams store was opened in 1987 by Mike Clare, and today there are over 200 stores nationwide. The company has its own purpose-designed mattress factory, and currently employs around 1,500 people, across a network of retail showrooms. History. The first Dreams store opened in Uxbridge in 1985. By 2000, Dreams had 50 stores, and opened its own mattress factory. In April 2013, Dreams PLC went into a pre packaged  administration, and was purchased by Sun European Partners. It has since traded as Dreams Ltd. Sun European Partners put the retailer on sale in early 2017, advised by N M Rothschild & Sons. TV advertising. Dreams was the main sponsor of the Channel 4 reality television show "Celebrity Big Brother" from its sixth series in 2009 to its seventh series in 2010. In 2013, they then sponsored the eleventh series of "Celebrity Big Brother", this time on Channel 5. Currently (winter 2019) sponsoring Challenge TV in the evening. Dreams produced a new advert "Sleep Like Log" featuring an animated log from  late 2021 onwards. Investigations. Investigations in to the business's operations have been conducted by the United Kingdom's Office of Fair Trading in 1998 and again in 2001, due to contracts in breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Following customer complaints, the company was also investigated and featured on BBC's "Watchdog" programme. In response to this matter Dreams made an apology on the programme. In February 2007, Dreams was investigated and censured by the Advertising Standards Agency for misleading claims in its promotional material. In 2010, another complaint against Dreams was upheld by the  ASA, which ruled that Dreams' advertising broke the rules regarding truthfulness, and contained misleading advertising without evidence to back up its claims.