BED and furniture giant Silentnight Holdings is today flying high - literally and metaphorically-and celebrating its 50th birthday in style.

The Colne-based firm, one of East Lancashire's biggest employers, is taking 100 customers and past and present employees to Manchester Airport for a champagne lunch and flight on the famous Concorde.

The business was founded by Tom and Joan Clarke in a small shop in Skipton using Tom's £180 war gratuity.

As Clarke's Mattresses it moved to Barnoldswick in 1949 and two years later the company was renamed Silentnight.

Since then it has grown to employ around 4,000 worldwide and has an annual turnover of more than £200 million. The group has five bed manufacturing businesses in the UK trading as Sealy, Perfecta, Layezee, Pocket Spring Beds and Silentnight Beds.

The company is also the largest manufacturer of cabinet furniture with trade names including Homeworthy and Westminster Pine.

Overseas, Silentnight has bed businesses in the USA, Germany, United Arab Emirates, a distribution centre in Ireland and links with licensees in Australia.

The anniversary celebrations coincide with the group's exhibition at its centre at Salterforth.

Following the flight, group chief executive Bill Simpson will cut a birthday cake to mark the half-century.

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