Discover our history

Family owned, and made locally in Australia and New Zealand since 1899.

1899 – 1927

1899

Enoch William Beard establishes The Australian Bedding Mill producing handmade straw palliasses and tufted horsehair mattresses.

1926

After two and a half decades, the Australian Bedding Mill burns to the ground, leaving Enoch ruined. With only a gold half sovereign and a strong work ethic to his name, Enoch’s son Albert decides to rebuild the business.

1927

Equipped with black and white striped ticking, flock, kapok and horsehair, Albert and his wife Ada begin making mattresses by hand.

1946 – 1970

1946

Albert’s son Austin embraces modern technology and begins importing the latest bedding-spring machinery into Australia.

1970

A.H. Beard introduces King Koil, the first chiropractic-approved mattress, to Australia.

1996 – 1999

1996

Fourth-generation Beard brothers Garry and Allyn embark on a period of national and international growth. A.H. Beard sets up camp in Auckland.

1997

A.H. Beard acquires Suparest Bedding in Victoria and Tasmania, ensuring localised manufacturing and distribution to Southern Australia.

1999

A.H. Beard acquires 90-year-old bedding firm Domino, along with the inaugural award for Australian Family Business of the Year.

2007 – 2008

2007

FlexGel is created and Australia is introduced to gel bedding for the very first time.

2008

A.H. Beard acquires SleepHaven Bedding in South Australia, completing a national operations and distribution grid.

2011

2011

A.H. Beard launches the first innovation in support technology the world has seen in decades. While other manufacturers were cutting costs by reducing the amount of working wire in their springs, our Reflex support system introduced a secondary coil to provide additional support wherever the individual sleeper needs it. Our patented, Australian-designed Reflex support technology now sets the standard for ICA endorsed support systems around the world.

2012 – 2014

2012

A.H. Beard celebrates 113 years of supplying superior sleep and is inducted into Family Business Australia’s Hall of Fame.

2012

That same year, former Prime Minister Mr John Howard officially opens A.H. Beard Bedding Stores in Shanghai as part of our supply agreement with retailer Shanghai Green Foreign Trade Ltd.

2013

A.H. Beard launches the Six Week Sleep Challenge, subsequently winning the Mumbrella Award for Insight.

2014

A.H. Beard launches fresh brand identity, introducing the belief at the core of the business: Improving Lives Through Better Sleep.

2015 – 2020

2015

This year sees the Sydney A.H. Beard branch move to a new, purpose-built facility in Padstow, which houses the company’s Group Office and NSW manufacturing.

2016

Sleepsense – Australia’s first-ever smart mattress – is introduced to the market.

2016

A.H. Beard is named as the official mattress partner for the Australian Institute of Sport.

March 2017

Smart Sleep Technology is released. May 2017: The launch of iComfort, a smart mattress that has been specially designed for bedroom retailer Forty Winks. May – July 2017: King Koil Luxury ranges are introduced to Australia.

May 2017

The launch of iComfort, a smart mattress that has been specially designed for bedroom retailer Forty Winks.

May - July 2017

King Koil Luxury ranges are introduced to Australia.

July 2017

The Australian-made Body Balance range of memory foam mattresses hits the market.

December 2017

A.H. Beard completes its national distribution network when we assume responsibility for manufacturing in WA from Thomas Peacock & Sons.

2018

A.H. Beard expands export into South Korea and Papua New Guinea. By this time, China has more than 35 A.H. Beard-branded stores.

2019

A.H. Beard celebrates 120 years of improving lives through better sleep. This same year, export expands into Thailand.

January 2020

A.H. Beard launches the Mattress For a Mate initiative, providing beds for those that lost their homes during the devastating Australian bushfires of 2019/2020.

March - April 2020

A.H. Beard works with the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre and Stryker to build beds to provide surge capacity in hospitals during COVID-19.

May 2020

A.H. Beard experience extraordinary sales as working-from-home becomes the new normal and consumers invest in their health, home and bedrooms.

2021

September 2021

We launch A.H. Beard Origins, Australia’s first fully recyclable sleep range.

Expertly designed and handmade using natural, sustainably-sourced and 100% recyclable components, A.H. Beard Origins mattresses are as good for your sleep as they are for the planet.

2022

April 2022

We launch the A.H. Beard Sleep Wellness Centre

The A.H. Beard Sleep Wellness Centre is a source of information and inspiration for people who want to make sleep the basis for wellness in their lives. A collaboration between A.H. Beard and renowned sleep health experts such as Dr. Carmel Harrington, the Centre features a four-week Sleep Wellness Program that provides expert sleep coaching tips and advice to enrolled participants.

August 2022

A.H. Beard refreshes its identity with a renewed focus on premium sleep

The new A.H. Beard Masterbrand is a distillation of more than 120 years of innovation, craftsmanship and passion for giving people the best sleep of their lives. The new A.H. Beard crest consists of six lines, representing the six mattresses made in seven days by our founder. The stripes reflect the ticking pattern of the fabric used in our earliest mattresses. The stitching detail represents our tradition of craftsmanship, dating back to 1899. Premium sleep – the deepest, most rejuvenating sleep of all – underpins everything we do.