Cicada worked with the UK’s largest furniture retailer to launch its new warehouse this month, by throwing an opening event with the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP on Friday 7 December.

MFI’s new National Distribution Centre (NDC) is equivalent in size to almost two Wembley Stadiums and is located in the former pit village of Thorne near Doncaster.

Cicada was drafted in for two months to launch the mammoth warehouse and to manage all media relations around the event.

The launch of the NDC represents a £65 million investment by MFI, and by the end of 2007 the site will have created 350 local jobs.

With this in mind, we staged the launch event in the heart of the new site – guests including Yorkshire Forward’s Terry Hodgkinson, Sir Graham Hall, and local councillors were kitted out in high visibility vests and enjoyed festive nibbles while a brass band played Christmas carols against the backdrop of the busy warehouse.

The Rt Hon Ed Miliband declared the warehouse open with the assistance of Chris Pavlosky, chief operating officer of MFI, who was born and brought up in Thorne.

VIP guests mingled with over 200 staff and enjoyed a giant MFI cake to mark the opening, which was covered by BBC Look North television.

Cicada also secured coverage of the story in a range of media including the Financial Times, BBC Radio Sheffield, the Sunday Express and the Times.

MFI’s new warehouse is now officially open and by Christmas will hold the retailer’s entire product line, which has a retail value of some £60 million.