Britain’s biggest bed retailer, Dreams, is to go on sale for £400 million, three years after it was rescued from administration by a private equity company according to reports.

Sun European Partners bought the beleaguered company in 2013, saving 1,600 jobs after the downturn in the housing market hit the group hard.

Since then, the company has seen steady improvement in its pre-tax profits, rising from £400,000 in 2014 to £13.1 million last year and a store estate of 180.

The potential sale is still in early stages, according to the Sunday Times, with no list of potential suitors as yet.

The first Dreams store opened in 1987 in Uxbridge and by 2000, Dreams had 50 stores, and opened its own mattress factory.