New bespoke service launched by heritage furniture brand Bisley

Posted on 20 Feb 2023 by The Manufacturer

Heritage office furniture designer and manufacturer, Bisley, has launched a new bespoke package to service the evolving needs of workspaces across the world. And the company is celebrating the launch of the new service with a new contract win at the Googleplex headquarters in California.

Bisley has a long track record of designing and manufacturing furniture solutions from their Newport factory. Over 15,000 items per week leave the factory to destinations across the globe, and in more recent years, the company has made successful inroads into the consumer market and recently signed a new e-tail partnership with John Lewis.

The new Bisley Bespoke service combines the worlds of technical product design, engineering, architecture and interior design and aims to deliver interiors solutions to companies that require tailored, custom-made furniture for their workplaces, from corporate office spaces, to hospitals and hotels.

Recent clients who have experienced the Bisley Bespoke service ahead of its official launch, include the vast new Al Ain Hospital near Abu Dhabi that saw Bisley design and manufacture custom-sized wet room lockers and changing room lockers for over 4,500 staff. Another bespoke locker order came from the Swiss Government, who ordered thousands of custom designed Bisley lockers for a Ukrainian refugee camp on the Swiss-Poland border.

And in a move into the hospitality sector, Bisley designed bespoke bedroom furniture solutions for the Tŷ Hotel in Milford Haven, which opened last summer. Featured pieces include a super-sized, padded headboard, coordinating bedside tables, unique mirrors, a dressing table with a black exposed steel frame and large double wardrobes.

The new Google project, which is currently in the consultation phase, will see Bisley supply bespoke furniture solutions for the corporate headquarters complex of Google at their vast campus in Mountain View, California.



The new bespoke service is led by Chris Fowler, Lead Designer and Sam Ostrolenk, Technical Manager. Between them, they have almost 50 years of technical product design experience and have worked with some of the biggest brands in the world.

“Since we started doing bespoke assignments, we have seen exponential growth in this area, with more and more companies and organisations commissioning us for customised projects. It has become such a significant part of our offering that we are now launching it as an official service, available to commercial organisations who have specific requirements for a space, or perhaps are looking for a really individual aesthetic”, said Chris.

“Bisley’s work in the office sector has evolved so much in recent years”, says Sam. “The onset of the pandemic really levelled up our product offering, which has become far more extensive. For example, we’ve seen huge levels of growth in our locker products. Previously, this was a relatively small element of our business, but now with many organisations operating on a hybrid basis and changing work patterns, lockers are experiencing a real boom moment, and often require bespoke solutions to suit the needs of the workspace. This isn’t simply a case of a company ordering a hundred steel lockers and lining them up against a wall in a basement – our lockers are being designed down to the smallest details. Think internal filtration systems and smart locks and they are being fully integrated into the office landscape by architects and interior designers.”

“It’s interesting because some of our bespoke work has also fed back into Bisley’s standard product portfolio”, says Chris. “Take Buddy for example – our personal storage solution to accompany height adjustable desking. The product started out as a special request product, but we quickly recognised its broader appeal and made it available to all. It also recently received a Design Guild Mark, a huge honour, and so our bespoke work is certainly elevating our product offering across the board.”

The launch of Bisley Bespoke follows the recent announcement that Mr Anthony Brown, Bisley’s owner, has established an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), gifting the employees with 51% of the shares in the company. Moving forwards, 51% of Bisley will be indirectly owned by its circa 500 global employees, most of whom are based in the UK, but also with offices throughout the world, including Dubai, New York, Paris, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland.

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