Founded in 1928

Staverton has a long history of high-quality bespoke office furniture design and craftsmanship. Follow our time line to see how the business has grown and developed.

Timeline

1928

1928 – 1940

1928 – 1940

Staverton Joinery arose out of the rebuilding of the 14th century medieval hall at Dartington in South Devon. The restoration needed to be executed by skilled craftsmen, who were at that time in short supply and had to be recruited from further afield. Upon completion of the Great Hall project three years later, measures were taken to prevent the team of craftsmen from dispersing. An old flour mill at the nearby village of Staverton was refitted to provide new works and house the gifted set of joiners, cabinet makers and builders. Thus a new company was formed called Staverton Builders Limited.

1940

1940-1980

1940-1980

During the Second World War large contracts for the Ministry of Defence were undertaken but in 1946 a fire destroyed the original factory. The adjacent site was then adopted as Staverton’s home.

By the 1960s, Staverton had developed a reputation for high quality craftsmanship and securing major contracts for specialist joinery in the Middle East. This period also saw Staverton manufacturing furniture ranges for the Crown Suppliers and this developed into many contracts for Crown Court Buildings and major London hotels.By the 1980’s contemporary furniture was being manufactured to the same high quality ethos and standard as the traditional and historical bespoke furniture. The range of designs included specialist dealer floor furniture required for the ever-changing technology of the burgeoning information age.

1980

1980 – 2002

1980 – 2002

By the late 1990’s Staverton had established itself as a leading design-led UK manufacturer of office furniture with significant recognition within the architect and design community. However in Sept 2002, their ongoing dependence on a single major client within a saturated market led to them being placed into receivership. At this stage Logic Office Group plc acquired the Staverton name and its superbly equipped Devon factory.

In 2002, the company commissioned designers Seymour Powell Foresight to conduct extensive research into the office market and to provide some initial conceptual designs for the next generation of office furniture.

2002

2002 – 2011

2002 – 2011

At Design Prima 2005, the Staverton brand was re-launched introducing new and innovative office furniture product ranges, unlike other systems of their kind.

Over the years, Staverton embarked upon successful press campaigns featuring in numerous industry publications such as FX and On Office.

In 2007 the company’s UK manufacturing facility was relocated to the Logic Group’s principle factory in Yorkshire, allowing Staverton’s clients to benefit from both faster turnaround times and increased efficiency. Moving the company’s operational base also helped to support Staverton’s strong environmental record by streamlining the manufacturing process and reducing both emission and waste levels across the business.

In 2009, Staverton released its LT range which was successfully launched at Clerkenwell Design Week. This was closely followed by the launch of Staverton ZD range, which won Staverton a project for 1400 workstations at Severn Trent Water, Coventry. The profile of the Staverton ZD range was also further raised within ICON’s Product Yearbook 2010/11.

The brand continued to grow and maintain high quality standards with the FIRA Gold Award being achieved in 2011 and the development of its newest office benching solution, Staverton CL.

2012

2012 – 2019

2012 – 2019

Staverton’s 2012 began with attendance at the newly re-launched Design Prima. The two day event provided Staverton with its first opportunity to formally showcase its new Staverton CL bench with integrated data and power – a product that had been developed in collaboration with The Co-operative Group for its new head office in Manchester. Staverton went on to enjoy its first recognition of the year, winning Design Prima’s Product Design award in association with Building Design. Staverton was also awarded a sought-after Design Guild Mark from The Furniture Makers Company and was a finalist in the presitigious BIFM Awards.

In November, the business underwent a name change. Logic Office Group became Staverton UK Ltd to consolidate the business under a single identify and focus on Staverton’s office furniture design and manufacturing expertise. The business left its administrative base in Hounslow, Middlesex and moved its offices to Clerkenwell in central London and Westerham in Kent.

The final few months of 2012 saw 2,800 Staverton CL benches installed in The Co-operative Group’s new 400,000 sq ft head office in Manchester. Staverton’s single biggest installation to date – it brought 2012 to a very positive close.

Since then Staverton has expanded its London showroom, moving from the second floor of 70 St John Street to the first and ground floors, giving it street frontage for the first time. Staverton SOS, a new Sit Stand desk solution has been launched and the directors have taken majority ownership of the business, buying-out managing director Mike Gardner and Warrington-based Claremont Group Interiors’ shareholders in order to pursue additional external dealer relationships.

2020

2020 – Present

2020 – Present

Over the last few years and despite the challenges of the pandemic, Staverton continued to expand its product range significantly, moving on from simply being a British office manufacturer of desks to include a broader selection of office furniture solutions to reflect more agile and collaborative ways of working.

Staverton upgraded some of its best-loved office furniture pieces, including SOS sit-stand desks and the SL system, by adding a whole host of new features as standard. The business also launched its newest product Scrumwall – a flexible space-defining structure which supports workplace agility, provides tech-led work settings and houses AV discreetly – to the open market.

Scrumwall was designed for global sports, betting and entertainment provider Flutter Entertainment Plc’s new global headquarters in Dublin – a vast project which was finished in 2022 and represents one of Staverton’s largest in its history.

In 2022 Staverton re-opened its showroom doors to take part in Clerkenwell Design Week after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. During the three-day event, Staverton welcomed a bumper number of guests and showcased Scrumwall, TT and the latest iteration of its sit-stand desk, SOS2.
More recently Staverton took its products to The Workspace Design Show at the London Design Centre – proof that the business is firmly back to exhibiting and bringing Staverton’s problem-solving approach to a wider audience.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) objectives have risen sharply up Staverton’s agenda during this time and the business has made great strides forward with regard to environmental performance. Staverton is now Carbon Neutral for Energy and has offset its energy-related carbon by supporting two global initiatives (more on that here). More broadly the business is also working to reduce waste and the emissions it produces by ensuring that sustainability informs every aspect of its operations and how Staverton designs and manufactures office furniture.

2023

The Future

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Unlike most furniture designers and manufacturers we don’t stop once the product comes off the production line. We are evolving every day. We focus on the user experience and the commercial value of our products.

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