Birkenhead based office furniture company the Desk Centre has been bought by the administrators by Manchester firm Vision Support Services. The move safeguards 36 jobs on Merseyside and will add around 7million in turnover to Visions Group total and gain them an entry into Desk Centres range of public sector customers. Vision Support Services specialise in the sourcing and distribution of textile products around the globe.

The worlds largest office furniture manufacturer Steelcase has been forced to vacate its once iconic Pyramid offices which housed its research and some management departments. The move is in response to the huge drop in profits resulting from a lack in demand for its products which were popular with financial institutions in the US and over here The building cost 110 million dollars to build and was completed in 1989. It was regarded as the most progressive facility within the office furniture industry with state of the art research laboratories and a sound proof are for testing products. The residual staff lefty after the latest lay offs will relocate to Steelcase’s Corporate headquarters nearby

One of the latest designs offered by Philippe Starck and manufactured by the Italian contract furniture manufacturer is the In/Out range of which the armchair is shown above. Manufactured in a monobloc of polythene derivative and with an aluminium
frame the chair is available in anthracite or metallic silver. One of Starck’s most successful furniture designs is the Club Bubble Sofa which was heavily used on the hit US TV show Boston Legal and has since grown in popularity and a reception and executive sofa. The other notable Starck creation is the Louis Ghost a transparent Louis XV chair manufactured by Kartell

Vasanta formerly known as Springfield heath is a Sheffield based wholesaler of stationery, office equipment and office furniture. Due to the withdrawal of credit insurance from many of its key suppliers the Company has been looking for additional finance to ward off the risk of administration. There are 1400 jobs at risk in Yorkshire however latest reports state that new finance may have been found with an undisclosed equity group.

Pristo bariatric recliner

Despite posting a drop of 82% in profits in the last quarter of 2008 Herman Miller the US office furniture giant have acquired healthcare furniture provider Nemschoff. Based in Winconsin on te shoes of lake Michigan the Company was founded by Leonard Nemschoff in 1950. The product portfolio is made up of waiting room furniture, bariatric chairs, patient chairs and specialised recliners. The healthcare market is often seen as recession proof and office furniture makers view the market with commonality of products and opportunities to create a boarder range of products. Herman Miller paid around 32 million dollars and 200 shares for Nemschoff

Dandelion

Sting plus the new fabric from Camira has been developed after four years of research. It is based on the common stinging nettle, hence the name, and is on of the most environmentally sustainable fabrics available to the contract market. The stinging nettle has strong fibres that have inbuilt fire resistance. This is blended with
pure wool to give the finished product. Sting is available for te upholstery of office chairs, conference chairs and reception seating and is available in 9 contemporary colours. We are currently pricing this fabric on recently added break out chairs Button and Gloss. We will be adding this to our other office seating and chair lines over the coming.

Imagine from Wallis

Although this years Prima office furniture exhibition in Islington was a quieter affair than last year there were some interesting new products to see.
Office Chairman’s ’s OCee modular reception seating is a stunning design with a high degree of comfort. The Bison chair from Allermuir was also shown which we feature on our break our seating line however this chair would be equally at home in conference and reception area. Designed by Simon Pengelly the flexible arms of the Bison chair wrap around the user and the conical shape gives the chair a smaller then average footprint. The new modular office seating range from Wallis offers a combination of chairs with our without backs with linking units provided by circular cushions which are available with and without glass tops. The chairs can be reversed in configuration with the chairs facing away from each other and arranged in curves opening up almost limitless opportunities. The Alumini acoustic office screens and Airflake screen system two of Abstracta’s most popular screen products were also shown to good effect. Edge the design arm of Pledge were also there with there xross swivel based tub chair and beam seating products with its central location this appeared to be one of the busier stands.

This years Design Prima exhibition takes place from the 2nd to the 4th of June ar=t tah Business Design Centre in Islington
The following office furniture manufactures are exhibiting this year:
Allermuir Contract and reception seating
Ares Line Italian office seating manufacturer
Burkhardt Leitner Production of exhibition stands and equipment
Bralco Italian Office furniture
Burmatex Contract flooring
Camira Leading fabric provider to the contract furniture industry
Colbrook Bhosson Saunders Computer arms and office accessories
Della Rovere Italian office furniture
Dieffebi Italian metal  storage and office furniture
Edge Design  Office chairs and soft seating
Eurotek UK based office furniture
Frem Group Bespoke reception desks and boardroom tables
Girsberger German office chair provider
Guialmi Italian metal office cupboards
Hands of Wycombe Bespoke executive furniture, boardroom tables and reception desks
Hitch Mylius Reception and pubic space seating
Icon office furniture: UK based office furniture provider
Johanson Design Swedish designed office and contract seating
Lesco Products UK importer of office accessories
Naughtone UK based designers of contract and soft seating
Office Chairman UK based supplier of office chairs
Orangebox Office seating and Office chairs manufactured in South Wales
Rackline Mobile office storage systems
Railex Systems UK based metal office storage
Screens at work Office screens based in the UK
TDS Office Design Dutch provider of metal office storage
Templestock office filing systems
Wallis office UK provider of office chairs and seating

Despite posting a massive loss in the US Steelcase, the world’s largest office furniture manufacturer has announced the opening of a new showroom in Manchester.
The showroom will be their second in the UK and will mark the development of 22 showrooms or Worklife centres across major cities of the world. Worklife is being marketed a  showcase of possibilities, highlighting the latest ideas from the Company. Steelacase is also looking to expand its number of office furniture dealerships across the North West. Work Life is scheduled to open in Mid June and will be located in Both Street, Manchester City Centre.

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Three containers of office furniture and office equipment have arrived in Ghana to support a school project. The furniture mainly comprising desks, filing cabinets and meeting tables has been donated by the Jewel and Esk College in Edinburgh. The college worked with the charity the Sabre Trust who specialise in supporting educational projects in West Africa. The furniture left Edinburgh in November 2008 and arrived at the end of December after spending 3 weeks to clear at Customs. The school were reported to be amazed at the quality of the furniture and were very pleased and proud to receive the donation. The Sabre Trust was advised by Green Standards a Swindon based charity that specialise in the redistribution of office furniture and equipment to Third World countries.