Newport-based office furniture designer and manufacturer Bisley has launched a new collection, conceived and created during the coronavirus pandemic and influenced by the evolving requirements of the 2020 workplace.

Bisley produces more than 15,000 items per week at its Newport factory, exporting to more than 50 countries, with clients including Direct Line, BBC and PwC.

Earlier this year as office workers were told to work from home, Bisley’s newly appointed CEO Richard Costin asked four of its in-house designers to propose ideas for products which would work well in a flexible home office scenario. The result is the newly launched Belong collection, an office furniture portfolio designed with home working firmly in mind, from its fully customisable nature, to the simplicity of assembly.

Mr Costin said: “It was immediately obvious that we needed to pivot from our planned 2020 workflow and innovate, fast.

"I asked our design team to think, if they had free rein over new products within our steel and wood factories – that we could sell to our dealers, our on-line shop and to the domestic home worker, what would they be? They came back with some wonderful ideas, and the result of that is the Belong Collection. It’s times like this that we have the opportunity to thrive; our team has really worked hard and used their fantastic talents and skills to come up with something really beautiful for Bisley.”

Chris Fowler, director of International Projects at Bisley, said of the new collection: “It goes without saying that 2020 has been an unusual year. New product launches can sometimes be years in the making, but Bisley has decades of design expertise in developing office furniture solutions and we channelled all of that history, knowledge and expertise into developing and producing the Belong range in three months.”

The launch of the range comes after a transformative year for Bisley that saw more than a 300 per cent spike in e-commerce sales as office workers looked to quickly set up home offices.