Bene started centuries ago in Austria in the late 1780s. Now, it operates in 80 locations in more than 30 countries worldwide. As an office furniture manufacturer and dealer of high profile European brands, it sells both its own products and those of its partners. While Bene’s international counterparts often work closely with clients and offer space planning. The London office and showroom works very closely with architecture and design companies and can attribute its success to its bespoke services, huge portfolio and flexible production.

All production work still takes place in a small town in Austria, as it has for hundreds of years. With one, single location for production, the design process is a very direct approach and changes can be made extremely quickly.

A dedicated sales person in London is directly linked with the production in Austria. If a client has a request, the sales person will call production directly. Less production sites and less hierarchy at Bene means the whole process is a lot easier and a lot more flexible. And with hundreds of years of experience, customers know they can count on a strong company history and background.

Bene’s product portfolio is divided in three sections. One covers communication areas, like reception, meeting rooms, waiting lounges or informal meeting areas – essentially wherever people communicate in the office. Another section focuses on back office areas, like management offices, work stations or work benches. The final section is space and structure and covers partitions, walls, cubicles or working walls with shelves. Bene can provide an entire interior from walls to furniture.

Of great importance to the company, Bene is committed to environmentally friendly options. All products that contain timber are 100% PEFC certified, meaning it only sources timber that is sustainable. In addition, it uses only water-based lacquers, which reduces its solvent use by around 90%.

Bene’s products are environmentally-friendly and high-quality. It offers timeless design that’s high end, but affordable in a way. And with an in-house design team, and co-operating with international designers, it can offer infinite design options for offices. Vast range of colours and surfaces offers even more selection, individuality and exclusivity, from the funky back offices of retail body Selfridges to more sober and serious law and finance offices.

A few of its notable products are the award-winning RF Corridor Wall. This seam-less glass partitioning wall has won a Designpreis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 2009 (or in English, a Design Prize from the Republic of Germany) where it competed not just with furniture, but with 2,000 other consumer products. The wall also won an IF Design Award Gold.

Bene produced the Filo table after teaming up with designer EOOS, a fellow Austrian company. This table has received a Red Dot honourable mention and is on its way to becoming a design icon. Both the P2 Management range and the T-workstation have also won Red Dot Awards for Product Design.

These are only a small example of the slew of awards and environmental certifications that Bene has received from the various countries where it operates. It pays attention to the standards and certifications of each specific country. With 1,500 employees worldwide, it installs 100,000 work desks a year.