The North East’s largest manufacturer of office furniture and workspace solutions, Godfrey Syrett, has launched Zip, the UK’s first re-configurable workspace system that zips and unzips to meet the changing needs of the rapidly evolving workplace.
The firm’s in-house design team developed the innovative system following extensive research into workplace environments, which showed a gap in the market for a furniture system that can be re-configured with ease by the end user to create a variety of spaces for collaborative or private work.
Godfrey Syrett says Zip has taken a year to develop and has been a tremendous team effort across the company, with input and expertise being drawn from various departments, as well as assistance from external suppliers to help bring the product to the market.
David Hall, group sales director at Godfrey Syrett said: “Our dedicated and highly skilled staff have worked hard to create this fantastic product that is one-of-a-kind for Godfrey Syrett. Zip is designed and manufactured entirely in the North East and our research shows there is nothing else which offers the end user the same ease of re-configurability in the UK furniture market.”
Zip will be manufactured and distributed from the firm’s premises in Durham and Killingworth. It comprises four core items – a seat, desk, meeting table and touchdown space, which can be used individually or zipped together to form a huge variety of workspace layouts suitable for professional, educational or public environments.
Dan Reynolds, principal designer for the Zip project at Godfrey Syrett said: “Zip was designed to respond to both current and future workplace trends, such as the rise of collaborative and open workspaces, informal meeting areas, breakout spaces and touchdown areas as well as the need for personal spaces. Zip is highly adaptable so as users workspace requirements change the various components can be unzipped, re-arranged and zipped together again offering long-term flexibility.”
He continued: “The evolution of the workplace means greater emphasis is being placed on creating engaging workspaces in order to develop better work environments and increase productivity. This has impacted on furniture design and we are now finding flexibility is key to allowing businesses to futureproof their workspace plans.”
Godfrey Syrett has been manufacturing furniture in the North East for almost 70 years and has built up a £25m turnover business employing over 230 staff. The all new Zip range is being officially launched throughout the UK this week and is on display at the firm’s Killingworth showroom.