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British, Green, 50-something and proud of it

12 February 2009

Saying thank you for a job well done is a wonderful thing. Design Week presented their latest Hot 50, a celebration of people, organisations and movements that have gone the extra mile for design over the past 12 months.

And Vitsœ is very proud to be part of the Design Week Hot 50.

“Vitsœ is not a new company. The London shelving specialist has long been a player on the scene, best known for its work with German design giant Dieter Rams on the 606 Universal Shelving System, designed in 1960.

But it has taken a stronger stance than its rivals on environmental issues, largely courtesy of its London managing director Mark Adams, whose name has become synonymous with that of Vitsœ in the UK. He met Niels Vitsœ, a Dane, and Rams in 1985 and decided to import the product himself when the original company went bankrupt.

Adams uses the Vitsœ showroom in Marylebone for exhibitions and other events. But it is his regular appearance on platforms at the Design Council and beyond to debate sustainability in design that has earned the company a place in this listing.

Vitsœ’s products are bought largely by architects and other specifiers because of the company’s aesthetic coupled with its sustainability claims. By creating iconic classics, it ensures its products will last for life and not become fashion items.

Almost 50 years isn’t bad going for a shelving range.”

Read the full article

One week later, Design Week published a letter from Vitsœ:

“Thank you kindly for Vitsœ’s inclusion in the Hot 50 (DW 29 January). It is reassuring to see an old war-horse catching your eye.

You mention that we ‘import’, and you refer to ‘shelving distributed by Vitsœ UK’. If I may, I would like to clarify a few points.

Since 1995 Vitsœ has been a wholly British manufacturing company. We are the one and only Vitsœ. We make Dieter Rams’ 606 Universal Shelving System in the UK and, last year, exported to customers in 26 countries. Also, contrary to your assertion, only a small percentage of our customers are in fact ‘architects and other specifiers’.

Our manufacturing process is scrutinised for its environmental credentials. Our practices have recently been cited by Cranfield University, Imperial College London’s Tanaka Business School and the House of Lords’ sub-committee on waste reduction.

You are correct that ‘Vitsœ is not a new company’ – this year we are celebrating our 50th anniversary.”

Mark Adams, Vitsœ, London W1