Our Bisley Furniture Story
Life may be unpredictable, but you can always count on Bisley.
For over ninety years, we’ve been quietly creating innovative pieces that meet the evolving needs of the furniture world. From humble beginnings as a one-man car repair business in 1931 to our latest home furniture collections, we’ve always been unashamedly passionate about practical, stylish storage – it’s at the heart of everything we do.
Modern home furniture made with you in mind
We are proud of our heritage and roots, while our drive and boundless energy mean that we can offer refreshing home storage that suits today’s modern ways of living. Though the world may evolve, our passion for design and care for our people never changes.
Today, we combine our spirit of innovation and nearly a century of experience to bring you a curated range of modern home furniture designs that bring both functionality and style to your most meaningful spaces. From living room to home office to hallway, take a look at our latest furniture designs on the Bisley Shop.
British-made home storage
Made right here in the UK, our home furniture is rooted in our British heritage. Every Bisley furniture piece is designed and made to order at our South Wales factory, with care and precision at every stage. From our wooden and steel designs like Bridge to our metal locker ranges such as Fern, each piece is made with everyday living in mind.
The kind of quality you can trust
Our modern home furniture lives with you through life’s many seasons. Whether you lead a busy life and have need for lots of storage, are limited in space or are looking to liven up your home with a burst of colour, our Bisley home furniture will continue to help your home life move seamlessly from one moment to the next.
Bisley Shop furniture has truly been built to live with you – designed for everyday life, crafted to last, made to belong. When you’re ready to welcome your next thoughtfully-crafted piece to the family, get inspired by browsing our home furniture collection now.
Our Heritage
Early history
Freddy Brown, a panel beater working with luxury cars, starts his own business, F C Brown, repairing cars in a garage in Woking, Surrey.
In 1941, we move to a facility in Bisley, Surrey undertaking wartime defence contracts. We design and manufacture the first containers to be dropped by parachute, widely used by airborne forces throughout the war. For this work, we receive several commendations from the Ministry of Defence
At the end of the war, Bisley resumes car repairs, but now has a manufacturing capability for which there’s no demand…
…So, we create our first office product – the wastepaper bin! Within years, hundreds of thousands of these would be in offices all over the world, and eventually, the business became Bisley Steel Office Equipment.
1950s & 60s – the years of the iconic MultiDrawer
Designed by Freddy and inspired by letter trays, the MultiDrawer design was conceived in 1958. The 11-inch wide drawers ranged in depth from two to three-and-a-quarter inches and quickly became popular for helping people to organise their stationery, papers, coin collections and more. The three standard models varied from desktop height containing five drawers, to 10-drawer and 15-drawer heights, and had optional castor bases for mobility.
Today, more than two million MultiDrawers have been sold across the world, cementing its status as a classic – many of the very first models are still in use today.
At the age of 67, Freddy Brown decides to retire and puts the business up for sale.
On 10th March, 1968, Tony Brown, Freddy’s son, took ownership of the business and by this time, Bisley had sales totalling £370,000 per year and the business employed 45 people.
Distribution was overhauled, the business restructured, the factory extended, the latest office and manufacturing technology installed, and modern marketing methods were introduced.
In pursuit of export orders, Tony travelled extensively. In January, 1974, he visited the USA, France, Austria, and Sweden, seeking representation. Exports then started to Germany and advertisements were placed in the French press.
1980s – the evolution of office furniture
As workplaces continued to evolve, there was a demand for more efficient information retrieval and paper storage systems – meaning the introduction of filing and cabinet units. Bisley’s first range of British standard size filing cabinets were born and they were designed with fingertip control of the drawers, a silken glide on ball bearings, and a locking device that kept other drawers in place to prevent the unit from toppling over. The filing cabinet also included a Bisley logo and a brightly coloured oblong label holder that was attached to each drawer.
To meet expanding demand, we purchase a 17 acre-site in Newport, South Wales.
Measuring 250,000 square feet, the move created 500 new jobs in an area of high unemployment. The site in Newport manufactured and stored the larger units, although the site in Surrey was the location where all products were made until manufacturing moved to Newport in 1989.
1990s – establishing subsidiaries worldwide
Bisley launches the under desk Pedestal.
These years also marked the opening of our first subsidiary in the Netherlands, followed shortly thereafter by Germany. Today, Bisley proudly operates six subsidiaries across France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Dubai, and North America.
We are granted a prestigious Queen’s award for Export Achievement. The prestigious award was only granted to those who demonstrated a consistent record of export success over three years
The award was officially presented in the Bisley showroom on July 11th, 1992 by the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Mr Richard Thornton on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen.
Tony Brown is honoured with an OBE for his outstanding contribution to the British Steel Industry.
Bisley is granted a second Queen’s Award for Export Achievement.
2000s – the expansion of Bisley’s product offering
In the 2000s, we really focused on expanding the product offering. Major product lines such as LateralFile, SystemFile, Eurotambour, Towers, Be, Glide, Personal Filer and Note pedestals were launched.
We expand across the globe with businesses in France, Germany and Ireland by 2009.
In 2013, Bisley expands into North America, and now has a presence in eight countries across three continents.
2010s
We are awarded the Manufacturing Guild Mark by the Furniture Makers’ Company.
Tony Brown receives a Lifetime Achievement award from The Furniture Makers’ Company.
In the same year, Bisley invests in an additional 80,000 square feet of factory space in Wales. As a result, we now have the capability to create bespoke wooden products in the same place for the first time!
The Furniture Makers’ Company awards Bisley’s MultiDrawer with the prestigious Design Guild Mark, recognising its enduring appeal and iconic status, sixty years on.
We introduce a new personal storage unit with the Caddy, and also Bridge, the modern sideboard collection that brings together storage, stowage and room division.
Designed in association with Paul Kelley, we launch BOB, our first all-wood modular storage and display system.
In the same year, BOB by Bisley is awarded the Design Guild Mark from The Furniture makers’ Company and wins the Mixology 2019 ‘Storage Product of the Year’ and is recognised with ‘Best of Best’ in the Furniture Category at the Iconic Awards.
2018 – the rise of e-commerce sites and a shift to home furnishing
The Bisley Shop was launched in the UK, allowing customers to shop a selection of storage, seating, desking, and accessories.
Several home-inspired ranges have since launched on the website, demonstrating the focus of the Bisley shop to supply furniture for the home as well as the office.
Bisley is working with John Lewis (listing Bisley products in the living and dining and home office categories online since September 2022) and Next (listing Bisley home and office products online since August 2024). The partnership with John Lewis extends to both physical stores and online platforms, which means the Bisley brand can be found in the John Lewis flagship store in Oxford street.
More recently, the Bisley Shop brand has expanded to the Netherlands and Ireland.