21 May 2024

By Sam Peters, Planted Co-Founder

There’s no disguising the enthusiasm and excitement as Patrick Forget and Terry McAllister discuss the future of office design and the role Teknion will play in shaping it. 

Boyed by the recent announcement of a new partnership with British furniture manufacturer Modus, still run by founders Jon Powell and Ed Richardson more than two decades after it was launched, both companies are talking optimistically at Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW) about the opportunities they sense each other can bring. 

With a sense of momentum building and a raft of senior executives in London for CDW, the recent partnership announcement has increased focus on the two brands and naturally posed the question; why partner now?

One obvious area of common ground being that the respective owners, David Feldberg with Teknion and Powell and Richardson with Modus, both retain hands-on roles within their businesses. 

“The owner-operator approachable mentality is definitely something that was one of the key factors in that business decision,” explains Forget, Teknion’s long-serving managing director, APAC and EMEA, who led discussions with Modus over the partnership. 

“We’re investing in a team, forming a partnership with Ed and Jon. And they're still very much part of the equation. 

“And when we talk about values, sustainability is one of Teknion's core values and it's also at the heart of Modus. Good design is also at the heart of both companies. So between the ethos of the companies, family values, sustainability, high design. We're very aligned.”

McAllister, Teknion’s president of international markets, who joined the company 13 years ago, nods in agreement.

“There's shared philosophy,” he says. “A strong entrepreneurial owner operated mentality in both companies. It's a lot of fun. Both businesses are excited by the partnership and the evolving world of office design in the future.”   

But while shared values, mutual appreciation of high-quality design and a belief in sustainable practice are all excellent starting points for a partnership, reality demands the new arrangement makes commercial sense, first and foremost.     

“Modus’ supply chain in Europe is something Teknion will be able to leverage,” Forget explains. 

“So that's both sourcing Modus product and then leveraging their manufacturing capabilities to support some of Teknion's requirements for the local market as well. 

“Expanding the Modus brand outside of the UK is something Teknion intends to do. Both exporting from Somerset to Asia and EMEA as well as some level of localisation in select target markets is all part of the plan.

“North America will also come into the equation and is a key component of the expansion. So, international expansion is priority one, North America priority two.

“We had a need in international and many of the attributes that we were looking for they (Modus) had and I think many of things that we offer Modus was looking for. So it made a nice map.” 

McAllister picks up on the theme. 

“I think we can learn from them too. I mean, we're not so bold that we think we've got all the answers. Not by a long shot, we can learn. They have a very thoughtful approach. 

“They're very transparent. We share the same common philosophy around design and sustainability. And they've done it really, really well. They also have an interesting customer base, slightly different than our customer base.

“So it opens up some new channels for us there. And we're going to open some new channels for them. We're super optimistic and excited about it.”

Further evidence of the two company’s alignment is evidenced in history. Both found themselves unwittingly ahead of the curve when the global pandemic struck, having long since demonstrated their belief in the importance of employee wellbeing through their respective product ranges.

Two years since the lifting of most restrictions, businesses across the globe are still coming to terms with the long-term effects of a pandemic which impacted the psyche of millions of office workers.   

“We’re not walking back into the same workplace as the same individual or the same person that we were when we were working in those workplaces pre-COVID,” says McAllister.’

“COVID had an effect on everybody, worldwide. And, so the future of office design has been the central question during and post COVID, it continues to be an issue. I'm not sure that there's a final answer yet.

“It wasn't too long ago, people were saying the office is dead. But that’s clearly not the case. No way.

“The office has to adapt to a new framework. And we're doing that every day with our clients. And it's being led by some great design thinkers and industry partners.

“We are responding to our clients’ design ideas by creating furniture that in the past might have been fixed. And today, it's very flexible.

“That's why the Modus relationship is so important because they design furniture for that flexible space, those social collaborative zones within a floor plan or workplace.” 

A once niche conversation has entered the mainstream and the commercial requirement for organisations to cater appropriately to their employees needs through better design becomes clear.

“There’s never been, in the last 20 years, a more relevant time to be talking about the office and the environment in which people work,” Forget said.

“That's not a dead conversation today. If anything, it's at the forefront, right? Everybody's looking at how to get people back for different reasons. 

“They're going to have to work in different ways and they need furniture to suit. I think that it's good for our industry in the sense that things are in flux, nobody really knows. 

“But different thinking and new products keep the industry moving. It’s exciting, and people want to hear our ideas. Terry and I are the fun guys at the party now. We never used to be.”

McAllister reinforces how seriously businesses are taking this issue as they grapple with the twin costs of staff salaries and real estate costs set against rapidly evolving technology which, by means of a convenient example, has allowed our transatlantic meeting to be successfully conducted remotely via Zoom. 

McAllister explains: “This (office wellbeing) was always an issue we would talk to facilities managers, purchasing people and architects and designers. 

“But these conversations are in boardrooms today. CEOs care about this because they have a huge investment in real estate, and they have a huge investment in people. 

“They're probably the number one and number two costs to a lot of businesses, most businesses. So they really care.”

For Teknion and Modus, the opportunities appear to be enormous and how this bold partnership works in practice is likely to play a significant role in shaping offices of the future. 

“It's human nature to seek out comfort and improve functionality,” says McAllister. “And finding something that fits, whether you're doing things at home, whether it's clothing, whether it's shoes, the car you drive, whatever it is. Furniture is no different.

“We've all been programmed a little bit differently post COVID. And so when we go into an office now, users want to have the choice to find the appropriate setting, the appropriate location, either within a building or within an office or within a city.” 

In the short term, and in recognition of their new alliance, Modus and Teknion have teamed up during Clerkenwell Design Week by running talks in their showrooms, around the corner from each other in London’s design hub, aimed at demonstrating their design methods and business values.

For more information visit Teknion at www.teknion.com or Modus at www.modusfurniture.co.uk

Ends