From a corner shop in a small Swedish town to a corporation with a network that spans Europe.
It all started when Ola Götesson founded Götessons Industri AB in 1984. In a corner shop in Dalstorp, a small community in southern Sweden, he made wire products such as wastepaper baskets, hat racks and dish drainers. Pretty soon, everyone in the market realised that Götessons was not like other companies. Innovations were mixed with great courage and eager entrepreneurship. This facilitated the company’s rapid growth.
Its innovations are based on people’s needs and with the advent of computers, they started developing products for a better work environment for those sitting in offices. In 1992, Ola Götesson created a solution to gather the increasing number of cables under and on the desk. The world’s first cable manager entered the market and marked the start of an incredible journey that brings us to the present day.
Pretty soon, Götessons was developing and manufacturing a variety of products for offices, conference facilities and workplaces. The son of Ola, Johan Götesson takes over the CEO role in 2006 and, like his father, he revolutionized the market by launching an acoustic table screen with a zipper in 2010 that became the first textile product and a new milestone in Götesson’s history. The company continued to grow and offered even more products, often unique both in form and function. They soon set their sights on the conference and hotel industries.
In March 2013, Connecting Capital acquired the majority of the shares in Götessons and development continued without losing the people who nurture the innovative and strong culture that has characterised the company over the years. Soon it became a market-leading interior design company with a focus on office, hotel, and conference environments. In order to expand into even more markets, in 2015 Götessons acquired Akustikmiljö i Falkenberg AB as a wholly owned subsidiary. With its unique expertise in acoustics and in collaboration with Götessons, they formed a competitive team to work on acoustic solutions for workplaces and the public environment.
In 2015, Götessons built new premises in Ulricehamn, which in the same year would be named one of Sweden’s most attractive offices. That is just one way in which the company has led by example. Ergonomics and acoustics are integral to the beauty, even though they have previously been quite far from being considered attractive.
In 2019, Accent Equity Partners AB took over the majority ownership for Götessons’ continued expansion in the Nordic and international markets. Shortly after, Götessons was strengthened further with the acquisition of David design – one of the pioneers of new Nordic design. Since 1998, David design has produced furniture, lighting, and accessories together with world-leading designers such as Claesson Koivisto Rune, Nendo, Richard Hutten, Florent Coirier and Lars Hofsjö. Götessons Industri AB has now further improved its offer to architects, interior designers and customers in Sweden and around the world. At this point, the company provides ergonomic, functional, and well-designed comprehensive solutions throughout Europe on a daily basis.
Götessons decided early on that new brands should not be baked in and merged with Götessons Industri AB, but that they should live on with all their values in the market. Götessons knows that success lies in entrepreneurship and people’s ability to innovate and design, something you risk losing if you’re forced to change tack or don’t understand the culture. On the other hand, in an effort to take better advantage of each other’s expertise, create common strategies and meet the market with combined strength where needed, a main parent company was created in 2021 – Götessons Design Group.
During 2022, two new companies were started within the group. GSIGN which offers products “From gamers to gamers” and FROM: with the concept “Design for the home, aimed for work”. These two companies are selling directly to consumers and fit well into GDG’s philosophy of creating sustainable people. The latest addition to the GDG family is the Norwegian company Scan Sørlie, which is a complete furniture supplier on the Nordic market. Read more about all our brands here.
In Götessons Design Group, management, sales and marketing for all six brands work together. Here, overall strategies are created without disrupting the day-to-day work of the brands in the market. The aim is to keep eyes on the horizon, spot needs and trends, and to be the meeting point for a strong group with a common vision. Just as Ola once said, we see people’s needs before they do themselves. Then we develop a solution, it’s as simple as that.
Human Design. Human Growth.
CEO
+46 (0)321-68 77 22
emil@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
Sales Director
+46 (0)321-68 77 77
john@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
Business Development Manager
+46 (0)321-68 77 99
johan@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
COO
+46 (0)321-68 77 27
mika@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
Marketing Director
+46 (0)321-68 77 30
jessica@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
SENIOR Product DevelopER
+46 (0)321-68 77 66
tomas@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
ESG Manager
+46 (0)321-68 77 61
stellan@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
CFO
+46 (0)321-68 77 46
marika@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
Product Development Director
+46 (0)321-68 77 52
dajana@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
1984
Emil Johansson
Ulricehamn
225
Götessons Design Group HQ
Rönnåsgatan 5B
523 38 Ulricehamn
Götessons Design GmBH
Heinrich-Hertz-Straße 3
63303 Dreieich, Germany
AM Acoustics HQ
Falkåsvägen 4
311 21 Falkenberg
David design
Kajpromenaden 24
252 67 Helsingborg
Götessons Design SAS
5 Avenue de Villeneuve
92420 Vaucresson
France
Scan Sørlie AS
Vistergrenda 80
1719 Greåker
Norway
Stockholm Inspiration Room
Rosenlundsgatan 38F
118 53 Stockholm
Göteborg Inspiration Room
Kyrkogatan 20—22
411 15 Göteborg
Clarion Malmö Live
Dag Hammarskjölds torg 2
211 18 Malmö
Clarion Stockholm (Loop)
Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Färoe Islands, Germany, Greenland, Guadelope, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kroatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, Åland
hello@gotessonsdesigngroup.com
+46(0)321 68 77 00
Götessons Design Group
Rönnåsgatan 5B
523 38 Ulricehamn
Götessons Design GmbH
Heinrich-Hertz-Straße 3, 63303 Dreieich
Germany