Fair Furniture Group

What Fair Furniture Group does

Fair Furniture Group is a privately held, family-owned Dutch furniture manufacturer headquartered in Emmen, Netherlands. It produces desks, tables, lockers, seating and other office and educational furniture using renewable raw materials, with 100% of production carried out in five owned factories — four in the Netherlands (Breda, Emmen, Hoogeveen, Wijchen) and one in Telford, United Kingdom — covering roughly 70,000 m2 of production space. The group operates seven specialized brands: Eromesmarko (educational furniture), Be by Bèta (seating), Vepa (office and project furniture), De Lockerfabriek (lockers), Fair Furniture Academy (training and knowledge), BUUR (quick office furnishing) and Zooi (circular design from waste). It also runs a 12,000 m2 Circulair Centrum in Emmen that handles refurbishment, repair, disassembly and material recovery, supported by 3,000+ solar panels and on-site green hydrogen production.

The company sells almost exclusively through a B2B enterprise field-sales motion, targeting educational institutions, government organizations and commercial businesses on a quote-based, project-by-project basis with on-site installation services. Revenue is generated through one-time sales of new furniture plus growing circular-service revenue (Revitalisatie refurbishment, Fair Furnished certified second-life products). Notable proprietary technology includes the Hemp Fine chair collection launched in 2020 — a 100% biological, plant-based, recyclable hemp-and-resin seat — and the Fair Furnished label guaranteeing refurbished-furniture quality.

Fair Furniture Group employs between 101 and 250 people (exact headcount undisclosed), with 82% on permanent contracts, and is controlled by the founding Wiekema family (co-founder Roel Wiekema) and the Arts family. The group traces its roots to predecessor companies from 1909, was formally established as VDB Groep in 1998, and rebranded to Fair Furniture Group around 2021. Recent strategic activity includes the June 2024 acquisition of Office Service Nederland and a circular-materials partnership with Niaga. The company operates under a stated continuity-over-profit philosophy, with no private equity, venture capital or public-market funding identified in the source material.

Name

Fair Furniture Group

Legal name

Fair Furniture Group

Website

https://fairfurnituregroup.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Fair Furniture Group is a Dutch family-owned manufacturer of office, educational and contract furniture, operating five own factories in the Netherlands and UK under seven specialized brands and a dedicated circular-economy refurbishment facility serving B2B enterprise, government and education clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Emmen

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Furniture manufacturing and sales: Design, manufacture, and sale of office furniture, educational furniture, seating, locker solutions, and circular furniture products through seven specialized brands (Eromesmarko, Be by Bèta, Vepa, De Lockerfabriek, BUUR, Zooi, Fair Furniture Academy)

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Fair Furniture Group designs, manufactures, and sells office, educational, seating, and locker furniture through seven specialized brands (Eromesmarko, Be by Bèta, Vepa, De Lockerfabriek, BUUR, Zooi, Fair Furniture Academy). All production is carried out in the group's own factories in Breda, Emmen, Wijchen, Hoogeveen (Netherlands) and Telford (UK), with a strong focus on circular economy, renewable raw materials, and furniture refurbishment via the 12,000 m² Circulair Centrum.

Product overview

Fair Furniture Group is a family business portfolio of seven distinct brands unified under a social and sustainable mission. The group operates own factories in Breda, Emmen, Hoogeveen, Wijchen, and Telford (UK), producing furniture across education (Eromesmarko), seating (Be by Bèta), sustainable office furniture (Vepa), lockers (De Lockerfabriek), quick office furnishing (BUUR), and circular design from waste (Zooi). The Fair Furniture Academy provides training and knowledge sharing. Supporting these brands is the Fair Furnished label backed by the Circulair Centrum (12,000 m² in Emmen), which refurbishes and revitalizes furniture for circular reuse. Together the portfolio covers all aspects of interior furnishing with a strong focus on circularity, sustainability, and social responsibility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Eromesmarko: Educational furniture provider from primary to university education.
• Be by Bèta
• Vepa
• De Lockerfabriek
• Fair Furniture Academy
• BUUR
• Zooi
• Fair Furnished

Products and services

• Eromesmarko Educational furniture specialist providing complete interior furnishing solutions for primary, secondary, vocational (MBO), and university institutions.
• Vepa Office and Project Furniture Sustainable office and project furniture line for corporate and commercial interiors, including the Hemp Fine chair collection and Blue Finn range.
• Be by Bèta Seating Ergonomic and comfortable seating solutions for offices, education, and public spaces, produced in Breda.
• De Lockerfabriek Locker Solutions Storage and locker systems for educational institutions, government organizations, workplaces, and commercial facilities.
• BUUR Quick Office Furnishing Self-serve office interior furnishing range offering simple, accessible furniture solutions for small businesses.
• Zooi Circular Design Furniture Circular design furniture line that converts waste and rest materials from FFG factories into sustainable design products.
• Vepa Hemp Fine Chair Collection Hemp-based seating collection made from a 100% biological, 100% plant-based, and 100% recyclable hemp and resin mixture, marketed as the world's first such product range.
• Fair Furnished Certified Refurbished Furniture Certified refurbished furniture range backed by the Fair Furnished quality label, offering second- or third-life products with warranty equal to new, often improved with more sustainable materials.
• Revitalisatie Furniture Reuse Service Service that deep cleans, repaints, and reupholsters existing furniture for reuse in renovated or new office spaces, including small modifications such as new paint colors or upholstery.

Quantifiable outcome

• 82% of personnel in permanent employment contracts
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Office Service NederlandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2024Office Service Nederland became part of Fair Furniture Group in June 2024, expanding the group's capabilities in office services and furniture solutions.
• NiagacoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Niaga (a circular materials company) for developing sustainable and circular furniture products. Fair Furniture Group expresses great pride in this collaboration.
• ZooiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerZooi transforms waste into Dutch design furniture. When rest materials from FFG factories cannot be used for new furniture, they are given to Zooi for creative circular product development.
• WerkprominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWerkpro receives rest materials from FFG factories that cannot be used for new furniture products, supporting circular economy and social employment initiatives.
• Praktijkscholen and Maram-onderwijsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with practical schools supporting youth who have fallen behind in current education systems; FFG offers learning and working positions as part of social return commitment.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Vitra: Swiss design-led furniture and workspace solutions company, relevant as a comparable for design-forward, sustainability-positioned office interiors and as a reference point for FFG's Vepa and Zooi brands targeting premium specifiers.
• Steelcase: Global incumbent in office furniture with a far broader portfolio and international reach than FFG; relevant as the benchmark for enterprise-scale workspace solutions and as a competitor on large multinational RFPs where FFG may not yet qualify.
• MillerKnoll: Global office furniture group (Herman Miller, Knoll, etc.) that competes with FFG on premium project installations and design-led workspaces. Useful as a comparable for design-driven, sustainability-focused enterprise sales at scale.
• Haworth: Privately held global office furniture manufacturer with a focus on workspace systems and architectural interiors, overlapping with FFG's office and education segments through international dealer networks.

Direct peers

• Ahrend: Dutch office furniture manufacturer serving similar B2B education, government, and commercial customers in the Benelux market; both companies are family-rooted, emphasize sustainability, and offer workspace fit-out solutions. Ahrend is the most direct in-region competitor to Vepa/Eromesmarko.
• Gispen: Dutch manufacturer of office and educational furniture with a strong circular-economy and remanufacturing program, directly comparable to FFG's Circulair Centrum and Fair Furnished model. Competes head-to-head in the Netherlands on school and government fit-outs.
• Kinnarps: Swedish family-owned office and educational furniture manufacturer with comparable product breadth (desks, seating, storage) and a similar sustainability-driven brand positioning across Northern and Western Europe. Closest family-business parallel to FFG in size, philosophy, and vertical integration.
• Profim: Polish office seating and furniture manufacturer serving European B2B customers with a focus on ergonomic and project seating; comparable to Be by Bèta in product category and to FFG's broader contract-seating positioning.
• Sedus Stoll: German family-rooted office furniture manufacturer with strong ergonomic seating and project furniture ranges, directly comparable to Vepa and Be by Bèta in continental European B2B sales channels.

Emerging players

• Rype Office: UK-based circular office furniture supplier focused on remanufactured and reupholstered task seating, directly comparable to FFG's Fair Furnished and Revitalisatie service lines. Emerging circular specialist competing in the same UK and European sustainability RFP space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=r817aVJCdQ8

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fair Furniture Group