Issue 4 2020

Nov19471 Seat of Success The importance of the humble chair cannot be overstated. The right chair in the right place can make an everlasting difference to a person’s work life and leisure. With over ninety years behind them, the Nightingale Corporation has perfected the art of designing and producing the perfect seat. After success in the Canadian Business Awards, earning the title of Best Bespoke Office Chair Manufacturer 2020, we delve a little deeper into what this company has to offer. Since 1928, Nightingale has produced the highest quality office seating, and is now recognized as one of North America’s oldest continuous manufacturers of office seating. With a commitment to excellence in every regard, this top-notch team has spent years committed to exploring innovative design in the context of office requirements. The results speak for themselves, with a breadth of products that covers over 450 models of chair with over 1000 textile, pattern and colour combinations. Quality is at the core of Nightingale’s work, and the team have perfected their own hand-assembled, high-touch production process to ensure that each chair is constructed to the highest of standards. This consideration and attention to detail is what has brought the company such success. Serving clients in industries such as government, higher education, and the commercial sector means that all of Nightingale’s products must have minimal issues, maximized customization, and overall longevity. To make sure that every product is as good as it can possibly be, the team at Nightingale always place purpose before profit. Only the top designers, engineers and research teams are used to ensure that products are not only good for the body, but good for the planet too. The company is committed to a policy of being 100% landfill free, with facilities powered by wind and solar energy. The team have created several processes to guarantee exceptional products. The company’s Certified In-house Quality-Testing Laboratory serves as an excellent place to explore new embedded features, each designed to ensure that the best available components are used. The Innovation Factory has been set up to further innovate, incubate and develop strategic solutions and features for new and existing products while the Nightingale University is the hub of the sales team. Here, sales representatives are trained, mentored and developed into seating experts, with this knowledge allowing them to engage and effectively communicate the company’s superior product portfolio. Selling a Nightingale chair is straightforward, with the diverse customer base being incredibly loyal to the business. On average, clients stay with Nightingale for fifteen years. This has helped deliver consistent sales growth and protected the business’s EBITDA earnings. Being based in Canada has been a major advantage to the business, with a diverse clientele allowing the team to design for all body types and a diverse workforce providing a range of talents. The manufacturing facility, located just outside Toronto, puts the business within 80% of the population group in Canada as well as within 50% of the population group in the north eastern United States. This has allowed the company impressive access both to North American and global markets. Growth has also been found in the changing environment within which people work. Shared spaces, and dynamic spaces, have been on the rise, and Nightingale has had to design new chairs which suit this evolving situation. The Trullo™ is designed specifically for shared spaces, while the Next Level Chair is designed for use in the home office. Combining the aesthetics of furniture with the comfort and practicality of an office chair, the NLC is the perfect option for those considering the possibilities of working from home in the long term. Looking forward, the team at Nightingale plan to work more closely with the A&D community to increase people’s awareness of the brand. This has already begun, with the Canadian company cultivating new international markets and business alliances in Europe and the Middle East. The nature of Nightingale, and its perpetual reinvention, means that there is always some new development being worked on and investigated in the Innovation Lab. Built on the keystone of innovation, Nightingale has become a powerhouse for growth. To some, chairs might seem to have been perfected, but Nightingale is proof of the opposite. Although proudly Canadian through and through, it’s clear that this business has the potential to look further afield to new horizons, and further success. Contact: Ed Breen Website: www.nightingalechairs.com