An Interview with the Founder

I graduated from the Central School of Art in 1965 and immediately on leaving college formed my company OMK Design Ltd. The company was specifically set up to manufacture and market my furniture designs. I initially designed products for the retail market, more specifically aimed at the then embryonic Habitat stores, and my early products were successfully sold by them for over 15 years. Example T range chair, designed in '66. In 1971, I decided to enter the contract market which I found more challenging in terms of design and mass production, and my first product for this market was the OMKSTAK, a pressed steel stacking chair. This chair proved hugely successful worldwide, has been included a number of design museums permanent collections including the Victoria and Albert and has been in constant production for over 30 years. The chair was subsequently also licensed by the Italian manufacturer Bieffe, for whom I designed a range of products, during the '70s and '80s which ran parallel to my own production in the UK. Examples Tokyo Stool and Orbit Mirror.

In 1982, I was commissioned by British Airport Authority to design a seating system TRANSIT (image attached) for Gatwick Airport North Terminal. This seating system was put into production in 1983 and received the Design Council Award in 1984, also the If Die gute Industrieform in the same year. This product is also still in production, and is currently standard issue for the Metropolitan Police and numerous hospitals in the UK.

As a result of the success of these products, I became fascinated by the industrial process of high tech mass production, and when I was commissioned in '89 to design a seating system for Intercity Railways, I was able to indulge my desire, to design and develop a mass produceable modular seating system that could answer the growing potential market of international airports. This resulted in the design and production of TRAX in 1990 which received the British Design Award from the Design Council in 1991, and has subsequently been successfully supplied worldwide to over 150 airports.

In 1991, I was commissioned by the DTI to design a futuristic bench for Nicholas Grimshaw's pavillion at the Seville Expo. I agreed to design the product and sponsor the project, by designing, manufacturing and supplying the seats free of charge. This product was subsequently put in full production and received a "Millennium products award for creative and innovative products for the new millennium" from the Design Council.

I have been the Managing/Design Director of OMK for 40 years. The company is design led in everything it does. Its products are marketed and patented worldwide. Over 80% of its turnover is exported. My design philosophy and that of the company has always been to produce ground-breaking products for the international market place, which have a timeless quality, and a potential to adapt to the changing needs over a 20 year + time span.

I also strongly believe in feeding back into the educational system some of the invaluable experience I have gained over the years, and I have served as external examiner at the Royal College of Arts and am a visiting Professor at the University of the Arts, London and have also been a serving governor at the University and the London Institute, as it was previously known, for over 15 years.