A long and fruitful history

1876

G.W. Sohlberg sets up a tinsmith workshop in his one-room home in Helsinki, Finland.

1885

Copper and ironsmith operations augment production.

1896

G.W. Sohlberg authorise both his sons to run the factory in his name.

1916

The company's operations grow through armour production.

1933

Company starts manufacturing covered archive and storage shelving.

1975

GWS begins production of its workshop product range furniture.

1982

GWS introduces the concept of Ergonomic Workstations.

1983

Subsidiaries are established in Sweden and Germany

1984

A subsidiary is founded in the United Kingdom.

1985

Another subsidiary is founded, this time in France.

1992

The American subsidiary, GWS Inc., is established in Georgia.

1993

GWS Systems Oy is incorporated in Finland, with a specific remit to design and manufacture industrial furniture and workstations.

2001

GWS celebrates its 125th anniversary in February 2001.

2004

The G.W. Sohlberg organisation sells the majority of its shares in GWS Systems Oy to the company’s management.

2006

The Sovella brand now covers all of the products of GWS Systems.

2007

With effect from 6^th March 2007 Sovella AB has been the registered company name of GWS Industri AB  - the Swedish subsidiary of GWS Systems.

With effect from 1st July 2007 Sovella SARL has been the registered company name of GWS Industries SARL  - the French subsidiary of GWS Systems.

With effect from 7th July 2007 Sovella will be the trade name for the GWS Systems sales office in the United Kingdom.

With effect from 1st August 2007 Sovella GmbH has been the registered company name of GWS Systems GmbH  - the German subsidiary of GWS Systems.

And the story continues!