Silvermans Office Furniture welcomes new managing partner as ‘whole fitouts’ demand grows

Jun 01, 2024

An office furniture and stationery hub has opened up on Fen Road following a partnership between The Office Box and Silvermans Office Furniture, which has been engineered by Patrick Wright and Charlie Silverman.

The Silverman family launched its office furniture business in 1965: Charlie joined the team in 1985 and is a director of the company, whose customers include pharma companies, schools, and the University of Cambridge.

Meanwhile, The Office Box began trading further down Fen Road in 2007, offering stationery, toner supplies and other items required to keep an office running. Together, they made a natural fit – and it helped that Charlie and Patrick have known each other for 35 years.

In May 2022, Patrick took over as managing partner at Silvermans.

“It’s two companies – one is stationery, the other is office furniture,” says Patrick during a visit to the showroom.

“They complement each other,” adds Charlie. “I’d been running things with my sister, Anne, who wanted to retire, and she retired last year.”

There’s no doubt the two companies are stronger together: customers benefit from a one-stop shop too.

“Basically, when I started the standard set-up was desk, drawers and chair, and two chairs for visitors,” Charlie says. “The people started joining desks up to blocks of four, and in the last 10 years it’s been electric sit-stand desks and ergonomic chairs.

“Pre-Covid, it was all about working in teams, and now it’s home working, and people coming to the office for meetings or hot-desking, so now we do meeting pods for four or six persons, including ones with glass doors, and ventilation and lighting. Plus a lot of the stock has become sustainable, for instance hemp chairs.

“In the last few years we’ve made sure all our suppliers have green accreditation, for instance the Forestry Commission certificate, which means we’re sourcing from reliable suppliers. A lot is ISO accredited and carbon neutral, or the customer is committed to reducing their carbon footprint, and we’ve got quite a lot of stock for that at the moment.”

Silvermans has 240 different suppliers, and there’s a lot of it on display in the 20,000 sq ft showroom – “the largest showroom in East Anglia,” says Patrick. The stock list is expanding too.

“We’re moving into projects which involve the whole fitout,” says Patrick. “That’s the future for Cambridge office furniture, and it includes desks, labs, showrooms, rest areas.”

Deliveries are free in a 30-mile area. The showroom is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm. Call in to inquire about planning a layout, including space planning and 3D modelling, and leasing.

New catalogue here.