1. Our Story
After over 25 years spent designing for some of the world’s leading brands, we decided it was time to build something of our own. We launched ON&ON® in 2013, introducing our first wall shelving system at The London Design Festival.
But the story began long before that.
Our original shelving system has evolved through generations — designed by us, adapted by our family, and shaped by decades of real use. Since the early 1960s, we’ve moved with it, resized it, reconfigured it — always learning and refining. As a family-run company made up of architects, product and furniture designers, we’ve spent years thinking deeply about how our systems are used, and how to create products that produce less or very little waste.
From our studio just outside London, we design with a clear purpose: combining modernist principles and timeless aesthetics with durable, high-quality materials. Every ON&ON shelving system is made to measure, assembled and packed by hand at our workshops in St Albans — and delivered to homes across the world.
St Albans City
Located just outside London the City is easily accessible by train from London St Pancras or from the M1 by car. Book a workshop visit and then stroll through the high street to the famous Cathedral and park.
2. How We Do Things
ON&ON is a British direct-to-consumer furniture brand. This means we can invest more in high-quality materials, and premium components, delivering exceptional products at a fair price. By selling directly to you, we can offer lower prices without compromising on quality, while ensuring an exceptional level of service through our direct contact with customers.
We offer a free design and planning service to ensure every system we create is thought about and put together in the very best way. It is a personal design service, with one of our expert planners who can help advise, set out and design your system completely free of charge.
Our systems are designed to be timeless and do not change over time so you come back in 5,10 20 years and still buy the same parts and components. When you shop with us, you can be assured that our prices are always transparent and not inflated to generate large discounts.
No Fast furniture
We want to retain value in our products to ensure they are not part of todays throw-away ‘fast furniture’ culture.
3. We Tread Lightly
From day one we have set out an approach to keep our environmental impact to a minimum. Since the beginning, we have made responsible manufacturing a core part of the ON&ON design ethos. By limiting the number of materials, we can focus on perfecting our processes, enhancing our products, and reducing waste.
“We can spend a lifetime mastering and working with a single material, reduced choice, to improve quality.”
— K. Pope Co-Founder
Our primary material is recycled aluminium — chosen for its strength, durability, lightness, and circular potential. We work with certified UK-based suppliers, including aluminium extruders accredited by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, using up to 78% recycled content made from pre- and post-consumer scrap.
Our systems are designed for longevity, built to be reused, repaired, resized, and fully recyclable. We’ve spent over a decade building a circular business with a long-term approach to sustainable design.
We believe the most effective way to reduce our impact is to adopt a circular business model. You can learn more about our sustainability journey here.
Designed for longevity
Our systems are built to be reused, repaired, resized, and fully recyclable. We’ve spent over a decade building a circular business with a long-term approach to sustainable design.
4. A New Standard
We’re proud to be re-shoring our production, making everything here in the UK. It’s not always easy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
What we gain: better quality, better control, low mileage, shorter lead times and investment back into our economy.
What we give up: low prices and high profit margins.
We are not reliant on old traditional manufacturing, but have embraced new modern suppliers, innovative techniques and industrial processes to design and manufacture our shelving systems to deliver quality above expectation and without compromise.
Here at ON&ON we are building and investing in our own family-run factory to perfect our skills and grow our knowledge.
More coming soon..
