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<strong>CHURCHILL'S LAMP TURNS 75 </strong>
<p>This year the design classic the BestLite lamp celebrates 75 years in continuous
production.</p>
<p>The little ugly duckling have now become a beautiful swan –this might
be the beginning of a fairytale about the BestLite lamp ....</p>
<p>As the BestLite lamp saw the light of day for the first time in 1930, it was
received with anything but flattering words within the world's biggest lighting
manufacturer Best&Lloyd. With no superfluous ornaments or frills the design
was very different from the company's former lamps and from the trend at the
time.</p>
<p>It was not exactly intended for use in a glamorous life, and it was difficult
to imagine that it was going to be a design classic with fans as famous as Churchill.
BestLite was known as Churchill's lamp, since it was standing on his desk in
Whitehall, and rumours tell that it even accompanied him on all his numerous
trips.</p>
<p>The lamp was created with inspiration from the Bauhaus philosophy, with which
its designer Robert Dudley Best got acquainted during his industrial design
studies in Germany in the 1920ies. Ideals such as Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier,
who at that time displayed their works at the international exhibition of modern
design in Paris, were no doubt a further source of inspiration.</p>
<p>During its first years BestLite was primarily used in car repair shops due
to its flexibility and functional ity, and during World War II it became an
indispensable source of light in the hangar, when RAF's planes came in for check-ups.</p>
<p>The BestLite lamp was inexpensive compared to the remaining Best&Lloyd
collection. The style appealed to the trend setting British architects and it
quickly became their favourite work lamp. As the BestLite lamp was proclaimed
the first Bauhaus manifestation in UK by Architects Journal, it got a fine reputation
in architect circles and was used in many of the buildings designed by the architects
at that time.</p>
<p>The BestLite lamp meant a new start to Best&Lloyd. As a result of its significant
success, it added new life to the otherwise very conservative and traditional
company, which now gained reputation within the design world. But like many
other production orientated companies it focussed on new machinery and production
and forgot to promote the products. Consequently the success of the BestLite
lamp was not pursued.</p>
<p>A sad sight met the designer Gubi Olsen, when he went to England in 1989 to
meet the manufacturer of BestLite. The company was on the brink of bankruptcy,
the products were dispatched to the customers wrapped in newspapers, since there
was no money for packing materials, and the lighting mastodon had become an
insignificant shadow of itself.</p>
<p>By chance Gubi Olsen had seen the lamp in a shoe shop in Copenhagen. Immediately
he was enthusiastic about it and simply had to own it. His research led him
to Best&Lloyd. The lamp was evidently ingenious and he was convinced that
such a beautiful, stylish and graphic design would be a success in Denmark,
and he therefore obtained the distribution rights in Denmark and the rest of
Scandinavia.</p>
<p>Before he left with BestLite and the Scandinavian sales rights under his arm,
he visited the London Design Museum, where the lamp was exhibited among many
other big design classics of the 20th century. With a firm conviction that the
lamp was something special he returned to Denmark and was going to show the
outside world that there was still a market for this unique and timeless lamp.</p>
<p>Gubi Olsen was right. The sales of BestLite have increased steadily since 1989
and in 2004 GUBI A/S took over full responsibility of the production and marketing
of the BestLite collection worldwide. It is now an individual brand in the GUBI
range with its own sales organisation and international dealer network.</p>
<p>Today you will find the lamp in several thousand homes and in many Danish workplaces,
and the collection comprises table and floor lamps as well as pendants and wall
lamps. In standard version they are all available in the finishes chrome, black
and cream and the collection is still in developement.</p>
<p>”We greatly respect the design and are very enthusiastic about BestLite
and its unique history, and we feel privileged to get the chance to continue
the promotion of a design classic of that calibre. Not many lamps have managed
to be in continuous production for 75 years, and we shall do our utmost to maintain
the position and success that it deserves" says Peter Østerberg
Hansen, who is responsible for the sales of BestLite.</p>
<p>”BestLite has already become popular by a lot of Danes and in the near
future we shall make efforts to make the rest of the world acquainted with the
lamps. We are convinced that BestLite's timeless and international design will
appeal to all people who prefer the real thing with a good history" Peter
Østerberg Hansen continues.</p>
<p>Churchill's lamp started as the little ugly duckling in England and ended up
as a big fully fledged swan in a small Danish company …</p>
<p><br>
<strong>GUBI A/S </strong><br>
Frihavnen <br>
Klubiensvej 7-9, Pakhus 53<br>
2100, København Ø </p>
<p>Tel: +45 33 32 63 68 <br>
Fax: +45 33 32 60 69 </p>
<p><strong>GUBI A/S</strong> was founded in 1967 by the designer couple Lisbeth
and Gubi Olsen. Their strategy was focused on design, product development, marketing
and sale of furniture fabrics and fabrics for retail sale. The couple designed
a collection of upholstered furniture and the furniture fabric called Holmens
Klæde.</p>
<p>In 1989 they acquired the rights to sell the BestLite collection in Denmark.
The BestLite lamp collection was designed in 1930 by Robert Dudley Best and
has been in production ever since. In 2004 GUBI A/S obtained the production
and sales rights worldwide. The company Cinal Reol was also acquired in 2004
and is now a GUBI collection.</p>
<p>In 2001 their son Jacob Gubi took over the leadership of the company, and focus
was changed from the private to the contract market, and exports then started
to increase considerably. Today GUBI's export share is 25%. The primary markets
are USA, Great Britain, Norway and Germany. Since 2001 the number of employees
has increased from 14 to 25, and the company is in constant development.</p>
<p>Product development and innovation are still first priorities with GUBI. These
are implemented in co-operation with wellknown international and Danish designers.</p>
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