Made WELL
Since Sean and Terence founded Benchmark in 1984, sustainability has been at the heart of our business. It is our mission to create furniture that makes a positive contribution to human health and the environment.
We consider the materials we use, our products and the way we make them; as well as the way we manage our workshops, our employment practices and our waste.
We were one of the first furniture makers in the UK to have chain of custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C016983) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). We also have Grown in Britain Chain of Custody certification. All of our furniture is available as FSC®, PEFC or GIB certified on request depending upon the choice of timber.
We are ISO14001 certified, and are extremely proud to have been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category twice, and the first ever King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development.
View and download our certifications >
We commit to keeping our furniture and joinery in use for the longest time possible.
We design and make for longevity – creating pieces that can adapt to changing needs, made with materials that can be easily refurbished.
We promise a lifetime of care – offering a Repair & Refurbish service and a Take Back Scheme where furniture can be returned to us when it is no longer needed for it to be refurbished, re-purposed or donated to charitable enterprises.
We have chosen to invest in Life Cycle Analysis of our core product collections to enable us to provide independently verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) to demonstrate the low environmental impact of our furniture.
We are constantly seeking ways to share the environmental and health impacts of our furniture to enable more informed decisions.
Our OVO, AYA and ILE collections are now available as REVIT files with embedded sustainability data for BIM, helping architects and designers visualise the impact of their decisions at the earliest stages of design.
Please contact us for a link to download models
We are guided by the principles of the WELL Building Standard, the first building standard to put human health and well-being at its core and are a WELL Accredited Professional team (WELL AP). We hope that this will help us to deliver ever more thoughtful and intentional furniture, and spaces, that enhance human health and well-being.
Our furniture has Red List Free Declare labelling that shows where it comes from, what is made of and where it goes at the end of its life. Red List Free means that it contains no toxic chemicals and does not emit harmful VOCS, meeting the standards for healthy buildings
We draw upon the restorative power of nature to design and make furniture with health and well-being in mind.
Our non-toxic furniture is made with natural materials, colours and textures, soft profiles and nature-inspired ergonomic shapes, to create spaces that are more human, welcoming and personal.
To challenge the way upholstery is usually made, we have chosen not to use plastic foam.
Instead, we have developed upholstery in collaboration with the Naturalmat Company, which uses natural, sustainable and biodegradable materials – coir, latex and sheep’s wool.
This is better for our health as well as overcoming the significant environmental concerns surrounding the disposal of plastic foam in landfill.
