Bison History
Bison was formed in County Durham, England 1981 when its founders realized that there was a niche market for stairlifts which could be tailored to individual needs.
With a small enthusiastic team of engineers, sales personnel and administration staff, the company thrived, gaining an excellent reputation for innovation, customer care and its readiness to manufacture stairlifts to the specific requirements of their customers. Bison Bede was one of the early entrants into the stairlift market.
Product Timeline
 |
|||||
1988 |
1997 CONTOUR |
1999 CONTOUR ELITE |
2000 COMPACT |
2004 Bison 80 |
|
1998 - 2002
Following changes in ownership, in 1998 a major development took place when Bison was acquired by Domus Homecare AG, a private group of companies with subsidiaries in Germany, Sweden and Canada, engaged in the homecare market. The group's major investor is Warburg Pincus, the global private equity investment firm. As part of Domus, the company invested heavily in new product development, facilities and IT systems and Bison entered another era in its success story. During this period the company continued to sell its products, via local authorities and dealers, to elderly and disabled people throughout the UK. A thriving export business was also developed, with Bison's products marketed through dealers in over 10 countries.
2002
In April, 2002, an important change to Bison's distribution policy was announced, informing customers and employees of the decision to end the supply of stairlifts directly to Local Authorities, Disabled Facilities Grant and private end-user clients, and to supply stairlifts exclusively through Dealers.
Trends in recent years had seen the stairlift business grow to both UK and overseas Dealers, as the dealers are able to offer an excellent, local service to Bison's stairlift customers.
By focusing the business in this direction, Bison Bede can provide a much improved service to UK and Export Dealers, as well as end users.
Bison is in the enviable position of already being a market leader in stairlifts, with exciting new products in the pipeline. New export channels have opened up and there are further opportunities to expand its existing business.
Bison's future success will be measured by the reliability of it's products and the service it provides to its customers. The company has confidence in it's products and it's people - with this combination, Bison will go from strength to strength.
The company's £1 million investment plans in the 'next generation' of curved stairlifts are well advanced and it is expected that this important new 'Life Style' product will be introduced in 2004.
2004
The companies £1 million investment in the next 'generation' of curved stairlifts resulted in the introduction of the Bison 80 model in mid 2004. The company was acquired from its previous investors in a management buyout in August 2004, with backing from Bridges Community Ventures and Lloyds TSB.
