G‑Plan – a beginner’s guide

The name ‘G‑Plan’ has become synonymous with all the mass market furniture of the 1960s and 70s. It’s seen as a by‑word for retro style and Abigail’s Party chic, and not always complimentary. But with a resurgence of interest in Mid‑century design and new perspective on ‘retro’ it’s time to look at what G‑Plan really means.

G is for Gomme

G‑Plan was the brand name created for the company founded by E. (for Ebeneezer) Gomme in 1898. The factory was based in High Wycombe, the then furniture‑making capital of England. With the end of post‑war furniture rationing and with a hunger for modern design following the Festival of Britain in 1951, there was an eager market for new furniture.

The man with the ‘Plan’

Donald Gomme was chief designer for the firm at the time. In 1953 he devised a complete range of modern furniture for the home to be bought piece by piece as people could afford it. Furthermore, all the pieces went together and the designs stayed in production to allow households to complete their collection over time. Genius modular design and genius marketing: with new advertising in magazines and cinemas; and showrooms where the room sets could be seen and tested. G‑Plan captured the imagination and the market and grew exponentially through the 1950s to become the largest furniture manufacturer in the UK at the end of the decade.

Donald left the company in 1958 and then with changes to hire purchase rules and competition from new imports of furniture from Scandinavia, G‑Plan started to lose its pole position. The Danish designer Ib Kofod Larsen came in to create the G‑Plan Danish Design range. This range included exclusive pieces in fairly limited production that are much-prized today. But it was the Fresco range designed by VB Wilkins in 1966 that really turned fortunes round. With its fluid, curved handles and simple clean lines it’s the iconic G‑Plan that everyone had in the 1970s.