How it all began

Scapa was founded by entrepreneur Göte Carlsson in 1959 in Rydaholm. Since IKEA was blocked from trading in traditional Swedish furniture manufacturing, Ingvar Kamprad turned to his friend Göte Carlsson for help. In 1958, IKEA placed an initial order of 2000 beds. With this order "in the pocket", Scapa was established in 1959.

Where does the name come from?

Göte Carlsson was stationed at the Scottish naval base in Scapa Flow for some time, hence the name Scapa. He was later also employed as a clerk at the Swedish Embassy in Budapest where he worked closely together with Raoul Wallenberg. Göte passed away in 1977, at the age of 55.

Yngve & Anders

In 1961, Yngve Conradsson started working as an accountant at Scapa in Rydaholm. Yngves future colleague and co-owner, Anders Hultman, started at Scapa as a time study engineer in the 1960s. In 1961, the company built its first factory in Rydaholm, and in 1969, the second factory was opened in nearby Alvesta. In 1975, Yngve, Anders, and six colleagues acquired the company through a management buyout. The ownership constellation of 8 partners did not last long as Anders and Yngve soon bought out the other six colleagues. During the 70's, 80's and 90's, Scapa developed through both acquisitions and organic growth.

Listing and acquisitions

The Scapa group manufactured beds, sofas and pine furniture. In 1983, Scapa was listed on the A2 list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange. After a few years, however, it was decided to delist the company. At the end of the 1990s, the Scapa group consisted of 5 factories and the official name of the group was APAX (Scapa backwards). The 5 factories were Scapa Bedding in Rydaholm, Tibrobädden in Tibro, Scandisleep in Denmark, Scapa OY in Finland and Scapa Inter in Alvesta. The Alvesta factory produced upholstered furniture (sofas) and the other factories produced beds. In 1999, the APAX group merged with the Hilding Anders group and at the same time Nordic Capital became the owner of 32% of the new group.

Focus on sofas and production in Lithuania

The production of upholstered furniture in Alvesta did not fit into the newly formed group, which focused on beds. Yngve and Anders bought back the upholstered furniture factory in Alvesta and continued the business on their own under the name Scapa. In 1998 Scapa had established a subsidiary in Kaunas, Lithuania, Scapa Baltic. Scapa Baltic supplied the factory in Alvesta with sewn covers. Scapa Baltic developed from a small sewing factory in 2000 into one of the leading upholstered furniture manufacturers in Northern Europe by 2022. Scapa Baltic currently runs 4 factories in Lithuania with around 600 employees in total.

A new generation Conradsson

Yngve's sons, Peter and Roger, started working at Scapa in Alvesta, with a background in mobile phone development and food sales. Stefan Lorentzon was recruited, which resulted in a major investment in bed production. In October 2008, the first beds were delivered from the Alvesta factory.

In February 2021, Peter and Roger bought out Anders Hultman's last shareholding. Since 2021, Peter and Roger each own 50% of Scapa Capital, which in turn owns 94% of the Scapa Inter group. The remaining 6% of Scapa Inter AB is owned by senior executives.

In accordance with its ownership guidelines developed in recent years, The Scapa Inter group has significantly increased its focus on environmental and social sustainability with the aim of making Scapa the leading manufacturer of sustainable furniture for the Northern European living rooms and bedrooms.

In 2017, Martin Starkman was recruited as the new CEO of Beds By Scapa, which went through a very expansive phase. In 2020, Martin took over the helm of the entire Scapa Inter group.

Yngve Conradsson passed away in 2020 after 58 years in Scapa's service, the last 10 years on the board. Anders Hultman is still a member of Scapa Capital's board. The Scapa Inter group puts its best effort in continuing running the business in the spirit of the Conradsson brothers, with a true Småland entrepreneurship in the focus. Our motto has existed for a long time, and will remain for the future - Proud, Smart and Inspiring. Sustainable development is the focus of the whole group in everything we do, and our goal is to become a dream company - The Dream Company.