From the beginning, SCP’s founder Sheridan Coakley possessed bellwether instincts for emerging talent and changing consumer behavior. SCP’s first iteration, in 1985, was within a converted mattress factory in then-ungentrified area of Shoreditch, London. Both a manufacturer and retail space in London’s traditional furniture center of Curtain Road, SCP launched with a collection by Philippe Starck, who, at that time, was an unknown name in Britain. During its second year, SCP began producing designs for Brits Jasper Morrison and Matthew Hilton, launching the former’s seminal Bow Shelves at the 1986 Milan Furniture Fair.

The company’s first breakout success story could be considered Hilton’s Balzac Chair. Released in 1993 and snapped up by International design tastemaker Terence Conran for The Conran Shop, the piece solidified SCP’s reputation as an industry trendsetter, going on to sell over 5,000 pieces, making it the most manufactured piece in the company's history.

Today, SCP sells and manufactures a remarkable range of contemporary design – spanning SCP furniture, textiles, ceramics and SCP lighting. Within the company’s ever-evolving stable is the work of more than 200 contemporary designers including Rich Brilliant Willing, Konstantin Grcic, Peter Marigold, PearsonLoyd, Reiko Kaneko and Lucy Kurrein. Part of SCP’s success is its instincts for identifying emerging design talent, with a reputation as one of the industry’s most reliable incubators.

In time, many of SCP designs – which have maintained their groundbreaking style and manufacturing technique – have come to be considered modern day classics. In this spirit, the company launched the Classic Collection in 2015, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the brand’s introduction. The collection included 14 redesigns of original pieces by names such as
Matthew Hilton, James Irvine, Michael Marriot and Terrance Woodgate. An accompanying exhibition at the London Design Museum and monograph both accompanied the launch, each further testaments to the company’s longevity and present-day relevance.