VELUX is a Danish manufacturing company that specialises in roof windows, skylights, sun tunnels and related accessories. The company is headquartered in Hørsholm, Denmark and is a part of VKR Holding A/S. VELUX Group is a founding partner of the global Active House Alliance.[1]
 | |
| Company type | Private limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Skylights |
| Founded | 1941 |
| Founder | Villum Kann Rasmussen |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Lars Petersson (CEO), Anders Götzsche (CFO), Tina Mayn (EVP), Keith Riddle (EVP), Jörn Neubert (EVP), Iben Schmidt Helbirk (EVP),Jørgen Jensen(Chairman) |
Number of employees | +12,500 (2022) |
| Parent | VKR Holding A/S |
| Website | velux.com |
The name VELUX is a combination of 'VE', short for ventilation, and the Latin 'LUX' meaning light.
History
editVELUX was founded in 1941 by Villum Kann Rasmussen.[2] In 1942 Kann Rasmussen patented his first window, which was designed to make use of natural light and let in air to ventilate previously dark and stuffy lofts.[2]
In 1952, the company started its international expansion, offering its products in Sweden and Germany.[2] By 1965, VELUX Group had expanded into 12 markets and, by the early 1970s, had grown from around 300 to more than 1,000 employees.[2]
In 1975, VELUX Group expanded to the US and a factory was built there in 1978.[3] In the early 1980s, VELUX expanded to Central and Eastern Europe and by the end of the decade, the company had moved into markets in South America, Asia, and Australia.[2] In 1992, Rasmussen's eldest son, Lars Kann-Rasmussen, born in 1964, took over from Villum, who chaired the management of V. Kann Rasmussen Industrie — the parent company of the Velux Group. Villum died in 1993 at the age of 84 years. In the next decades, Lars modernized and built the VELUX group into an international company.[2] At the beginning of the 21st century, the VELUX Group employed more than 10,000 employees at production sites in 11 countries.[2]
Organisation
edit
VELUX has 21 production sites in 12 countries and sales companies in 37 countries.[4]
The VELUX Group employs 11,900 employees worldwide. The VELUX Group is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company wholly owned by VILLUM FONDEN and members of the Kann Rasmussen family. The VELUX Group’s financial results are incorporated into VKR Holding's consolidated accounts. In 2023, the VELUX Group had total revenue of EUR 2.91 billion, VKR Holding had total revenue of EUR 3.97 billion, and the Villum Foundation and the VELUX FOUNDATION donated EUR 184,6 million in charitable grants.[4]
Products
editIn addition to roof windows for flat roofs and pitched roofs, VELUX offers many other types of products like: blinds, roller shutters, and smart home products for easier operation.[5]
Sustainability
editIn 1965, VELUX founder Villum Kann Rasmussen formulated the Model Company Objective, upon which the company's values, principles and ways of operating are based.[6] In 2023, VELUX took the next natural step and fully integrated sustainability into their corporate strategy. This helps to ensure that sustainability is at the very heart of their business and part of all aspects of the organisation - from selecting suppliers, to designing products, right until the end-of-life handling.
In 2020 VELUX Group entered a partnership with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). They finance forest projects that reduce and remove CO2 equivalent to their historical CO2 emissions. The projects are designed and delivered by the WWF. The twenty-year partnership will deliver a portfolio of forest projects in tropical forest landscapes with high biodiversity value that will create positive change for people, nature, and climate.
The partnership aims to contribute the verified carbon reductions and removals generated by the forest projects to the host countries' climate commitments. This means that the verified carbon reductions and removals will not be traded nor used for offsetting by the VELUX Group.
Purposeful partnerships
editInvesting in forward-looking partnerships supports VELUX's purpose of creating well-being for people and the planet by transforming spaces using daylight and fresh air. [7]
References
edit- ^ "Active House Partners". Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g "VELUX History and timeline". Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ "VELUX History 1973-1988". Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ a b "About VELUX Group". Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ "See our extensive range of VELUX roof windows and accessories". www.velux.com. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
- ^ "VELUX Model Company Objective". Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ "partnerships". www.velux.com. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
External links
edit
