Our Story

1979

With a background in structural engineering and architectural draftsmanship, Graham Atkinson founded a storage and industrial equipment supply company called Storax in 1979.

Graham saw a shift in the market whereby clients were more frequently using their storage platforms and mezzanines for office use. This led to storax becoming increasingly included in office fit-outs and refurbishments projects.

Within a short space of time ‘Interior Options by Storax’ was created to separate the tailored service for fit-out and furniture from the traditional more industrial offerings of Storax.

1984

The office refurbishment side of the business grew rapidly and as such, Interior Options Ltd was established. To this day the company continues the same legal entity and its basic focus remains the same – commercial design and fit-out solutions to help businesses, look professional, be functional and grow.

1995

By the mid-’90s Graham Atkinson’s group of companies had grown to employ 14 permanent staff and above 40 site operatives. During this year Ivan Young joined the team.

2013

Ivan Young worked for Graham as a draughtsman, salesman and director for more than 17 years. In 2013, Ivan took over the running of Interior Options from Graham taking full ownership and control.

2013 the Interior Options brand gets a facelift to IO, which remains current to this day.

2015

IO relocate to a stunning new office on the grounds of the Luton Hoo country estate, marking a departure from its hometown of Harpenden after more than 30 years.

2017

With new ownership came a new direction. Projects were now being overseen by the original consultant rather than being passed to a separate construction manager. The benefit being continuous communication between the client & one specialist from start to finish. This improved the interpretation of the client brief and made the project journey seamless.

2020

During the most turbulent of times, IO teamed up with a former competitor and the highly capable team of Mainrock Ltd. The two companies had always been close geographically and the opportunity to join forces and create a bigger and brighter future seemed a very natural progression. During the same year, SIS Office Interiors, a trade furniture supplier to both IO & Mainrock was also acquired by the group and so three became one and the IO team tripled!

Today

Ivan & Stuart (the former owner of SIS) are the present-day IO Directors of furniture and fit-out respectively. The workforce has grown substantially, with 10 salespeople, design consultants, and construction managers and 40 + trusted site operatives & installers.

The team have now successfully delivered projects across the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Australia.

Today Interior Options has a reputation as being one of the most trusted and respected commercial interior design and fit-out companies within its region.