Entrepreneurship can be describes as striving to carry out a role or mission for which there is a demand, or which can bring value to other people.
– Kalervo Erkkilä
From Duri to Duuri
Duuri Groups story into an expert of high-quality finishes for our built environment started in the seventies. Entrepreneur Kalervo Erkkilä, together with a Swedish partner, founded Oy Duri Ab in 1977. In the early years the company’s business was floor working machinery, tools and finishing profiles. All of these products are in our selection to this day.
As the decade drew to a close, the Swedish ownership was transferred to Mr Erkkilä and other key poeple in the company. This change became visible to clients as the company name was changed in teh first stage to Suomen Duuri and finally to the present day Duuri. Strong partners and suppliers were found in Turkey and Germany and extensive product training was used to ensure that the quality of the products met the high quality demands. Duuri entered into a period of strong growth in profitability and the financially stable family enterprise made it through the trying economic recession in the early 1990s with excellent marks.
Best practices
Ever since starting its operations Duuri has been actively involved in the development of good practices in it’s field. Kalervo Erkkilä is a founding member of the European Floor Covering Accessory Group, which provided a comprehensive view of the developments in the field. This development work continues to this day, among other things through our membership in Green Building Council Finlandin.
The benefits of globalisation were also recognised early on. The company entered into co-operation with several European and later also Asian partners. At the same time Duuri expanded its business into the production of lists and trims for interior finishing, which form a key part of our present product range.
Duuri has accumulated several decades of experience of logistics processes. We have continuously improved upon our processes and focused on maximum efficiency. Our four-decade experience has allowed us to grow into a front row expert in finishing products for construction and renovation, impressive metal façades and metal sheet products as well as smart space division solutions. Our success is a result of hard work, tenacity and strong belief in our own abilities.
Developing family enterprise
We entered the second millennium with a new generation leader at the helm. Kalervo Erkkilä’s son Tomi Erkkilä had already been an active partner in Duuri since the early 1990’s and in 2000 he took on the mantle of CEO while Kalervo Erkkilä continued to serve on the company board of directors. At the same time the board of directors was joined by new members who brought with them solid knowledge and skill.
The year 2020 saw a significant change, as Duuri Oy, space division expert Scanmikael Oy and façade and metal sheet expert Pohjanmaan Rakennuspelti Oy, PRP consolidated into Duuri Group.
Today we employ more than 100 professionals in the Nordics and Baltic countries. We continue our work to develop both our product range and our service model to promote an ever improving and more sustainable build environment.
