The product that has largely contributed to Vitas Group’s success and is most closely associated with the company is the floor gully– a product that today is taken for granted in every home. The Spånberg family’s journey in Skåne began in 1945, when they acquired Sjöbo Bruk, which initially manufactured pipe fittings and sanitary ware in cast iron – laying the foundation for what is today Vitas Group.
Ten years later, then-CEO Bengt Spånberg initiated a collaboration with builder Harry Karlsson, who had been inspired by modern floor drains during a trip to the United States. He developed a new solution called Purus, Latin for “clean.” An innovation that was watertight, the Purus floor drain became a breakthrough in the fight against water damage in modern wet rooms.
At first, the Purus floor drain was manufactured in cast iron at Sjöbo Bruk, but in the late 1970s production shifted to plastic.
Today, Vitas Group is the market leader in Sweden, producing around 10,000 plastic floor drains each week.
The product range has gradually expanded and now also includes indoor drainage systems, stainless steel interiors, stainless steel sanitary products, designer drains, as well as established sales companies across the Nordic region and the United Kingdom.
The Spånberg family played an important role in the development of Swedish industry, particularly within foundry, enamel, and metalworking. Through technical innovation, strategic investments, and strong local presence, the company helped shape the industrial landscape of southern Sweden.
It has been the family’s courage, drive, and long-term commitment that laid the foundation for success – a common thread running through generations of entrepreneurship.
The roots of the business we see today can, however, be traced much further back – as far back as the 1600s in Lilla Spånhult in Småland, where the Spånberg family originates. For several generations, they worked as blacksmiths and craftsmen.
During the rise of industrialization in the late 1800s, then-CEO Sven Spånberg established large-scale industrial production through the acquisition of two ironworks: Norrahammar Bruk (1877) and Ankarsrum Bruk (1909). Competition intensified during the 1960s. In 1968, the main company was sold to Electrolux, but the Sjöbo operations were excluded – a strategic decision that secured the future in Skåne. That same year, Ankarsrum Bruk in Skåne was renamed the well-known Sjöbo Bruk.
We choose to begin counting our history from 1945, when Ankarsrum Bruk in Sjöbo became the foundation of the family-owned industrial company that has since grown into the Vitas group we operate in today.