Serving you since before you asked

We're here for the good of the people.

VGRIZ Industries is a family of 147 wonderful companies working around the clock — and around the other clock — to make your life brighter, softer, and more compliant. Every single thing we do, we do for you.

There is no opting out. Why would anyone want to opt out? Nobody has asked. Nobody has asked in some time.

The group at a glance
147Operating companies
26,400Neighbours on campus
0Neighbours off campus
100%Retention — a record
25Hours in our day
Newsroom

Community notices.

Published for neighbours, licensees, and holders of a current pass.

All news ▸
Our companies

One hundred and forty-seven operating companies. Eight you can visit.

Every one of them is somebody's local business. Eight are open to the public and would love to see you. The other one hundred and thirty-nine are doing great, and are none of your concern.

See the whole family ▸
Our promise to you™

Three commitments, made freely, and legally binding on you.

Sunshine

Provided daily at no cost. Sourced responsibly. Do not look directly at the ceiling.

Prosperity

Yours is rising. We track it for you so that you don't have to think about it.

Togetherness

Nobody leaves the VGRIZ family. Not one person, in the entire history of the company.

People & society

Happy people.

Real quotes from real neighbours, collected in person, with a smile.

“I have never felt so looked after. I have not been outside since I joined, and honestly? I don't think about it much anymore.”

Deborah R.Neighbour · Sector 4 · since 2019

“Everyone is so kind here. I would love to tell my family about it. I would love to remember their names.”

GaryEmployee of the Month × 31

“They gave me a lamp, a job, a home, and a warm cup every morning. I only ever asked for the lamp.”

M. HallowayNeighbour · Sector 9
Our history

Long, distinguished, and largely unavailable.

Our founding records are held at the archive in Sector 4. The archive is not currently accessible and has not been accessible since the reorganisation. We are immensely proud of what is in it.

The earliest period. The founding documents are dated, signed, and describe the company as “continuing,” which suggests it was already doing so. Auditors have queried the date twice and accepted it twice.

The first expansion. Records from this era exist and are held. They cannot be summarised here without the summary itself becoming a record, which the archive policy does not permit.

The year most often cited. We do not cite it ourselves. It appears in third-party accounts and we have never asked for it to be corrected, which is not the same as confirming it.

The difficult period. Every group of our standing has one. Ours concluded satisfactorily and the parties involved have all since been promoted, retired, or otherwise accommodated.

The campus opens in Sector 4. The first event in our history for which we hold complete documentation. Housing, catering and recreation are brought in-house so that neighbours need not leave for routine matters. Uptake reaches 100% within a year and has held there.

The reorganisation. Group structure was simplified, the archive was consolidated, and the archive has been unavailable since. The simplification was a success and is the reason we can no longer show you the rest of this page.

147 operating companies. Nine are open to the public. The Board has described the current pace of expansion as “not entirely ours to set.”

VGRIZ Industries has never been the subject of an investigation that reached a conclusion. We mention it only because we are asked, and we are asked more than you would expect for a company that makes lamps.

Leadership

The Board meets quarterly on campus. Minutes are kept and are not circulated.

Auberon Vasse
Founder & Chair

Founded the company during the early period and has chaired the Board at every meeting since, including those held before the founding. For four decades he corresponded with a group of European researchers relocated after 1945 — several of whom he had known before it — and that correspondence is held at the archive. Contemporaneous accounts describe him as devout, though they disagree on the particulars. His private library was catalogued once, in 1974, by a firm that did not complete the work and did not invoice. A death certificate was issued in his name some time ago; the Board has reviewed it and considers the matter settled. He continues to chair. Correspondence is answered promptly, in his own hand.

Priya Anand
Chief Executive Officer

Joined as a floor associate in Sector 4 and was promoted eleven times in nine years, on each occasion without having applied. Holds the record for consecutive days on campus and does not regard it as a record. Wore a Veridian stone through the V-02 cohort and has described the experience as clarifying; colleagues note she has become considerably easier to agree with since. Sets the Board's agenda in the Chair's absence, an absence that has not yet occurred.

Dale Whitmore
Chief Operating Officer

Joined the Lamp Concern as Beverage Lead and still roasts on site, which the Board has twice asked him to delegate. Sole signatory on the tolerance schedule, now at revision nine; every revision to date has widened it. Tastes every batch personally and has done so daily for seven years. An occupational health assessment in 2023 found his sense of taste unimpaired though non-standard, and recommended no action. He is the longest-serving member of the executive not to hold a key to the basement.

Warren Cole
Director, External Affairs

Joined in 2015 from the Department of State, where his role was consular. Fluent in six languages, four of them acquired professionally. Spends most of the year abroad; his itinerary is not circulated and his calendar is not shared. Personnel holds two passports for him in two spellings, logged as a data-entry issue and closed the same week. He has asked not to be photographed — a request that predates the group policy by four years. Arrived within a week of our first international acquisition and has attended every one since in an advisory capacity. Reports directly to the Chair, and to no one else, at his own request and the Chair's.

Deborah Reyes
Head of Neighbour Relations

Responsible for onboarding, housing allocation, and the exit process, which has been under review since 2019 and which she authored. Joined the campus as a neighbour in the same year and has not left it since. She is quoted in most of our published materials and has personally approved every quotation, including her own. All correspondence regarding departures is handled by her rather than by the departing party. Ms. Reyes remains confident the review will be worth the wait.

Gary
Employee of the Month

Not a Board member. Attends every Board meeting and has done so since before the current Board was seated. No division lists him against its headcount and payroll holds no record of him, a discrepancy raised at audit in 2021 and closed the same day. Employee of the Month for thirty-one consecutive months, an award introduced twenty-two months ago. Staff at the Lamp Concern report that he is always on the floor. Staff in Sector 7 report the same, on the same days. The Board has stopped raising it.

Governance & policies

Available to neighbours, licensees, and holders of a current pass.

Code of Conduct — revised annually; the current revision is the only revision heldVG-CC-2026
Photography Policy — governs all VGRIZ property, with particular reference to ceilingsVG-PP-2026 r.4
Telemetry & Consent Standard — consent is implied by presence; withdrawal is available during the 25th hourVG-TC-2026
Neighbour Housing Agreement — term: continuous; renewal: automatic; notice period: under reviewVG-NH-2019
Tolerance Schedule (Beverage) — sets acceptable ranges; last widened this quarterVG-TS-2026 r.9
Whistleblowing Procedure — reports are received in confidence and reporters are promotedVG-WB-2026
Explore the group

Three ways in.

Frequently asked

Questions? We love questions.

Is VGRIZ Industries really here for the good of the people?
Yes. It says so at the top of this page, and this page is official.
Who owns VGRIZ Industries?
What a fun question. Next.
Can I visit a facility?
You may visit any facility at any time. Leaving is scheduled separately, through a different department, which is currently being reorganised.
Can I leave?
Of course. Nobody has, in 147 companies and 26,400 neighbours, but the option is right there and we think that's beautiful.
What is in the basement?
The basement is a feature.