OPPOSITE PAGE: Working closely with Hilton’s appointed interior designer Bevis Design Associates, and Hilton’s Technical Services team, Panaz recently developed bespoke contract standard furnishing fabrics in two colour schemes for the European rollout of Hilton’s Garden Inn brand. Pictured here is the Hilton Garden Inn at Frankfurt’s Airrail development, the first in Europe to feature the new brand concept. Through its German office, Panaz worked with Hamburg-based interior architects JOI Design, who were tasked with project-specific design work such as creation of the public spaces, and through the construction phase continues to work with leading turnkey furnishing contractor, Voglauer GmbH of Austria, who are responsible for the procurement of the thousands of linear metres of fabrics required to fulfil the project. ABOVE LEFT: Panaz Founder and CEO Tony Attard ABOVE RIGHT: ‘Legend’ is the company’s latest velvet flame-retardant upholstery collection
we all have that facility. If only more people understood that we would not be in the situation we’re in now.” The situation he refers to is of course the global economic crisis, to which we will return later. “To us there aren’t any borders. Ok,
you’ve got local legislation in terms of flame retardancy, specifications that type of thing. But [the UK’s fire retardancy legislation] is some of the most stringent worldwide and as a consequence we can compete globally.” Attard says it was always his intention to
build Panaz overseas rather than as a purely domestic concern. “There’s that saying, ‘invent it once, sell it a million times.’ You have to do that for it to be economically viable, so you can exploit the economies of scale and that’s what we do. The point is that we own our designs, and design is international.” Panaz must have sold its designs many
times over, since the company reached the milestone of total global export sales of £40m last year.
“Export is about 40% of our production
and that’s going to get bigger,” says Attard. “We’re investing in more people overseas. We’ve got an office in Dubai handling the Middle East, we’ve got people in the States which is important not just because of direct sales but because the US where much of the specification for projects elsewhere in the world is done.” Panaz is split into two divisions, healthcare and hospitality. Attard, a firm believer in technological innovation, says the former has often informed the latter in terms of the latest scientific advances. “Our healthcare division has often been a supplier of new ideas to the hospitality side. Trevira CS, for example, which was the first fire retardant fibre of choice for us, came through healthcare not hospitality.” He believes anti-microbials, another technique with its roots in healthcare, will become more important in hospitality. “In the cruise industry, if we can provide something that can combat the Norovirus
– a debilitating illness passed on easily on a ship – if we can provide something that can contribute to the destruction of that virus it’s got to help.” In 2007, the company was awarded exclusive UK distribution rights for Nano- Tex™, an advanced textile treatment which offers enhanced stain resistance and cleanability without compromising the textiles’ fire retardant qualities, visual appearance or tactile appeal. Another technological advance in which Attard sees potential is plasma, which allows more efficient, specific application of finishes to products, with less waste. To keep abreast of such innovation he retains strong links with Manchester University, where he studied in the Department of Textiles at UMIST, and is now a member of the department’s Industrial Advisory Group, receiving an Outstanding Alumnus award for his contribution to the development of fabric design. Other awards on display in reception at the company’s
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