MANUFACTURER PROFILE | Aqata
Product design manager
Richard Wykes
Every Aqata enclosure is handcrafted and distributed in bespoke packaging to ensure the products arrive in perfect condition
Aqata timeline:
1986 Aqata was established by a family in Hinckley 1989 First shower enclosure and bath screen range, Exclusive Solutions, launched
2003 First 8mm Minimalist product range launched 2008 Spectra product range and Linneal shower valve range launched 2017 The brand’s flagship, 10mm Design Solutions product range is launched
2020 Acquired by the AQ Group 2021 Launched five luxury accessory ranges 2021 AQ Group acquired Hollys of Bath, adding traditional traps, showers and soap dispensers to the Aqata product range
brand was acquired by AQ Group. The move meant the brand would sit alongside its other well-known shower enclosure brand, Aqualux, which the umbrella company acquired from Dutch bathroom group Fetim in 2019. Though they are obviously two very different brands – Aqualux is predominantly about imported product sold through merchants, while Aqata offers bespoke, luxury enclosures handcrafted by experts and sold only through independent retail specialists – there is an obvious synergy, and they complement each other.
“Aqata is a brand we’ve both admired and the opportunity to acquire it was almost serendipitous really,” Lee explains. “When owner Jayne Barnes
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approached us about the sale, we were looking for a home for Aqualux and this site was five times bigger than Aqata needed – so the acquisition gave us the opportunity to make this home for both brands. “We’ve spent the past couple of years getting the businesses ready to do business – investing in people, systems and company culture, etc, and now we’re looking for the opportunity to grow the brands. We’re really excited about it.”
Between them Lee and sales director Dean Stokes have over 60 years’ experience of working at a senior level for some of the bathroom industry’s biggest brands, including Bristan, Merlyn, Methven and Aqualisa.
The AQ Group HQ in Hinckley, Leicestershire – home of the Aqata and Aqualux shower enclosure brands
On top of that, Lee has done two stints as president of the BMA, so it’s fair to assume that both the Aqata and Aqualux businesses are in safe hands. This industry experience and business acumen is already translating into direct benefits for retailers. Despite being brand ambassadors, when it comes to new product development or choosing a path forward, very few manufacturers seem to talk to their retailers,
The quirkiness of being an artisan brand in a market full of automated production lines is what really sets us apart
Steve Lee, CEO and chairman, AQ Group/Aqata
but
it’s something that was a top priority for Lee and Stokes when they took over Aqata.
Valuable insight
Last year they hosted two ‘design weeks’ where they invited their retailers to join them at the Hinckley HQ for discussions about their plans for the brand, and to hear their feedback in order to “really get to the heart of what it is their customers want and what they, the retailers, need from us as a brand”.
These sessions, they say, provided valuable insight into the brand from the retailers’
perspective. Some of planned to do with the
feedback reinforced what they had already
business, but some of it made them re-evaluate their plans to better suit the needs of their dealers.
“Part of what we see as being unique and valuable to our retailers
· June 2022 the
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