MANUFACTURER PROFILE | Cavalier Bath
A period of introspection by Yorkshire-based manufacturer Cavalier Bathrooms gave new managing director, David Gannon, a greater understanding of the company’s values. Matt Baker finds out more about the true meaning of a family business
PEOPLE OVER PROFITS
David Gannon only became managing director back in January, after Rob Harrison moved from that same role into the newly created position of chairman. The transition has been smooth due to Gannon having been part of the business during Harrison’s tenure as MD.
avalier Bathrooms started back in the 1970s and over the years the Keighley- based company went from local family-run business, to national distributor, to large and respected bathroom manufacturer. Cavalier first found success by distributing Bemis, a popular US brand of toilet seats at the time, which
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then developed into basic vat forming and the manufacture of bathroom accessories such as splashbacks and bath panels. Eventually the product range expanded into shower enclosures and that’s when the Cavalier brand came into its own. Today, the company is known for its four main brands: April, Aquadart, Elation, and Niagara.
“I actually came to Cavalier to do a piece of consultancy work three years ago. I worked for a competitor for many years and left there because their new future wasn’t aligned to my thinking,” explains Gannon. “I ended up meeting Rob and his brother John, who was here at the time, and we started working together. That work was around the brand and Rob’s
frustration that people didn’t
Cavalier Bathrooms’ factory based in Keighley, West Yorkshire
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understand what Cavalier Bathrooms was all about. People’s introduction to us as a business was via a singular brand or a tight range of products, and that’s all they used us for. Historically, this business had always gone to market under individual brands. So, it was Aquadart — the Yorkshire-based, family-owned business that makes shower enclosures. Or Elation furniture, that Yorkshire-based, family-owned business that makes furniture. We were almost deliberately going down this smaller business route and we never tied it back up to Cavalier Bathrooms.” It was this frustration that not only was the Cavalier brand misunderstood but the resources and values, too. As Gannon explains, Harrison wanted a more joined up approach. “The question at the time was ‘why are people buying our shower trays but not our shower enclosures?’ Or ‘why are people interested in our furniture but not our brassware?’ Fundamentally, people didn’t know who we were.”
· May 2022
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