NEWS | Round-up NEWS IN BRIEF
A group of 11 staff from Ideal Bathrooms, Neville Lumb and International Decorative Surfaces (IDS) – all part of the Saint-Gobain group – recently took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks climb to raise around £5,000 for children’s charity Barnardo’s.
www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/idsidealnly3pc
More than a third (35%) of Brits are late for work at least twice a week because they are spending too much time in the bathroom. So said a survey by online bathroom retailer Soaks of 1,000 of its customers.
Distributor Ideal Bathrooms has announced its new partnership with Rak Ceramics. Rak’s full range of basins, furniture, sanitaryware and brassware – including the new Precious and Joy collections – will be available though Ideal Bathrooms for next-day delivery to 99% of the UK.
Indesit is offering consumers who buy selected washing machine or washer-dryer models a free four- month supply of Ariel pods (details at
www.indesitfreeariel.co.uk).
Sheet material and component supplier Hills Panel Products has released three videos showcasing the company’s growth over the past 30 years. The videos document all aspects of the business and its staff and can be seen on its website and social media.
10 JT bought by Kartell UK
SHOWER TRAY manufacturer JT, has been acquired by Kartell UK, one of the largest suppliers of radiators to the independent and merchant showroom sector. Current operations director Paul Haigh will take over as managing director of the company from the exiting Paul Crossley, who will move into an advisory role to support the wider group.
Haigh, along with sales and marketing director John Schofield and finance director Lee Walker, will continue to run the business from the company’s Leeds base.
As one of the largest shower tray manufacturers in the UK, JT employs more than 125 people and turns over around £14 million. Kartell, founded by MD Alex Norford, turns over more than £60m and operates with 200 people across two sites in Bedford and Wigan.
Paul Crossley said: “After running
a broad and comprehensive search for the ideal home for the business to complement and accelerate the work we have done as a team over the past five years, we identified Alex and the team at Kartell as the right people to take JT on. “I am very proud of what we have achieved and am equally excited about the opportunities arising from working with Kartell for JT and everyone here who has contributed to its journey so far.
“It has been an unbelievable
journey for me: building JT into a real brand and market leader in the bathroom industry and there have been an awful lot of people in those 19 years that have made a considerable contribution. I would like to thank them all.” Alex Norford said: “I am excited to add JT to the Kartell family and look
Egger’s €440m Polish factory starts production
AUSTRIAN-BASED sheet material manu- facturer Egger has started production at its new state-of-the- art chipboard plant in Biskupiec, Poland. Egger has invested €440 million (£395.73m) in the
new factory, which is its 19th plant worldwide. It has a capacity to produce 650,000 cubic metres of boards a year. The plant employs 400 staff directly and has created 600 indirect jobs with local suppliers and services.
SMART TECH may be gaining ground with UK consumers but fewer than one-in-five are planning to buy a smart major appliance in the next five years. These are the shock findings uncovered by property specialist
FastSaleHomes.co.uk in a poll by Ernst and Young of 2,500 UK households to find out which smart- home devices and appliances they are planning to buy over the next five years. Well ahead in the popularity stakes at 41% are smart speakers such as those from Amazon and Google, but major appliances are languishing at the bottom of the list, with just 19% saying they would buy a smart washing machine or smart fridge, and just 17% keen on the idea of a smart oven.
This is despite the undeniable
growth of smart products, with 57% of Brits now owning at least one smart product, according to figures
Egger said that the new factory has been built in accordance with EU BAT (Best Available Techniques) regulations, which stipulate the use of the best available technology to minimise emissions that may impact on the environment. Egger co-owner Michael Egger said: “I am delighted that we have started production at our Biskupiec plant and, together with our management team and employees, we are honoured to become an
important supplier to the Polish furniture industry. We’ve been active in Poland since the early 1990s, and are working with more than 150 local customers.” The plant has production lines for raw and laminated chipboard and production is being slowly ramped up step by step towards its annual production capacity of 650,000cu m of board – a large proportion of which, Egger said, will be finished with decorative surfaces.
from Smart Home Week and Pricewaterhouse Coopers estimating that a staggering £10.8 billion will be spent on smart products by the end of 2019. More than a third (36%) of those surveyed, however, did
express an interest in smart lighting. Slightly more said they would buy a smart heating product, such as Nest or Hive, that would allow them to control heat settings remotely. The survey also showed that despite their considerable expertise, only 15% said they would buy such products from a specialist smart-tech provider, with more than two-thirds (37%) saying they would be more likely to purchase from their broadband provider. Richard Smith, managing director of FastSaleHomes.
co.uk, said: “The evolution of smart-home technology over the past decade has been fantastic. There are now a ton of smart devices/appliances on the market, which primarily aim to make everyday tasks at home easier and quicker.
“As Brits continue to better understand the products and become more comfortable using them, the adoption rate of the technology will only increase.”
kbbreview · August 2019
forward to working with the talented team at JT to drive the brand and sales growth to the next level. “The acquisition of JT will enable us
to create a strategic alliance to offer additional value to all customers and stakeholders across both brands. An innovative approach to manufacturing will enable Kartell to help to continue growing the export business that has been so successful.”
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