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Plumbworld is acquired by Highbourne Group

Bathroom_Review_Plumbworld

The Highbourne Group, the parent company of brands including City Plumbing Supplies (CPS) and Plumbing Trade Supplies (PTS) amongst others, has today announced the acquisition of leading online bathroom retailer Plumbworld.

As the business’s second acquisition in the last two weeks, following its recent acquisition of PAB Systems, the Highbourne Group believes the decision will strengthen its e-commerce and direct-to-consumer retail offering.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Evesham, Plumbworld was the first online bathroom business in the UK and has become one of the nation’s leading online retail platforms for bathroom, kitchen, plumbing and heating products. The business prides itself on supplying the industry’s best products at affordable prices.

The Highbourne Group believes Plumbworld will complement the business’s existing portfolio, strengthening its leading branch and online capabilities for trade customers, and increasing customer convenience by giving domestic customers fast access to the products they need. Plumbworld’s experience and knowledge of the e-commerce sector are key to the acquisition and will help the Highbourne Group to grow the online presence of its other brands.

Dave Evans, Chief Executive Officer at The Highbourne Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome Plumbworld into the Highbourne Group family of businesses and see Plumbworld as highly complementary to our existing customer propositions. James Hickman and the management team at Plumbworld have built the leading online bathroom retailer in the UK and I look forward to working with them to accelerate their growth initiatives. The acquisition of Plumbworld enables us to take our proven trade customer proposition and market leading supply chain to retail customers too – meaning that we can provide customers across the UK with even quicker access to what they need, when they need it.”

James Hickman, CEO and founder of Plumbworld, said: “The integration of Plumbworld into the Highbourne Group is an exciting new chapter for our business. The Highbourne Group are creating real momentum in the market and I see enormous potential for Plumbworld as part of that growth plan.”

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Wilsonart appoints new sales development manager

Bathroom_Review_Dionne_Starr_Wilsonart

Wilsonart UK, manufacturer and distributor of high-pressure laminate surfaces, has appointed Dionne Starr as its new Sales Development Manager, as the business looks to enhance the support on offer to its network of kitchen and bathroom retailers.

With a background in customer service and account management, Dionne will lead a sales development team of six, which will be responsible for cementing the Wilsonart brands’ status as the top choices for bathroom retailers nationwide.

From support with merchandising and sales strategies, to ensuring retailers have the samples, displays and stock to meet evolving customer demand, Dionne and her team will also be on hand to respond to all manner of incoming enquiries relating to Wilsonart, with an initial focus on its Bushboard brand.

Prior to joining Wilsonart, Dionne’s most recent role saw her manage a team of account managers for a major international packaging supplier, where she was responsible for overseeing the interaction between the brand and its clients, as well as forecasting business performance. This followed 20 years’ customer service experience in the health and wellbeing sector.

On her appointment, Dionne said: “The network of retailers we work with is a true extension of our brands and one of our greatest assets, so I’m looking forward to working closely with them in order to enhance their product knowledge and capacity to offer first-rate products and services to their customers. With a number of new products in the pipeline, this is an exciting time for our business and the product category as a whole.”

Dionne’s appointment coincides with the extension of Bushboard’s award-winning wall panelling system, Nuance, to reflect changing interior trends and meet demand for natural looking bathroom wall solutions without the need for complex tiling. The updated collection includes 11 new, easy to install options which are inspired by natural materials, geometric shapes and tile effect layouts.

Dionne continued: “As a team, one of our main goals is creating a culture where retailers feel confident in approaching us for support across a variety of requirements so we can act as a true extension of their team. By working in this way, we hope to ensure installers and homeowners alike can really benefit from the wealth of options and extensive knowledge available.”

Saverio Mazzalupi, Marketing Director at Wilsonart, added: “Supporting our retailers has always been a key strategic focus for our business and Dionne, leading our Sales Development Team, will be instrumental to further improving the way we serve the market. We’re delighted to have her on board.”

For more information about Wilsonart UK and the complete spectrum of bathroom surfaces available, or to order a sample, visit www.wilsonart.co.uk.

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Marriott International signs agreement to open first luxury lodge

Bathroom_Review_Marriot_International_Safari_lodge

Marriott International has signed an agreement with Baraka Lodges LTD. to enter the luxury safari segment in Africa.

JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge will be located within the Masai Mara National Reserve, one of Africa’s most renowned wildlife conservation and wilderness regions.

Plans for the new-build lodge feature 20 private tents, including one presidential canvas-topped pavilion and two interconnecting canopied suites – ideal for families – each with a private terrace overlooking the river. Shared spaces will include a restaurant, lounge bar, spa, and a large outdoor terrace with fire pits that will play host to traditional Masai dance performances in the evening.

Offering discerning travellers an unparalleled setting, the elegant retreat expects to welcome guests in 2023. Overlooking the famed banks of the River Talek and on the edge of the reserve, JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge’s prime location will offer guests a distinctively elevated camp from which to discover the Masai Mara National Reserve, its stunning vistas, abundant wildlife, and endless plains.

The untamed landscape will offer guests the opportunity to observe the “Big Five” that Masai Mara is home to: lions, leopards, buffalos, rhinoceros and elephants. Between June and September, the reserve is also hosting to the annual great wildebeest migration, when more than 10 million animals travel 1,800 miles from the Serengeti in neighbouring Tanzania. Conservation of the land and its inhabitants will be at the heart of JW Marriott Masai Mara.

The safari lodge aims to employ up to 50 locals from the Masai community and will offer robust learning opportunities for guests looking to immerse themselves in the destination.

Read the full announcement here.

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Challenging perceptions: BMA CE Tom Reynolds talks about inclusive design

Fitzroy accessible inclusive bathrooms

The bathroom should be a sanctuary within the home, but for those with mobility difficulties, it can also be the most dangerous room. That’s why it is the most common room to require adaptation to allow users to carry on living independently.

Altering peoples’ homes to suit changing mobility or disabilities is fundamentally about meeting consumer needs.

The same universal design principles apply, whether it’s consideration of the plumbing and spacing of the fixtures, the storage around the bathroom, environmental requirements, or design aesthetic. At the end of the day, it’s about integrating all these aspects into one functional and enjoyable space.

Manufacturers are constantly working to keep one step ahead of the increasing demand for adaptable and inclusive bathroom products, to meet the needs of the market.

Multi-generational living has become more commonplace, with more than 1million UK homes now having three generations under the same roof. Earlier this year, the Bathroom Manufacturers Association set up a Special Interest Group to discuss the adaptions market, and we quickly found a need to challenge perceptions around inclusive bathroom products and design. 

Adaptations should not need to be viewed as a niche, or narrow market, but I fear that at present it is. Increasingly, the societal shift to multigenerational living is being encouraged by Government, keen to keep people independent and in the community for a host of economic reasons.

This should be viewed as an opportunity for manufacturers and retailers alike, there will be an increasing crossover between the demand for inclusivity, and the ‘standard’ needs, appropriate for other occupiers and visitors.

The image of adaptations as ugly and utilitarian needs to be challenged, truly ageless designs should be as visually pleasing and desirable as any other bathroom project.

I hope specifiers and designers increasingly recognise adaption for accessible bathrooms is here to stay, and should not be viewed as a specialist, or distinct subset of our industry, but as something that we all consider as part of our business.

Within our Special Interest Group, we are bringing together cross-industry knowledge to address the misconceptions and we’d love to hear retailer and designer perspectives.

The mainstreaming of inclusive bathroom products will increase, as they are marketed for everyone, and we aim to improve awareness of what is already available. 

A bathroom can be different things to different people and vary in its design and character, and the design process should never feel restricted in terms of creativity and expression. Creating beautiful bathrooms to suit the needs of all users, is and should always be the common goal for manufacturers, designers, and retailers.

Pictured: Accessible inclusive bathroom by Fitzroy of London

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Victoria Plum invests in Toyota forklift fleet

Bathroom_Review_Victoria_Plum

Online bathroom retailer Victoria Plum has invested in a new fleet of more than 50 electric-powered Toyota lift trucks to help deliver its ongoing growth strategy.

Including state-of-the-art reach and counterbalance models, as well as powered pallet trucks and order pickers, the trucks have been deployed at the company’s 277,000 sq ft distribution centre.

During extensive trials, Doncaster-headquartered Victoria Plum looked for equipment that would cut running costs, improve fleet utilisation and, most importantly, achieve high levels of safety and lift truck operator comfort.

The company’s supply chain and logistics capabilities see the online retailer secure and ship more than 13,000 products from factories to its customers’ homes.

Victoria Plum’s operations director, Andy Svenson, commented: “Our order volumes have continued to increase as we implement our growth strategy. It is therefore essential for us to invest in the latest equipment to further facilitate our expansion whilst ensuring high levels of safety and operational efficiency.”

The company announced that its sales rose by a record 46 per cent to £103m and its EBITDA increased by 115 per cent to £4.5m for the year ended 28 February 2021. The business has experienced further strong sales growth during its latest financial year.

The new forklift fleet will be supplied on a contract rental agreement over five years that includes service and maintenance support. The total value of the investment over the period is undisclosed.

As part of the agreement, Toyota will supply a battery changing station along with spare batteries and a battery management system to ensure that the fleet consistently delivers the most energy efficient and productive performance levels.

Established in 2001, Victoria Plum was acquired by Leeds-headquartered private equity fund Endless in October 2019. Since then, the company has continued its transformation strategy led by chief executive, Paul McClenaghan, and his senior management team which includes Andy Svenson.

For further information visit www.victoriaplum.com

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KEUCO illuminates the bathroom with STAGELINE

Bathroom_Review_Stageline_Keuco

STAGELINE is a new and elegant series of furniture from KEUCO that incorporates a vanity unit and three additional storage units. The unique aspect of this series is the illuminated open storage compartment, the leading light and key feature in both the vanity and tall unit. The shelf or ‘stage’ is illuminated by a warm LED light with 3,000 Kelvin, allowing consumers to creatively display decorative personal items, toiletries, whatever they feel works in this space.

There’s a Shakespeare quote from As You Like it “All the worlds a stage and men and women are merely players” and yet this could also be the perfect description of a family bathroom. STAGELINE is the ideal supporting act for the dramas, soliloquies, romance, and beauty scenes that take place with the bathroom as it’s backdrop.

Bathroom_Review_Stageline_Keuco

The look is tonal, the glass front and body of the furniture are a single colour, in natural shades gently restrained, creating a warm environment. Monochrome also has its place in fact there are four shades to choose from white or cashmere glossy as well as Inox or Vulkanit satin. The glass fronts of the furniture bring an additional textural feature offering a highly glossed or velvety matt finish.

The STAGELINE series incorporates practical elements including an integrated power socket along with a USB and USB-C charging point. The attention to detail is key such as the softly curved, gently protruding glass front at the top of the units, which is not only decorative but practical acting as a handle.

The curves echo other elements in KEUCO portfolio such as the rounded PLAN ceramic washbasins which sit elegantly on top of the STAGELINE vanity units. These are available in six different widths, ensuring the stage can be set whatever the size of the bathroom. The vanity units have an option to add drawer partitions – four versions, providing different size options for personal or family use. There is an elegant dark inlay mat with a non-slip to help keep bottles and jars in place.

Depending on the size of the bathroom there are three additional STAGELINE pieces to choose from; this furniture is ideal for larger storage space requirements; the tall unit, single-door unit or the two-door centre unit. The tall unit is elegant with an illuminated shelf in the middle and all cabinets feature soft-close hinges and high-quality, easy-care glass shelves inside.

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Summer Lovin’… with bathrooms to love!

Bathroom_Review_Bathrooms-To_Love

April marks the launch of PJH’s Spring/Summer collection of bathroom products from its popular Bathrooms to Love brand. Not just the latest new product releases, the launch also comprises of a new package of ‘tech’ customer support to help retailers maximise bathroom sales and enhance the consumer’s experience of the Bathrooms to Love brand.

This latest collection also sees a new gold theme to its Bathrooms to Love branding and logo – in celebration of PJH turning 50 later this Summer.

Showcased in an inspiring new consumer brochure (Issue 19 – pictured), new product ranges are illustrated with aspirational lifestyle photography and supported with practical product information and design ideas. Available from stock and on a next day delivery service, the enclosure, showering, bath, brassware, washbowl and heating bathroom categories welcome a number of new on-trend ranges, spanning the ‘good, better, best’ pricing points to appeal to a wider audience.       

RefleXion, PJH’s own brand of shower enclosures, continues to evolve and the collection includes a number of high specification models including new Iconix Wetroom screens with a brushed brass profile, and Classix Sliding Door and Quadrant Enclosures with a new matt black profile. Similarly, the Bath Screen collection, also welcomes new matt black, framed and panelled glass screens.  

To complement the updated lineup of glass screens, new showering and brassware products such as upgraded shower valves, featuring higher spec cartridges and additions to the Italian-designed range of ‘Vema’ mixer taps, join the portfolio.

With matt black finishes continuing to sell well, and to coordinate with the enclosures, a new choice of matt black ladder radiators joins Bathrooms to Love (in addition to current Anthracite & Chrome), including matching matt black valves to complete the look.

On the sanitaryware front, due to the rising demand for design-led vessel basins, this category too welcomes some beautiful new bowls in a range of shapes, sizes and coloured finishes. And sleek new ceramics feature in the Sandro VC range.

Technological advancements also feature in PJH’s latest launch bringing some innovative new selling features into the whole customer experience. Virtual reality headsets offer an enhanced VR showroom experience, and new QR codes give access to more product content, offering Augmented Reality (AR).

All new Bathrooms to Love products are now listed on PJH’s e-commerce platform, the Partners Portal™ and available to order immediately, as well as all marketing materials, downloads and a link to the virtual showroom.

For further information, contact Bathrooms to Love at PJH on Tel: 0800 8 77 88 99; or visit  www.partners.pjh.uk  and www.bathroomstolove.uk

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Acquabella launches new Opal Quiz model

Acquabella Opal Quiz

Spanish bathroom brand, Acquabella has unveiled a new variation of its Opal Quiz freestanding bath for 2022. A smart design that sings with colour.

The Opal Quiz offers something very different with the two-colour pairing. The Opal Quiz Bath has already claimed the prestigious European design laurels of Red Dot, iF, SBID, ICONIC and Designer and is sure to win yet more approval with this cool, clever composition.

Unsurprisingly the new look of the two-colour Opal Quiz Colour takes centre stage. Paired with neutral tones or stand alone, the pale baby blue and white contrasts beautifully with a neutral interior.

Available now to Acquabella stockists throughout the UK

Pictured Top: Opal Quiz Colour, Beton Panels in Crema, Show Shelf in white

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GROHE offers cashback promotion & free accessories

Grohe-cashback-promotion

Bathroom and kitchen brand, GROHE, has launched two new promotions to help retailers give back to their customers this spring.

Customers can claim up to £100 cashback when they purchase an eligible shower system, with the promotion available on a range of best-selling lines offering features such as GROHE SmartControl thermostats and GROHE Rainshower heads. Plus, a free GROHE bathroom accessories set, worth over £95, including a towel ring, towel rail, robe hook, paper holder and soap dish is on offer with every purchase of the GROHE Sensia Arena.

Running from 1st April to 30th June 2022, the cashback promotion is available on over 20 different shower systems including the Rainshower system SmartControl Duo 360 which offers intuitive controls and a luxurious GROHE TrioMassage spray and utilises EcoJoy; GROHE’s water-saving technology which contributes to water preservation without affecting the premium shower experience.

Also included in the offer is the Euphoria SmartControl System 310 Duo delivering high-end performance and precision control. With two spray options on the 310mm swivel head shower – the GROHE PureRain and the GROHE ActiveRain – and three different spray patterns on the hand shower, the shower is ideal for busy
households.

To qualify for the free GROHE bathroom accessories set, customers must purchase the GROHE Sensia Arena. Offering ‘intelligent care’ the shower toilet creates a more comfortable, more hygienic method of personal care. Complete with two separate shower arms for gentle yet essential cleaning, the multi-award-winning innovation offers long-lasting toilet hygiene complete with an effective and efficient flush, odour-absorbing capabilities and an automatic seat.

Customers can claim their cashback via GroheRewards.co.uk and must submit information by 31st July 2022.

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New Look YOU from UTOPIA

You Modular Furniture

A completely new on-trend unicolor look has been created for Utopia’s YOU modular furniture collection with the introduction of colour coordinated cladding panels. New sit-on basins and worktop options, new brassware and a choice of new contemporary handles complete the radical transformation.

YOU Modular Furniture in Sea Green

Key to the new look are the cladding panels which are available in all 19 YOU colours and finishes, including four super matt, soft touch colours and 15 additional gloss, matt and textured options.  The cladding panels can be used to create the popular unicolour effect and are perfect teamed with 12mm compact laminate worktops from the collection and the newly extended range of sit-on basins. Brand new basin styles include two glossy mineralcast basins, the circular Stratton and the generously proportioned, oval Hepworth as well as the new Quinn, a matt ceramic circular basin available in Chalk (white) or Twilight (black) colourways with coordinating wastes.

Also contributing to the new look is the introduction of the Vector handle. Vector is a short, industrial-inspired yet elegant handle offered in brushed chrome, brushed brass and matt black.

YOU is one of Utopia’s key modular furniture collections. Explaining the new additions, Rich Shore, Head of Product Design, said “The full unicolour look is hugely on-trend at the moment, so opening up the availability and flexibility of Utopia’s extensive décor collection to YOU has been a real revolution.”  Helen Clark, Head of Marketing, adds “With some clever introductions and by ensuring the collection is even more configurable with colour, worktop finish, basin choice, and handle style and finish, there are so many distinct looks that can be achieved. Combined with other additions to the product range, such as the Luma circular mirror, YOU has been given a completely new, fresh look.”

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