Waters Baths of Ashbourne has announced it will be running its Golden Ticket Competition for retailers for the second year running.

Between September and November 2021, retailers have the chance to win a bath for their customers free of charge. To take part, retailers must include a Waters Baths of Ashbourne Bath in their customers’ bathroom design and submit the project before the end of November.

Email bathroom designs with the project postcode to: goldticket@watersbaths.co.uk The competition closes 30th November 2021. A winner will be selected every month for 3 months starting from 7th October 2021.

Positioning itself to be a key player in the kitchen and bathroom industry, House of Rohl has launched in the UK and is housing key brands that include Victoria + Albert Baths, Perrin & Rowe, Shaws and brassware firm Riobel.

Under the House of Rohl umbrella, the firm offers a full suite of hand-selected, innovative and luxury collections. House of Rohl’s collective expertise and support will help both industry leaders and consumers in their quest to curate the perfect kitchen and bathroom spaces.

Offering showrooms for design professionals, developers and installers House of Rohl promises a more complete bathroom solution, with baths and basins from Victoria + Albert Baths; brassware and sanitaryware from Perrin & Rowe, contemporary taps from Riobel; and hand-crafted sinks from Shaws.

The House of Rohl story began in 1983 with American entrepreneur Ken Rohl. Ken was struck by the impressive design he found in European bathrooms and kitchens, which at the time was unavailable in the US. With his three sons, he gradually built a multi-million dollar business importing the finest products from Europe and around the world. This fascination with high-quality, international design has now culminated in the creation of the House of Rohl, a project which seeks to position the brand as procurers of the very best in kitchen and bathroom solutions.

At the heart of House of Rohl lies its family of brands: Riobel, Victoria + Albert Baths, Perrin & Rowe and Shaws.

Riobel are designers of kitchen and bathroom taps that have been hugely successful in North America. Founded in Quebec, Riobel’s award-winning designs fuse brilliant engineering with an architectural style drawing on influences from both Europe and North America.

Victoria + Albert’s freestanding baths have a global reputation, and the company is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Each bath and basin is manufactured and hand-polished from its unique QUARRYCAST™ material, strong, light and warm to the touch. The brand now offers over 40 baths in both modern and traditional designs, and recently introduced 199 RAL colourways, including a bespoke collaboration with Wallpaper* Magazine.

Perrin & Rowe is a distinctly British brand. With a casting plant in Wolverhampton, it represents the heart of the British brassware industry, still making taps in small batches by hand to achieve the highest possible quality.

Finally, Shaws is another quintessentially British business, specialising in the creation of beautiful fireclay sinks. In a process essentially unchanged since the business was established by Arthur Shaw on St Valentine’s Day 1897, Shaws fireclay sinks are hand finished, then fired for longer and at a higher temperature than conventional ceramics to achieve an intensely durable material with a deep gloss finish.

House of Rohl’s launch as a brand begins with the opening of a new showroom in the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour. This space will act as the European hub for the House of Rohl, showcasing all four brands to hoteliers, developers, interior designers, architects and specifiers, as well as end-consumers.

The showroom naturally exhibits the key products from each brand, but also hopes to be a destination for the design professionals, providing a unique space to meet clients and plan projects, with expert advice from the House of Rohl team available if needed. The showroom will officially open during Focus week, as part of the annual London Design Festival.

The Unified Water Label Association has welcomed the launch of the Construct Zero change programme, which details the commitments made by the industry to reduce its carbon emissions.  The initiative, which is being led by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) includes a Performance Framework, which sets out how the sector will commit to, and measure its progress towards Net Zero.

UWLA MD Yvonne Orgill says, “We welcome this report and the commitments that have been made.  It represents a step change in opinion about the need to act now, with more than 2,500 comments received to shape the framework.

“Whilst many of the metrics focus on the activities and output from firms within the sector, others relate to the delivery of energy savings in the building of new homes and the CLC Retrofit Strategy of existing properties.  One of the key commitments is that from 2025, new homes and buildings will minimise energy demand and reduce emissions in operation by 75% (dwellings) and at least 27% (commercial buildings) compared to current standards.

“The link between water, energy and carbon is one that we have highlighted in our recent campaigns to promote the Unified Water Label.  Our new website includes an energy and a carbon calculator that can calculate how much energy is used when water is heated, and how much relative carbon is used when changing to a product that uses less water.

“Contractors of new build properties and retrofit projects can select from a wide range of water using products that carry the Unified Water Label, which will help them reach the energy saving targets set out in the Performance Framework. Our database of products is already used by over 10,000 architects and specifiers on a regular basis, for new projects across the globe.

“We are looking forward to continuing the dialogue with the construction industry and the retrofitting sector to encourage them to support the use of Unified Water Label products.”

London’s latest architectural landmark, Design District has formally opened today as it welcomes the public to its site on Greenwich Peninsula.

The extraordinary architecture is designed to inspire a newly arrived creative community. A permanent home for the creative industries, Design District comprises 16 buildings by eight pioneering architects, one minute from North Greenwich Underground station. With studios, floors, or entire buildings available from £5 per sqft for the first 12 months, the district offers affordable spaces, comprehensive facilities and flexible leases – everything creative.

Happening in conjunction with London Design Festival and London Fashion Week, Design District’s opening will be marked with a special launch-night celebration on the 15th from 7pm, featuring music and performances, and by Design District Creates – a wide-ranging programme of insightful design talks, behind-the-scenes architecture tours and eye-opening exhibitions taking place throughout the month.

Comprising a deliberately eclectic medley of 16 buildings by eight world-leading architects, Design District was initially conceived by Knight Dragon to provide a permanent, purpose-designed home for London’s creative industries. As the economic impact of coronavirus hit the creative sector especially hard, the district’s role has expanded – not only is it intended to be a hub for the sector, it also aims to facilitate its economic recovery, providing affordable, flexible workspace to individuals and enterprises and giving them the breathing space to build back and grow. For example, this year, for the first 12 months of their tenancy, every business taking up residence in one of the district’s 16 buildings is paying just £5 per square foot for its workspace.

Leading bathroom supplier HiB has invested in expanding its operations department to support the ongoing growth of the business.

As part of the company’s ongoing development strategy, a new 300m2 loading area has been installed at its Inspire House distribution site in Tamworth, to facilitate the increase in orders and improve productivity. The new extension and loading space will allow HiB to increase stock capacity and support a growing fleet of delivery vehicles, which transport products across the company’s wide network of partners.

Neil Berry, Operations Director at HiB said: “The installation of a new loading area has been key in helping us manage the fantastic growth we have seen over the past few years. The additional space will allow us to continue the development of the operations department, giving us the opportunity to increase our stock and parts capacity as well as more space to manage deliveries. This means that we will be able to increase our capacity on the whole and offer an even more effective service to our customers.”

The new semi-permanent structure is the latest in a series of investments the company has made to enhance operations and customer experience. HiB has also introduced a new customer experience support system and management software to offer advanced communication and administration.

Speaking about HiB’s strategy for growth, Managing Director Robert Ginsberg said: “Offering our customers the very best possible service is incredibly important to us at HiB. By investing in the right infrastructure, we can ensure that we are able to manage increasing orders while still offering a high level of customer experience and efficiency from across our departments. The new extension is the next stage in our development plans and I am sure it will make a significant difference to our operations department in the coming months and years.”

For more information about HiB, visit https://www.hib.co.uk/

High-quality laminate panel manufacturer Nu-Style Products is expanding into England with the opening of its first distribution centre in Birmingham.

Nu-Style, part of the James Donaldson Group, has over 70 years of experience and is well known in the industry, particularly for its shower panel brand, Perform Panel, which the business has been manufacturing for 35 years.

Based in Aberdeen, this is a first venture into England for Nu-Style and the site will trade under the Perform Panel name, in response to increasing demand for the products across the UK and Europe.

The move forms part of a five-year strategy for Nu-Style, which has included a £1 million investment to increase both capacity and quality. New machinery and an upgraded site has substantially increased production capacity for Perform Panel, enabling Nu-Style to grow sales while boosting the product range, moving from 16 decors to over 50.

Brandon Townsend has been appointed as depot manager and will be supported by Thomas Lloyd-Roberts, who joins Nu-Style as business development manager, from Grant Westfield.

Steve Galbraith, Managing Director at Nu-Style Products, comments: “We have seen continuous growth in demand for Perform Panel over the last few years. More and more people are seeing the benefits of wet wall panels over tile options, particularly for social housing, modular buildings, student accommodation and short-term let solutions.

“Our recent investment has had a huge impact on capacity, allowing us to offer customers improved lead times, efficiencies and stock availability, as well as even better customer service and a much bigger range of products. We’re really looking forward to making this first move into England, and we’re excited to see what comes next.”

Andrew Donaldson, CEO of James Donaldson & Sons Ltd, adds: “This is a great step forward for Perform Panel, Nu-Style and the Donaldson Group as a whole. It’s fantastic to see the investment in this brand coming to fruition, and it is particularly positive to see this expansion in the middle of a global pandemic.”

Perform Panel offers a cost-effective alternative to tiles, offering a number of hygiene and maintenance benefits, as well as versatility and ease of installation.

Nu-Style joined the James Donaldson Group in 2016. The 160-year-old family business comprises ten specialist timber and building product businesses, operating throughout the UK from 43 locations employing over 1,100 people.

Leading KBB and merchant service provider Simon Acres Group, (SAGL) has appointed seven new staff in response to growing demand across a number of its specialist services.

Three of the new posts are with KBB Recruitment, the number one job board for the kbb industry, which is experiencing considerable growth since the appointment of Henesh Chotai as director. Louis Martin, Laura Cousins and Amber Taylor join KBB Recruitment, which recently relocated to its own dedicated premises.

Shoned Mirza and Tracy Chan have joined Simon Acres Group to enhance the administrative support services across the group.

Haidee Moule and Cara Tomkins take up positions in the groups headhunt service Simon Acres Recruitment, Haidee in the talent acquisition team and Cara as a resource.

Simon Acres Group MD, Simon Acres says, “All of our specialists services, dedicated to supporting KBB and merchant businesses, are experiencing considerable growth. 

“Businesses that benefit from our comprehensive range of services view us as a trusted partner, and more of our customers are choosing to take multiple services from our portfolio.

“With a positive outlook for the KBB sector we are confident that we can continue to build on our success and deliver amazing results for our clients.”