Bathroom manufacturer Roca Group is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the UK. Roca UK was founded in 1993 with a small team of just seven people and has gone from strength to strength over the past three decades.
Roca UK began with a focus solely on local merchants, but this soon expanded to include distributors and national merchants, then later into retail and specification. In 1999, Alan Dodds was appointed as the new UK managing director. This same year, Roca Group acquired Swiss sanitaryware brand LAUFEN, a significant moment for the Roca Group as a whole, as it solidified its position as one of the most influential and largest names in the bathroom industry.
Alan was a pivotal figure in shaping Roca UK into the company it is today. Under his leadership, Roca UK consistently achieved year-on-year market growth, driven by an unwavering commitment to quality design, innovation, sustainability and wellbeing. Notable accomplishments during Alan’s tenure include the uniting of Laufen and Roca UK operations and opening the dedicated Roca office, showroom and distribution centre in Ireland. Furthermore, the iconic Roca London Gallery, an architectural masterpiece designed by Zaha Hadid which also featured the brand-new Armani/Roca Collection, was opened in 2011. Plus, sales of vitreous china exceeded one million pieces for the first time ever in the UK in 2014.
Roca UK has had to weather significant storms too over the years, not least in 2001, when a fire started in the warehouse one July night and completely burned down the office and warehouse facility in Coalville. Undaunted, the team set up a temporary working office in a local hotel, sourced alternative warehousing and were back up and delivering within just one week! Brand new offices and warehouses were built and ready for use the following year, though multiple expansions in the years that followed meant purpose-built larger facilities were ultimately needed.
In 2019, Roca UK relocated to a spacious 145,000 square feet facility in Bardon. This offered substantial advantages, such as a warehouse with 150% more pallet locations compared to its previous site, meeting and conferencing facilities, and expansive showrooms for all the Roca Group brands. In addition, the expanded storage capacity enabled Roca UK to deliver an even more efficient and prompt service to its extensive network of distributors, merchants and retailers across the nation.
In 2022, Alan Dodds (pictured) adopted the new role of Chairman for Roca UK and Ireland, and, in turn, promoted
Rashpal Sidhu to assume the role of managing director and ensure the continued success and growth of Roca UK.
“When I look back at everything that we’ve achieved over the last 30 years, I couldn’t be more proud,” says Alan Dodds, Chairman of Roca UK and Ireland. “From our modest beginnings to today, what defines our business is
our people. Roca UK really does have a family culture, which probably explains why our staff retention is high and
we have a significant number of people who’ve been here for over 20 years, even one person for 30 years, here since day one! I’m excited to see what the future brings. Here’s to the next 30 years!”
