Utopia in "most significant product launch ever"

Symmetry freestanding furniture

In what the CEO of Utopia Bathroom Group, Simon Russell hailed as “the most significant product launch ever, in terms of scale and design,” the company unveiled its latest collection.

The Spring 2011 launch saw the introduction of four furniture ranges, in wall-hung, fitted and a newly-created genre titled ‘freestanding’ .

It spanned curved units with Symmetry (shown) and Encurva and straight line storage with a framed range called i-Line and Timber Modular. In addition, the company introduced a collection of ten wall tiles and six co-ordinating floor tiles, with guaranteed availability of two years.

The launch was completed by textured finishes to carcass and doors, two solid surface worktops and a single lever tap.

All the products were displayed in a newly-created showroom, measuring 7,000sq ft, and a Colour Studio.

Simon Russell commented: “In a slow market with a noticeable lack of investment and innovation over the last two years by our competitors, we are proud to be a British manufacturer investing heavily in new product development, new equipment and also recruiting additional staff. This ground-breaking launch will see us not only targeting our traditional market but also moving into additional areas. Furniture design is our forte and we look forward to driving the sector.”
More details on the Utopia Bathroom Group launch will be featured in Kitchens & Bathrooms News

Beko celebrates 21 years in UK

Beko UK managing director, Ragip Balcioglu

Appliance manufacturer Beko celebrated 21 years of trading in the UK, with a three-day event at ‘Five’ in Farnborough to launch its latest refrigeration, home laundry and cooking ranges.

Opening with an introduction from newly-appointed UK Managing Director Ragip Balcioglu; guests were escorted into ‘Beko Square’, which included a number of different kitchen set-ups created to demonstrate various consumers’ homes.

The Beko 21 range had been styled to ‘eliminate excessive design details’ and saw A+ energy rated introductions to freestanding and built-in cooling. In addition, there was a 10-litre AAA rated dishwasher and 7kg vented tumble dryer. Completing the range was a collection of 600mm freestanding cookers and a multifunction built-in oven with A+++ energy rating.

Ragip Balcioglu, managing director of Beko, commented at the launch:  “I’m very proud to have worked at Beko for the last 14 years and have seen the progress the brand has made, achieving the number one position in both cooling and freestanding cooking as well as the number one spot in the washing machine sector and overall two in MDA. I am even more thrilled about the prospect of leading the Beko brand into exciting times in terms of innovation, product development and customer engagement.”

Launching in the UK with refrigeration in 1991, according to figures from GFK, Beko now holds the number one spot in the cooling category with a 19.5% share. In addition, it is the number one brand for freestanding cooking and washing machines, number two for dishwashing and the number four brand for tumble dryers.

For more on the Beko 21 products launched at the event, see Kitchens & Bathrooms News.

Director of Utopia retires: "It's been a journey"

At its Spring collection launch, CEO of Utopia Bathroom Group Simon Russell announced the retirement of customer service director, Liz Green from her full-time role at the end of June.

She started with the company as a sales rep, then became sales manager and was promoted to sales director.

During her 21 years with the company, Green built up a network of sales agents but in what was described as ‘probably one of the most difficult changes of the business’ managed the transition of closing the agencies, moving to full-time sales staff.

Simon Russell said: “After 20 years of being with the business Liz has decided to retire but not entirely from the business. She will remain a shareholder and run our training but will retire from day-to-day operations from the end of June. Liz has been synonymous with the growth of Utopia, from its early days, and what you can see today is Liz’s legacy.”

Liz Green commented: “It’s been a great 21 years and in the time-honoured tradition of X-Factor, I want to say it’s been a journey. There’s one thing that I’ve learned is that business is about people and I am happy to say the business is in the best possible hands and I’m sure it’s going to go from strength to strength”.

Which? shows independent kitchen showrooms could do better

Independent showrooms must be rubbing their hands at a recent Which? report on ‘The Ultimate Kitchen’ investigating ‘ from planning to fitting where to buy the best kitchen’. It found Moben and B&Q among the worst performing companies, with a ‘poor value for money’ rating and coming bottom for installation, respectively. But, just before high street showrooms become conceited, could this report actually be a double edged sword? In the very same survey of its members, Which? showed that John Lewis, IKEA and Wickes were all rated higher with its consumers than independent kitchen or DIY showrooms.  Ouch!

The kitchen companies were rated for customer service, value for money and product, and finish quality. And it’s no surprise that Which? magazine found customer service as the main factor in achieving a high customer score.  But since customer service is a value that many independent kitchen showrooms lay claim to base their business upon – here’s my question, why didn’t they score higher? Out of 2,198 Which? members questioned, over a third actually bought their kitchen from an independent business (either kitchen or DIY). Now that is great news! But these two types of company still came fourth and fifth respectively in a chart of  10 recognisable kitchen outlet names.

We all know high street specialists to be the local hero of kitchen sales, with exemplary product knowledge and advice, along with unbeatable design skills. But in knowing this, have independent kitchen showrooms become complacent? It’s certainly a shot across the bows to those who might have.

Reading between the slim-lines

At ISH Laufen introduced new ceramic which is stronger than fireclay, allowing Andreas Dimitriadis of Platinumdesign Studio to create precise lines and slimline sanitaryware. He talks exclusively to Kitchens & Bathrooms News about how he used this material to create Palace and Living Square ranges

Looking at the two ranges you’ve designed for Laufen, they share similar characteristics but are both very different. Can you explain the design concepts behind them?

The main design trend is slimness. It is a big trend. If you look at the iPAD, the latest model has 30% less thickness. So people are really attracted by what is possible if you have slimmer and I would say a smarter appearance. [The suite] should be something which is part of the bathroom, not sculptural and it should be integrated into the bathroom. It should enhance the overall value of the bathroom and not dominate it.

Palace is something which is driven by emotional aspects in my opinion. It features soft, very elegant shapes and also follows the trend of slimness.

We’ve followed the slim trend with Living Square. It’s a square shallow, slim one-piece basin with a cabinet underneath. It was, in the past, really difficult to create with ceramics as there were problems with precision. But now there are new possibilities in production. This has got better and could change again, so we get from 40mm thickness to perhaps 20mm. It is the perfection of getting a one piece basin together with furniture. This is, in my opinion, the main idea of Living Square. It is something you can use as part of the architecture.

Which came first your thoughts of the slimness trend or Laufen saying ‘we’ve got a new ceramic’?

[laughs] No. We’ve worked together for a very long time. I was also involved in Living Style, which was at that time – about eight years ago -  measured 50mm thick. It looked very slim at that time. But we felt there was something happening in fashion trends and we had to adjust this.

What design process do you use to create the ranges?

We shape them out of foam not just modelled on computer. We really try to find a shape by moulding the foam and see is it functional enough, is it emotional enough, is it easy to clean, and is it deep enough? It is all about experience and finding out what is the perfect shape.

How long did it take to create the product ranges?

All this was started 12 months ago. Normally it takes 18 months to two years to create a range.

What idea are you particular proud of in both collections?

I like the open spout on the faucet very much because I’ve never seen anything like this in the Laufen collection. It is so natural. I like it because you experience the water earlier, you can see it coming out of the faucet and it’s not just falling out of the end. It’s the optimal design for this product

The full interview appears in the May issue of Kitchens & Bathrooms News.

EDITOR'S COMMENT: By George, is budget good news?

I’m no economist (just ask my bank manager) nor a politician (either with a capital or small P) but I do have a positive feeling about the impact of the budget. As chancellor George Osbourne focused on growth, my first impression is that it could be good news for the kitchen and bathroom industry.

The house build market received a boost with £250million investment to support low-income first time buyers, with their mortgage interest payments. Some critics decried the amount as ‘paltry’ that it would only help 10,000 people when, according to HSBC, there are 200,000 first time buyers each year in the UK. But it is a start, and a positive attempt to get people moving home. And of course, what is the first thing that people tend to do when they have moved? Refurbish and replace either the bathroom or the kitchen. It’s potentially great news for bathroom and kitchen designers that serve the RMI (repair, maintenance, improvement) market.

Also good news for the high street independent bathroom and kitchen retailer is the reduction of the burden of red tape, along with extended rate holiday and increasing available credit. One of the major effects of the recession was a drastic reduction of bank lending to small companies. The 2011 budget has promised 15% increase in availability of credit for small businesses and has frozen small business rates for another year.

The budget also included measures designed to reward and encourage new enterprises. For those looking to move premises, the Government has now provided 21 Enterprise Zones, with reduced business rates, to bring businesses to areas where there is a need for jobs and investments. The Enterprise Zones include Birmingham, the Black Country, Manchester, London and Tyne and Wear.

All the measures seem to offer real support to small businesses but it’s often not the announcement of the budget but the weeks that follow that tell out the true story.