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Bushboard Management Acquires Control

The Management of Wellingborough based Bushboard Limited has acquired control of its £27m business from Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) in a Secondary Buyout funded by Bank Of Scotland Integrated Finance.

Bushboard, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of laminate worktops and commercial washroom systems, has completed the purchase of the majority shareholding of the Company in partnership with Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance (BoSIF).

LDC backed the management team in their original management buy out from Danish aggregates group Henrikson og Henriksen A/S in 2000 (pictured), acquiring a majority share. During this time the management team has increased annual sales from £16m to £27m.

The performance has been driven by a number of innovations, including exclusivity over the use of Microban antibacterial technology in its worktop product range and partnership with bathroom giant Twyford in designing and supplying ready-plumbed modular cubicles and washrooms to the private and public sector building industries.

Stuart White, managing director of Bushboard said, ‘The backing of LDC helped us develop two strong trading divisions focussed on their individual market needs. Now with the Bank of Scotland’s Integrated Finance package we have the chance to realise our ambition and take control of the business. It allows us to maintain our independence while providing compelling long term funding.’

Tel: 01933 232 242
Web: http://www.bushboard.co.uk

Indesit & Finish 'Dino' Outdoor Campaign

December 2004 saw the launch of the Indesit and Finish outdoor campaign. The campaign features an image of a dinosaur on poster sites positioned around traffic hotspots in London and the South East.

Representing the extinction of washing up, the impressive dinosaur character was created with Euros RSCG design agency from various dishwasher components, washing-up liquid bottles and sponges.

Sarah Pascal, Indesit's Marketing Communications Manager comments on the outdoor campaign, ‘We wanted to come up with an exciting way to promote our partnership of the Finish brand. 'Dino' is a fun and eye-catching character that symbolises the end of washing-up with the help of Indesit and Finish working together. By placing posters in traffic hot-spots we shall be targeting areas where dwell time is higher than average - and in turn driving this traffic hopefully into kitchen retailers' showrooms!’

To request an Indesit brochure please contact 0870 777 6485 or for more information on Indesit's product range please visit http://www.indesit.co.uk

Wolseley plc - £41m Spent on Four New Acquisitions

Wolseley plc, the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products and a leading supplier of building materials to professional contractors, provides an update on recent acquisitions.

Since Wolseley's last acquisitions announcement on 27th September 2004, an additional four distribution businesses in Europe and North America have been acquired for an aggregate consideration of approximately £41 million in cash.
These acquisitions bring Wolseley's total spend on acquisitions, including debt acquired, since the beginning of the financial year, to approximately £183 million.

In total, the ten acquisitions completed to date are expected to add approximately £290 million to group turnover in a full year. Goodwill related to these ten acquisitions is estimated to be around £68 million.

Details of the additional four acquisitions are set out below.

North American Plumbing and Heating Distribution
In December 2004, Parnell-Martin Management LLC ('Parnell-Martin') was acquired in the USA. Parnell-Martin is a wholesale distributor of plumbing products from 17 locations across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The acquisition of Parnell-Martin will increase Wolseley's market share in the region and will enable Parnell-Martin to benefit from access to Ferguson's distribution centres. Parnell-Martin had sales of $93.0 million (£48.9 million) in the year to 31st December 2003 and net assets, excluding net debt, of $34.9 million (£18.3 million) at that date.

Also in December 2004, Ferguson acquired Record Supply Company, Inc. ('R Supply'). R Supply is a four branch, wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating, air conditioning, waterworks, irrigation products and industrial tools, operating in the northern regions of Nevada and California. R Supply had sales of $30.0 million (£15.8 million) in the year to 31st December 2003 and net assets, excluding net debt, of $9.3 million (£4.9 million) at that date.

Wolseley Canada acquired the shares of TAPS Wholesale Bath Centre Inc. ('TAPS') in December 2004. Based in Toronto, TAPS is the largest retail plumbing showroom in Ontario. The single facility, which has a reputation for quality and excellence, will enable Wolseley Canada to continue its expansion into the profitable retail showroom market through replication of the TAPS concept to
other metropolitan areas across Canada. TAPS had sales of C$14.0 million (£6.3 million) in the year to 31st December 2003 and net liabilities, excluding net debt, of C$0.3 million (£0.1 million) at that date, due to excellent working capital management.

The previously announced acquisition by Ferguson of substantially all of the operating assets of the Clark Group family of companies completed in November 2004, following Court approval. The Clark Group's main business is the fabrication and distribution of fire protection equipment, headquartered in St. Louis Missouri.

European Distribution
In November 2004, Brossette in France acquired the trade and assets of BML, a specialist distributor of products to public works projects, operating from one branch south of Paris. The company had sales of Euro 5.6 million (£4.0 million) in the year to 31st December 2003 and net assets, excluding net debt, of Euro0.7 million (£0.5 million) at that date.

Maytag’s January Sale

1st January saw the start of Maytag UK’s sale with £100’s of price reductions offering retailers a kick start for the New Year. The sale finishes on the 31st January 2005.

There are price reductions on some of Maytag’s most popular models. Refrigeration has great bargains starting with the M2260iTW (includes trim kit) at £1065; the M2260iW and the M27iW, with 26.7 cu.ft. capacity, are down to £1005 a piece, and the Euroline top mount refrigerator, in white, is going out at £217.

The offers don’t stop there. The Maytag Handy Chiller, the fast drinks cooler is on offer at £21 each when purchased in fours. Finally focussing on dishwashing, Maytag’s stainless steel MSE760FAKS with 7 programmes and 5 temperatures is available at £221. To take advantage of these limited offers and details of terms and conditions of how to obtain these special promotional prices contact your Maytag Area Sales Manager.

‘These keen pricing incentives gives the retailer a kick start for the New Year offering an exciting start to the year in one of the industry’s fastest growing appliance sectors, American refrigeration,’ comments Graham Gleave, Sales Director. He continues, ‘The promotion is a great opportunity to generate profit at this challenging time of year.’

Maytag UK offers the retailer the total solution for authentic American refrigeration from entry price levels up to luxury with the company’s three brands, Amana, Maytag and Admiral. To take advantage of these prices contact your Area Sales Manager on how to order or telephone Maytag’s hotline 01737 231 000.

Nobia Completes Acquisition of EWE-FM

The Austrian and German competition authorities have unconditionally approved Nobia's acquisition of Austria's leading kitchen manufacturer, EWE-FM.

Nobia strengthens its foothold in the Austrian and Continental European kitchen market through this acquisition.

EWE-FM's sales are around SEK 575 million and its Austrian market share is about 16 per cent. Around 75 per cent of EWE-FM's sales are in Austria and the remaining 25 per cent are in southern Germany, northern Italy, Switzerland and the CEE countries. EWE-FM is the leading kitchen manufacturer in the Austrian middle to upper kitchen segment.

The acquisition will have a positive impact on Nobia's EPS from year one. The integration of EWE-FM into the Nobia Group is expected to produce synergy effects.

The main strategic attraction of the acquisition is that EWE-FM will strengthen Nobia's presence in Europe and provide a strong market position in Austria. Acquiring EWE-FM also gives Nobia a good chance to capitalise on the strong growth prospects in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia.

'We are very pleased that the authorities in Austria and Germany have approved the acquisition of EWE-FM. The company will fit seamlessly into the Nobia Group, and will give us a strong position in the Alpine region and a platform for expanding our presence in Eastern Europe', says Fredrik Cappelen, Nobia's President and CEO.

Euroline to Launch Leading Italian Extractor Brand

Falmec, one of Europe's leading extractor brands will launch in the UK market in 2005. Falmec is to be distributed by Euroline Sales & Marketing, a niche distributor of mid-to-high end kitchen appliances and the company behind the UK presence of Viking appliances and Gutmann extractors.

Designed and manufactured in Treviso, Italy, Falmec was established in 1981 and is today one of Italy's foremost manufacturers of quality extraction systems.
Falmec's current product portfolio is comprised of over 100 designs and models range from the simple, understated style of 'Logo' and 'Adara' to the make-a-statement 'Diamante'.

All extractors offer a typically Italian blend of form and function - yet are competitively priced, with many designs having the additional bonus of features such as sensor activation and perimeter suction - traditionally only found at the top end of the market. Premium quality materials and components, including 'Scotchbrite' grade 304 stainless steel increase the brand's appeal.

The majority of Falmec extractors are available as wall-mounted or island units and motor speeds range from 600m3/hour to 800m3/hour. A range of clever accessories and extras such as the 'Lumen' collection of illuminated shelving is also available. Meanwhile, for those still looking for that little bit extra, there is the 'Stratox' range that offers even more choice of materials and finishes - including aluminium and touch-free stainless steel.

Euroline's Nigel Jacob says,
‘Falmec offers quality and performance at a price that is currently unrivalled in the UK's mid-market sector - and which we believe there is a demand for. The brand raises the stakes with a superior set of standards and works seamlessly with Gutmann to offer discerning designers and retailers an increased and comprehensive range of extraction solutions from mid to top of the range.’

Falmec is available from Euroline now and RRP prices start from £467.00 excluding VAT.

For further information about Falmec, telephone 01376 564341 or visit http://www.falmec.com

Franke Sorter System Wins Award

Sink manufacturer, Franke, collected an award for its Sorter waste management system (a former K&BZine Product of The Week) at The Kitchen and Bathroom Designer’s Manufacturer Awards last month. The Sorter achieved commended status at the magazine’s first award ceremony, which has been launched to inspire and recognise design excellence in the kitchen and bathroom.

The Sorter waste management system is located under the sink of either 500 or 600mm base units and has four compartments to separate and group types of waste.

It comes in two different versions, the hands-free KickMatic (700K) Sorter and the Sorter Motion, which has a smooth closing action (Blum motion).

John Swain, product manager for Franke UK, commented: ‘Ecological waste management is essential in any modern home and the we believe the Franke Sorter system makes the separation of waste convenient and will encourage people to be more responsible when dealing with their household rubbish.’

The Sorter can be installed in under 15 minutes and a CD-ROM is now available through the Franke website http://www.franke.co.uk.

Tel: 0161 436 6280

Broughton Crangrove Launches New Range of Bathroom Furniture

Broughton Crangrove, a distributor of premium appliances and furniture which offers next day delivery to the majority of the UK, is expanding its bathroom furniture with the latest from Avanti.

From 1st January 2005 Broughton Crangrove has exclusive distribution of the Avanti Fresca range of bathroom furniture. The new range features clean, contemporary styles and designs in sought-after colours and finishes with the added dimension of a new reduced carcass depth of just 200mm. Avanti Fresca offers three different finishes; two high gloss finishes in white or latte and a contemporary Wenge in a luxurious dark wood finish. The doors, panels and accessory fascias may be mixed and matched to create a vibrant environment.

‘The Avanti Fresca range is a true innovation and is a superb range of quality furniture, offering flexible design combinations and profitable opportunities for retailers. The stunning finishes and reduced depth carcass of just 200mm not only creates attractive storage options for displays but opens up tremendous space saving opportunities for virtually any cloakroom, bathroom or en suite at highly competitive prices,’ explains Allan Nutter, Commercial Director.

For further details on the new Avanti Fresca range, supporting literature and Broughton Crangrove’s latest price book call 0870 60 60 601.

Caption: Broughton Crangrove’s new Avanti Fresca Latte/Wenge Bathroom Furniture solution.

Local Council Prompts Cross-Range Safety Design Innovation

Myson Heating Controls has fitted its entire Matchmaster valve range with a screw-top cap, following a safety initiative suggestion from Barrow-in-Furness district council.

The innovation ensures the cap will not come adrift accidentally, leaving an exposed, and potentially dangerous, metal spindle.

The Matchmaster range, which conforms to BS2767-10, is the mainstay of Myson's range of radiator Lockshield valves for local authorities and housing associations.

After listening to advice received from Barrow-in-Furness district council which views this as a requirement, the simple-yet-effective modification was adopted across the range to offer all local authorities and housing associations extra safety, and reduce their legal vulnerability to domestic accidents. This will also help to reduce the maintenance departments requests for replacement caps.

Peter Spiers, UK development manager at Myson, said: 'It's such a simple design, yet reflects the new attention to detail within local authorities, when it comes to safety in all areas of design and build.

'Working together we hope to minimise the possibility of serious accidents occurring within the home, especially important where the young or the old are concerned. With the Myson TRV2Way recently voted first choice by an independent report for use by the less able, councils can sleep more easily at night.'

Tel: 0191 491 7530
Email: mailto:sales@myson.co.uk
Web: http://www.myson.co.uk

Waterline 20th Anniversary Show Time

2005 marks the 20th anniversary of Waterline Ltd., which came into being on 5th March 1985. The kitchen distributor is planning a number of celebratory events and promotions during the year, including a Spring Road Show. The seven-venue Tour has been designed to be as accessible as possible for all Waterline customers.

The Show will include the launch of a new line-up of Cuisina cooking appliances, exclusively available from Waterline, plus a new kitchen furniture range. This addition to the established Crown and Zimmer Kuchen offer will broaden Waterline’s market base.

The tour opens at Sketchley Grange Country House Hotel, Hinkley, 2nd March and then rolls on to Cambridgeshire Moat House, Cambridge, 8th March; Woodlands Park Hotel, Cobham, Surrey, 16th March; Mere Golf & Country Club, Knutsford, 23rd March; Holiday Inn, Hambrook, Bristol, 7th April; Rudding Park Hotel & Golf, Harrogate, 13th April; Airth Castle & Hotel, Airth by Falkirk, 27th April.

Tel: 0870 5561560

Maytag’s Solid Foundations in Customer Care

The first stages of implementation of Maytag UK’s SAP system are now complete and the company is using its solid foundation to take its customer service to the next level and bringing it in line with its American counterparts.

‘Streamlining its operations and constantly upgrading systems makes it easier to do business with the company,’ says David Gooch, Customer Service Director. ‘Maytag has increased its overall efficiency and put in extensive effort to support retailers and its sales people in the field.’

The Customer Service call centre has reorganised its teams with additional team leaders to further customer service excellence. The heightened responsiveness to incoming calls exceeds a rate of 95% efficiency. And with the dedicated Trade Partner call centre, Maytag achieves 97% success rate on answering and actioning customer calls. David Gooch, explains, ‘The implementation of the SAP system was challenging and I feel that our customers did not experience us at our best. However, we can now demonstrate and deliver the effectiveness of this system with additional and extensive support.’

Service engineers are exceeding a 94% first fix rate and maintaining this level consistently. The majority of customers are serviced from the Headquarters at Redhill, but for those in outlying areas the engineers are managed through their dedicated training scheme, Service Training Initiative. Each engineer attends Maytag training courses to become and maintain their status as an Accredited Maytag Service Agent. David continues, ‘It is an inherent part of our strategy to provide service the American way and to deliver better than best service at every opportunity. We have many on-going plans and new systems to implement in the not too distant future, to ensure we drive and continually improve our customer service, after sales and deliveries. It is our intention to support the retailer at every opportunity by adding value to all Maytag’s brands through service excellence.’

Latham’s Gateshead Depot Improves Stock Range

James Latham’s newest depot at Gateshead is increasing its product offering and adding to its stock profile after installing a new racking system.

A wide range of Egger Kaleidoscope and Kronospan Kolorband Melamine Face Chipboard (MFC) and MDF is now available at the depot, in a choice of over 40 decors.

Suitable for kitchen, shopfitting and furniture applications, the MFC and MDF range also features matching edging tapes and laminates, and is available in packs, split packs and loose sheets.

To make life even easier for customers, the sheets can also be cut to size, and delivery ex stock is available in 24-48 hours.

Group panel products director for Lathams, Chris Sutton, says, ‘Having a James Latham presence in the North East means that we can provide the successful Egger and Kronospan ranges even further north than we were able to before, helping us to bring our ‘one stop shop’ ethic to the new Gateshead depot.’

He continues, ‘To introduce these new products, a number of special offers are available, and we are looking to announce further additions to the stock range in the near future.’

Tel: 0116 257 3415
Email: mailto:marketing@lathams.co.uk
Web: http://www.lathamtimber.co.uk

Tretzo helps Transform one of Bradford’s ‘Dark Satanic Mills’

Tretzo UK, bathroom furniture manufacturer, will provide the luxury bathroom furniture for Victoria Mills bordering Saltaire World Heritage Site. The £70m refurbishment scheme by developer Newmason Properties, will transform a 300k sq ft derelict textile mill into luxury apartments and could boast Bradford’s first half a million pound penthouse.

Tretzo, through Althea UK, the company's North England distributor, is supplying its Module range, which developers find adaptable to any space, large or small, to all 407 apartments. With a variety of basin unit and mirror selections, Module will provide tranquillity and reduce clutter to the interiors most essential room. 'High build quality and ultramodern, minimalist design combine as Tretzo’s personality trademark.' says the company.

'The development has been designed and will be built to the highest specification, and includes all the luxuries one would expect from a contemporary property conversion and new build' says Andrew Mason of Newmason Properties. Crowned with smooth, white ceramic wash basins, Tretzo module furniture, supplied in warm natural cherry, is configured in a selection of modular and free-standing designs. Tretzo’s partnership with Althea UK and Newmason Properties is a long-standing and winning combination.

Restoring the three beautiful 19th century, Grade II listed mills, and a series of new build constructions, will create enviable living spaces on this five acre site complete with roof gardens, balconies, concierge service, landscaped gardens, a river frontage seating area, and hopefully tennis courts.

There will be three phases at the Victoria Mills development; phase one will see two of the three mills converted into luxury properties, phase two will be the construction of the new build apartments and the final phase, with a projected completion date of 2007, will be the conversion of the third mill into apartments.

Tel: 028 3752 3735
Email: mailto:sales@tretzo.com
Web: http://www.tretzo.com

Service - the Foundation of Homag Success

At Woodmex 2004, arguably one of the busiest Homag U.K. team members was After Sales Director Paul Newman. One of the busiest and also one of the most recognisable in the industry, Paul learned his trade at the cutting edge of engineering with many machine installations and service maintenance visits under his belt. Universally liked and respected, Paul Newman has a reputation for 'getting the job done' and there are numerous anecdotes about managers having to ask him please to go home and come back the following day so that they could get some sleep.

The reason that Paul Newman was such a customer target at Woodmex is a reflection of the fast growing recognition at all levels of the importance of after-sales service and engineering back-up when buying machinery - sophisticated or otherwise.

Homag's ‘Success with a System’ theme at Woodmex and other international exhibitions this year draws attention to the great strides that the Group members have made in terms of technical integration, but these are only possible with complex support and diagnostic logistics to keep customers' machines and factories running. The company says that, in the UK, Paul Newman and the Homag U.K. after sales team are the best equipped and trained.

Since Homag U.K. moved to its new 20,000 square feet Castle Donington headquarters just over three years ago, the various after sales departments and associated training facilities have been integrated and streamlined with the sole purpose of customer benefit.

So, when customers were enquiring about machinery and solutions on the stand at Woodmex, it was perfectly natural that part of these enquiries related to what back-up came with a purchase from Homag.

The answers are impressive and re-assuring: Paul Newman has not only built up a qualified and efficient team around him, but infused them with his enthusiasm for customer care and pre-empting problems with fast response and integrated systems.

‘Most machines - even small Brandt edgebanders - are nowadays on-line via modem’ he explains. ‘We ensure that every machine and customer has a full, detailed, traceable service and operation record in our unique CTC customer database which is operated by my colleague Sandra Nelson.’

This CTC database is a centralised system linking all facets of customer contact and service - from accounts and credit control, through to spare parts records and history, engineering reports, training status and machine operating and service history. ‘It really is an excellent, fast and efficient reference point and database for all our departments and supplies the customer with the results and answers they need when they want them’ says Sandra Nelson.

So, when the telephone rings at any time from 0700 to 1800 on weekdays in the Homag U.K. service department a system of result delivering immediately ensues, starting with a dedicated telephone support team of three on a hotline and each with their own particular area of specialist knowledge and experience.

They are trained and briefed to answer queries and problem solve in a front line capacity before referring the enquiry to either Paul Newman himself or either of his service secretaries, Sandra Nelson or Lynn Jeffries. As and where required other divisions of the team will be brought into play: Paul Newman will organise trained engineering attendance at the client depending on the requirement A fully trained team of 17 engineers covers all parts of the UK and Ireland.

If the requirement is for a spare part this is dealt with by the spare parts co-ordinater Matthew Welcher or either of his assistants Geraldine Harvey and Karen Hopkins. Parts dispatch is fast and extensive spares are carried at Castle Donington. In the event of a part being required from the manufacturing company, this is also immediately dispatched. On the ground, Homag U.K. engineers have a live link for parts identification via digital picture mobile phones. Replaced parts are returned for analysis and logging via a central database so that any repetitive pattern worldwide can be identified and remedied.

Lynn Jeffries also co-ordinates and books all customer training sessions and events including software upgrade and refresher courses. ‘These are becoming more and more popular’ explains Lynn, ‘as customers want to maximise the potential of their staff and machines. We're finding that we're having to book courses further and further ahead.’ Homag U.K. has dedicated training facilities on-line at Castle Donington for both programming and hands-on training. Training also takes place on customer sites or at the original manufacturer before the machine is delivered.

Delivery, too, is all part off the service and Howard Lauder co-ordinates this department by not only delivering machinery to site, but advising on position preparation, HSE-compliant off-loading and locating techniques, and much more as required - another area where Homag have developed trained expertise for the benefit of their customers.

Service secretary Sandra Nelson explains that follow-up and precise entry of work-in-progress and situation reports are vitally important in maintaining the smooth flow of the parallel departments. Again this is done via the CTC database and, in the case of a service a call log report is generated which includes all the customer details, machine history and even direct personnel details: ‘In a large company we have to be able to deal with the person directly responsible both from the point of view of efficiency and to prevent any problems down the line’ explains Sandra Nelson.

In spite of all the complex and efficient systems now in place at Homag U.K. and via modem and (optional) video diagnostic links to original manufacturers, Paul Newman remains a passionate advocate of preventative maintenance. ‘We wouldn't buy a car without having it regularly serviced so what about an expensive, high volume production machine that can be the lifeblood of a business?’

The scheduling of maintenance inspection visits falls to Lynn Jeffries who says that this message is very much getting through as regular inspection visits are being booked with increasing frequency.

Homag U.K. holds regular in-house exhibitions in the sizeable demonstration bay and both MD Paul Cooper and Paul Newman are keen for visitors to tour the after sales and service facilities to gain a better understanding of their importance and how they can be put to work for their own company's benefit.

These days, buying modern production machinery without this level of professional service and back-up expertise is simply not an option. The Homag U.K. after sales and service departments headed by Paul Newman are a crucial factor in successful customer-supply partnerships. Witness the demand for Paul Newman's attention at Woodmex.

Tel: 01332 856500
Email: mailto:sales@homag-uk.co.uk
Web: http://www.homag-uk.co.uk