Wednesday 30 March 2011

Miele to open Northern Experience Centre

Appliance manufacturer Miele plans to open its third Experience Centre in Manchester, in 2012, which will be its first in the North of England.
Miele has bought a piece of land in Cheadle Royal, Manchester, to create an Experience Centre of 2,000 sqm, which aims to attract more than 10,000 visitors a year.
CEO of Miele UK, Simon Grantham said: “The catchment area we have planned on is almost from the bottom of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to the top of Birmingham. It’s within a two-hour catchment area of Manchester. All the research that we’ve done says that customers will travel up to two hours to research their appliances and have a cooking event.”
The Experience Centre will be staffed by 14 employees and is expected to become the flagship of its interactive stores.
Simon Grantham commented: “We will have learned each time we open a new one about how to take it to the next level. So there will be a lot more cooking events [in Manchester], which we know our customers like…We will be using professional chefs and creating a partnership with cookery schools.”
Simon Grantham spoke of the move into the North of England: “Certainly the research we’ve done shows there’s as much potential in the North East and North West of the UK as there is in the South. Miele is very strong in the South, less in the North, so it provides a good opportunity for us.”
The company opened its first Experience Centre in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, for customers and trade partners in 2005, which provides hand-on cooking experiences.
It plays host to around 9,000 customers a year, looking at products and being trained on appliances, as well as participating in cooking courses.
Following its success, the company went on to open the Miele Gallery in London’s Wigmore Street
at the end of 2009, which has had nearly 6,000 visitors in the first year of opening.

Thursday 24 March 2011

On the wISH list

Want to know what’s hot in bathroom design? Here’s a snapshot of the products – and barometer of interior trends –  displayed at Europe’s largest bathroom show,  ISH


Steel basin and furniture manufacturer Alape introduced Be Yourself at ISH, a modular washbasin. Created by Sieger Design, Be Yourself allows designers to divide the bathroom or use instead of a wall between bathroom and bedroom. The range includes two undermounted basins and a sit-on basin integrated into a wood or stone countertop, plus storage and lighting.

Ross Lovegrove-designed Istanbul and MOD ranges were branded as Revision, to allow designers to mix and match from the range. But adding to the collection were graphic furniture finishes. Black and white decors formed the basis of the latest cabinet offer.




Luxury brand of Ideal Standard International, Jado featured digital technology as the focus of its stand. Alongside the Design Plus Award winning digital shower module, was a matching digital tap. Also on show was the Eden wave, a hydrotherapy bath which uses vibrations – similar to the PowerPlate  – to move the water.



Italian sanitaryware manufacturer Art Ceram had created washbasins in the shape of coffee cups, with the handle providing a towel rail. A combined black and white finish was shown on a floorstanding model. While a countertop ‘cup’ was displayed on a shelf (or should that be saucer?) in white.



The Pool basin from Italian manufacturer Azzurra Ceramica is available in the UK from Alchemy Design Award. It forms part of its Grand Collection of top-end, Italian bathroom products. The composite basin comes with an optional wooden peg to hang towels.




The Rainshower Icon, launched two years ago at ISH, was shown in a choice of 12 colours. It included the Natural Collection to complement architectural materials and the Spring Collection including vibrant orange, red and purple. The Rainshower features an EcoButton on the shower handle for water saving.


We’re offering our first look of the show in the April issue of Kitchens & Bathrooms News. Ensure you get your FREE copy to read all about the latest products and designs!

Friday 18 March 2011

ISH - Safe in the knowledge

If we were to select the design story from Europe’s largest bathroom show, ISH, it would have to be a focus on safe but ultimately sellable designs. The products were sensibly styled to suit the tastes of the majority, creating the impression of ‘what’s not to like’? It appeared the bathrooms were designed to quickly find their space on the showroom floor, and to sell out equally swiftly.
But don’t equate prudent designs choices with being plain boring. Manufacturers took different and intelligent takes on product design, revisiting, rejuvenating and augmenting previous best sellers. While a clear trend for slimline basins, although suitably stylish, suggested a conscious control of material costs.

Message shown on VitrA stand
could be the mantra for ISH
Bathroom trends that were cutting-edge two years ago had been broadly accepted Digital tap technology, multi-media, waterfall and open spouts re-iterated the emotional aspect of bathroom design, creating an ‘experience’ for the user. And the black décor, introduced at ISH in 2009, looked to be a staple finish for furniture, sanitaryware and brassware. Of course, this judicious product development wasn’t really a surprise as it had all occurred during the last two years, in one of the toughest economic times in history.
Taking a balanced view of all the products showcased at ISH, it would be unfair to suggest that there wasn’t anything new at the show. There was. It did, however, appear to be more measured, than previous years, with the product targeted at the niche, luxury end of the market.
We will be highlighting the key products, which reflect the themes of the show, in the April issue of Kitchens & Bathrooms News.

Friday 11 March 2011

Bathstore sale may be nearing close

Building materials group, Wolseley may be near to finalising the sale of its Bathstore chain of retail showrooms, if reports by Sky News are to be believed.
It has been suggested by Sky News' Mark Kleinman that the 160-strong chain of retail showrooms will be sold to private equity firm Electra Partners.
If Wolseley is to sell to Electra Partners, the private equity firm may have seen off Sun European Partners, owner of Moben Kitchens and Dolphin Bathrooms which was also rumoured to be interested in the sale.
It may also have pipped private equity firm Change Capital led by former M&S chairman Luc Vandevelde and its ex-chief executive, Roger Holmes; as well as LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds and Morgan Stanley's private equity arm.
 Reports have suggested the reason for the Bathstore sales is that the company is at odds with Wolseley's portfolio, which mainly caters for trade sales.
Patrick Riley founded the Bathstore company in 1990 with Nico de Beer, who remains a company director.
He sold the Bathstore business, which was started in Croydon, to Wolseley in 2003 for an undisclosed sum and the group build the chain of 33 stores to 160.
Bathstore recorded a turnover of £104million and pre-tax profits of £4.5million in the year to July, 31, 2009.
Although Wolseley has put 19 of its companies on a list to improve or sell, it has not named any of the companies in question or identified Bathstore.

Thursday 10 March 2011

AEG takes to the floor with Nimble

Showcasing the manoeuvrability of AEG's latest vaccum, Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace - from BBC's Strictly Dancing - took to the floor of the Waldorf Hotel to dance a tango with it! Nimble is AEG’s first upright cleaner, and as its name suggests, it has been designed to be easier to push, pull, move around and under furniture, as well as to transport.


The bagless cleaner features a swivel head movement created by a ‘bling ring’ (the perforated housing), LED lights to illuminate dark areas and a handle which houses a 4m hose, telescopic tube and one-touch electronic controls.

Completing the appliances is a split nozzle that can be used as a tube, or opened to create jaws that can clamp the edges of stairs. The working title for this accessory was called the ‘Gator’ tool but has since been renamed the 3-in-1 Versatool nozzle. Nimble will be available in store from May.

Sunday 6 March 2011

BSH opens training centres

Appliance giant BSH has opened training centres for its Bosch, Siemens and Neff brands at its headquarters in Wolverton, Milton Keynes. Each of the brands’ separate training centres boasts the latest products, interactive educational games, as well as hands-on cooking experiences.
The company expects to train 16 kitchen retailers a day, with plans of around 1,000 people to pass through the centres.
Sales director of Neff, Mike Jarrett
Visitors to the Neff Learning Centre follow a journey through five areas: Learning, Cooking, Working, Listening and Dining. It showcases around 300 Neff appliances and courses are tailored from novice through to expert dealers.




Cookery demonstration area in Siemens
iQ Training Academy
The Siemens iQ Training Academy measures 421 sq m and is designed as an open-plan space. It is divided into seven product zones, as well as an energy section highlighting the company’s green credentials. In fact, the company plans to create an entire centre dedicated to environmental issues in London’s Docklands by 2012.




BSH home economist, Lyn Williams
shows the Bosch working kitchen
Following an investment of over £750,000, the Bosch training centre has been created from former warehouses. Forming part of its high-tech training facility is a hood installation room, a green area and technical zone.
It is further expected that the trade training centres will be opened to members of the public in future.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

AEG reveals Neue Kollektion


Country Head, Ian Banes

German appliance brand AEG revealed its Neue Kollektion of appliances and dropped the dual branding with its parent company Electrolux at The Waldorf Hotel in London. Country Head, Ian Banes explained the company's decision to remove the dual branding: "We see the market polarising between mass and premium across the world. AEG is targeting the premium end."
In the first renovation of the AEG range for around seven years, the company undertook 18 months of research to develop the Neue Kollektion, which spans cooking, cooling, laundry and dishwashing appliances. Ian Banes commented: "I think as an industry, every five or six years, you really have to regenerate your product.I think if you look at AEG, we had left it a little bit too long. I think it was time we upgraded the products and I'm really glad we did."
Among the Neue Kollektion cooking appliance line-up was the Procombi steam oven with three steaming functions and 'zoneless' induction hobs. Dishcare saw the introduction of a larger cavity for 340mm plates and a top-of-the range model which projected the programme timer onto the floor in a light beam, so users could see how long it had to run. Laundry features were focused on optimisation of energy, water and detergent use, with A-50% washing machines and tumble dryers. While among the refrigeration appliances were 600mm depth models to sit flush with kitchen furniture. 
Ian Banes said of the renovated AEG collection: "The stand outs products for me are the steam oven and the induction...But I think the overall thing that stands out for me is the design. The level of detail that our design teams have gone to get stainless steel control knobs brushed left to right and the panels on the washing machines to match the fridges is a phenomenal passion for the product."
For more on AEG products and this story subscribe to the April issue of Kitchens & Bathrooms News