5 minute read
Sponsor News
VITRA CONTINUES ITS 2018 SUCCESS STORY BY SCOOPING MORE DESIGN AWARDS!
After winning 11 Good Design awards in January, VitrA returned from the 2018 iF award ceremony on 8 March with 8 iF awards, including a Gold! VitrA has won a staggering EIGHT iF awards, largely considered to be the worldwide symbol of product and design excellence. VitrA’s gold prize winner was its Stix ceramic tile range, which has a timeless natural stone appearance. Several other ranges created by the VitrA Design Team won iF awards, including the Sento bathroom and Suit brassware ranges. Also recipient of an IF award was VitrA’s Tech-slate tiles range and there was also an award for the exhibition containers that VitrA used to display its new products and highlights its sustainability approach at the 2018 Unicera fair. This year, the iF Award international jury of 63 design, industry and architecture experts evaluated more than 6,400 products from 54 countries. Among the many criteria they consider are the innovative, functional, aesthetic and environmental attributes on new products. VitrA has now won 22 iF awards to date. It has also won numerous other prestigious design and innovation awards, including EDIDA, Design Innovation, Design Plus, Iconic Awards, Interior Innovation, Plus X, Red Dot, and Wallpaper.
Advertisement
WHOLLY ACQUIRED BY PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS
BiKBBI sponsor Ideal Standard International has been wholly acquired by private equity firms Anchorage Capital and CVC Credit Partners, both of which were existing investors in the company, as part of a refinancing deal. The two firms are believed to have acquired the stake owned by private equity firm Bain Capital, which bought the company American Standard in 2007 in a deal reportedly worth around $1.75bn including a $1.55bn debt package from Credit Suisse and Bank of America. Bain then sold off American Standard's US division to Sun Capital for $130m and renamed the rest of the operations Ideal Standard. Anchorage became a shareholder in the company in 2014 in a debt-for-equity swap as part of a restructure that garnered it a 50% stake in the business. CVC Credit Partners, which is the credit asset management arm of CVC Capital Partners, later joined Bain Capital and Anchorage as a shareholder. Last year, CVC and Anchorage injected a further €75m into the company. According to Ideal Standard International, its management team will now be focusing on “advancing its long-term strategic plan”. Representatives from Anchorage Capital and CVC Credit Partners have joined the Ideal Standard International board of directors. “I am delighted to announce this important step in the continued development of our company,” said Ideal Standard International CEO Torsten Türling. “With the unequivocal backing of our investors who believe in the future and long-term potential of our company, Ideal Standard International now has a healthy balance sheet and clarity in its ownership structure. “I want to thank Anchorage Capital and CVC Credit Partners for their trust and continued support, and I look forward to working with them to drive our growth strategy, build on our strong heritage and deliver real value for our customers.”
Yorkshire based fabricator Sheridan has become the latest BiKBBI Installation Standards Partner. Subsequently, the company’s entire one hundred strong field installation teams have all become members of the institute.
Sheridan Fabrications has recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. This follows a hugely impressive few years of growth, so much so, that the company now claims to be the UK’s leading bespoke and modular luxury worksurface manufacturer.
Established in 1996, Sheridan began as a fabrication company focusing on the commercial industry. It operated from a single lock up unit in the shadow of Bradford City’s Valley Parade football ground, but following significant investment since 2005, the company grew
David Mercer, Installation Director, Sheridan
from its humble beginnings to be the widely recognised business it is now.
These days Sheridan operates from a state-of-theart 130,000 sq./ft production facility in Normanton, West Yorkshire. The company, operating a B2B model, works with many products including Granite, Quartz, Apollo Slab Tech, Magna and Ceramic.
Sheridan’s Installation Director David Mercer commented on the new relationship: “Sheridan Fabrications is proud to be the first specialist worktop company, who’s installers have achieved BiKBBI accreditation. As we value and constantly strive for exceptional levels of customer service and installation standards, it seemed a natural step to take. The BiKBBI has strong values focussed around education, quality auditing and excellent customer service. This ethos is shared by Sheridan, and we feel that by committing to BiKBBI’s Core Pillars, we can help improve the industry and provide great opportunities for those installers we work with.”
David added: “We look forward to working with the BiKBBI and its members to improve standards and will offer them an unparalleled level of service, both in terms of cost and quality. I would also like to thank Damian and the team at the BiKBBI for their hard work over the last 4 months to bring this vision to fruition. I am confident that this collaboration will bring unprecedented levels of service to the industry, and our teams will be recognised as the professionals they are.”
Speaking on behalf of the BiKBBI, CEO, Damian Walters said, “We wholeheartedly welcome Sheridan to our growing family of Installation Standards Partners; it’s in good company with many major industry and retail brands already operating in collaboration with the institute to improve installation standards and education. Sheridan is a very impressive organisation and we look forward to sharing a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”
Damian Walters, CEO, BiKBBI
