Design Competition

Zenith woodstone grey from Wilsonart, showing solid black core that enables the drilling of drainer grooves. Also used here for co-ordinating and bespoke open shelving

BE A DESIGN WINNER WITH WILSONART ZENITH

ENTRIES INVITED TO WILSONART’S ANNUAL ZENITH DESIGN COMPETITION.

Wilsonart is offering creative designers the chance to win high street vouchers and valuable publicity through social media in an exciting new competition featuring the company’s unique Zenith slimline work surfaces.

Zenith is made from solid laminate and features a unique black core. The tops are just 12.5mm thick, giving a sleek, slimline look that adds a touch of distinctive flair to any kitchen. The material comes in 11 designs inspired by natural stone and timber. Upstands, splashbacks, breakfast bars, shelves, cabinet framing, curves and drainer grooves for under mount sinks allow plenty of scope for innovative design.

Wilsonart is looking for the best design ideas showcasing Zenith. Entries must be pictures of completed installations – not CAD drawings – and should show inspiring use of the material on any area in the kitchen. To enter the designer must send photographs of the kitchen, their name, location, contact number, email address, company and where the worktops were sourced from if not from company they work for.

THERE WILL BE 3 ON4ALL VOUCHER PRIZES UP FOR GRABS.

1ST PRIZE - £300 worth of vouchers 2ND PRIZE - £150 worth of vouchers 3RD PRIZE - £50 worth of vouchers

Entries should be posted on @WilsonartUK social media sites (facebook, twitter, linkedin) with #zenithdesigncomp or emailed to marketing@wilsonart.co.uk with the subject Zenith Design Competition. Competition will close on Friday 25th May 2018.

FESTOOL Long-time sponsor of the BiKBBI, this leading power tool specialist manufacturer had a working stand which attracted many installers. The Festool team were demonstrating its range of high-quality power tools, including new products whilst reminding visitors to its stand that customers benefit from 36 months free of charge repairs and theft protection as part of SERVICE all-inclusive.

Jon Burcham, Marketing Manager at Festool, said, “The show provided us with a great opportunity to connect with, and further cement our strong relationships with our customers.”

www.festool.co.uk

SCHÜLLER At KBB 2018 InHouse Inspired Room Design showcased its exciting new partnership with successful Italian brand Steel Cucine. The appliance brand joins other leading kitchen furniture brands including, Schüller, next125 and Aster Cucine in its comprehensive and hugely successful portfolio of suppliers. Steel Cucine is a collection of beautifully designed built-in appliances, freestanding range cookers and refrigeration. Stuart Dance, Director at InHouse, said, “KBB 2018 was tremendous for us as it provided a perfect opportunity to demonstrate in one amazing room set just how well Steel Cucine appliances complement Schüller kitchens. Kitchen retailers who visited our stand were extremely impressed with what they saw, so much so that we took many display orders at the show.” www.inhouseltd.co.uk

LIEBHERR

Recognised by many as the markets pioneering cooling appliance manufacturer. This global industry giant exhibited key products from across its entire range. Special prominence was given to the groundbreaking BluPerformance collection which has made the entire industry re think how domestic refrigerated appliances are designed and manufactured.

Liebherr Divisional Manager, Tim Hutchinson said, “kbb has always been good for us but I have to say, this year was outstanding, we achieved all of our objectives which included generating many enquiries from potential new customers.”

DAVAL Two spectacular kitchen room sets, and one bedroom were featured on the Daval stand. The largest featured the company’s Mayfair / Finsbury and Langham kitchen collections. A second kitchen display showcased Daval’s Bramham in-frame traditional kitchen; whilst Daval’s bedroom room set displayed Varenna grey oak, a walkin bedroom concept. Much visitor interest was also shown in the company’s new option-i Version 2, which was on display for the first time. Daval MD, Simon Bodsworth, said, “2018 is a special year for Daval as it marks our 40th Anniversary, so kbb 2018 provided a perfect platform to make the industry aware of our longevity and to attract new customers. Hats off to my team as our stand looked amazing and we honestly couldn’t have hoped for a better show” www.daval-furniture.co.uk

BUSHBOARD According to Bushboard, KBB 2018 was by far and away its finest ever. Commercial Director Neil Horton said; “The show was an unprecedented success. The team worked incredibly hard to pull the exhibition together. We had much to show and created a real buzz amongst our kitchen and bathroom industry colleagues and customers.” Bushboard showcased its highly successful ‘Nuance’ bathroom surfaces which the company says” is the future of bathroom design and could ultimately replace ceramic tiling thanks to ease of installation and finish quality.” Highlights from the company’s new ‘Omega’ and ‘Options’ worksurface collections were on display as was the new ultra-slim surface ‘Evolve’ which will be formally launched into the market this summer. www.bushboard.co.uk

CARRON The main driver of the Carron Phoenix team was to reinforce its position in the market as a sink and tap brand that stands for good quality, design and value. Its fair to say that they achieved their goals as the company reports a hugely positive response from visitors to stand generally but especially in its ‘Larunda’ hot tap. This elegant, easy-to-install 3-in-1 tap, is developed to dispense 98⁰C steaming hot water in addition to standard hot and cold at a very competitive price point.

The Carron Phoenix team also report great visitor appreciation for its new Stone Grey colour which has been added to its Fiji undermount granite sink range complete with complementary Reno tap, along with a new contemporary L-spout and coloured-spout taps.

ROTPUNKT ‘Inner Beauty’ was the theme of Rotpunkt’s stand. The leading German manufacturer used the event to launch a raft of products, sizes, materials and finishes including a highlight, its new 2018 interior options in Carbon, along with three new Zircon drawer boxes, finished in Carbon, Smoked Black Glass or Wood. The company also featured a variety of new furniture and worktop finishes and collections, with its new Terra Grey with black Line and new Metal on display.

Matt Phillips, Head of UK Operations, Rotpunkt UK said “kbb 2018 gave us a perfect platform to increase brand awareness, the depth of our product range and the quality of its manufacture. Its early days but signs indicate that will hit our target of attracting new displaying showrooms at the event.” www.rotpunktuk.com

BMA

Perfectly positioned in the hub of the bathroom hall, the team from this long established and influential association were targeting new members whilst raising awareness of the BMA brand and its ethos. The message it successfully delivered centred around the word why? Why be compliant, why be a member of the association and why it has a Water Label.

Clearly, the Water Label is important to the BMA’s as it forms a part of its key campaign for the year ahead, which includes CE Marking and the importance of compliant product in the market place.

www.bathroom-association.org

SENSIO (LIGHTING) Sensio never ceases to amaze. The company grows year-on-year and this is reflected by the size and quality of its kbb exhibition stand. The largest Sensio stand to date was designed with 4 open sides with its displays positioned on freestanding displays and walls. This encouraged copious amounts of visitors to the stands and so the Sensio team were always busy showing interested visitors what’s was new and what the highlights of its comprehensive portfolio of products.

Sensio has come a long way in a short space of time. Half a dozen or so kbb exhibitions ago and Sensio was exhibiting to help seek market acceptance. 14 years on and they are now an opinion forming global brand. You have to give its management team due respect. www.sensio.co.uk

Always a ‘go-to’ stand at any Birmingham kbb show, Franke unveiled a host of new products. Remaining faithful to its ‘Make it Wonderful’ credo, the company showcased a new family of super metallic granite sinks finished in Copper Grey, Lunar Grey, Sterling Silver and Copper Gold, each reflecting the trend for metallics in the kitchen.

Other stand highlights included innovative ‘steam-off’ technology, a unique super-matt textured material feature on Franke’s statement hoods, all in addition to its significantly expanded boiling water tap range which includes new 2- and 4-in-1 models and four fashionable coloured PVD finishes.

www.franke.co.uk

IDS/SHOWERWALL Positioned in the bathroom hall and attracting a huge amount of visitor interest was specialist manufacturer Showerwall, with its bathroom surfaces inspired by nature. It was a significant show for the company as it revealed a new brand identity, new collections and innovations, signalling the design strides made by the smart waterproof surfacing system. Showerwall displayed its newest nature-inspired décors including elegant marbles and stones, industrial concrete and warm woodgrains. Innovations included a market-leading synchronised texture and new Proclick installation technology for seamless joints. Visitors to the stand were impressed by the fact that its fast and easy to install and importantly, comes with a 15-year guarantee. www.showerwall.co.uk

BLUM Blum had a huge stand at the show and it was alway s extremely busy with visitors. The company showed a variety of products from its hugely extensive product portfolio including many items on view in the UK for the first time. Always acknowledging the importance of installers by periodically launching a variety of initiatives and services, the Blum team were on hand to discuss these with attending KBB fitters. These included Blum’s Technical Hotline, which is open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturdays 8am to 12pm.its LIVE SUPPORT which gives the same level of support but can be accessed direct as written or verbal chat, including photos and videos. Blum’s Easy Assembly App is an essential digital tool for anyone working with Blum components. And Blum’s new EASYSTICK makes it easy to set up MINIPRESS and facilitates assembly. www.blum.com

HAMILTON LITESTAT This British manufacturer of smart lighting control and multiroom audio systems targeted kbb 2018 with its unique range of complementary designed switch plates & sockets that can totally coordinate the look of any kitchen, bedroom or bathroom project. Its smart lighting can be controlled with the flick of a switch or swipe of a button and its smart audio can stream music to any area of the home, inside or out,

New products introduced included a paintable range of control plates, 'Ultra' 2.4A USB dual switched sockets that allows two tablets to be charged simultaneously, and a new range of wireless audio products.

www.hamilton-litestat.com

BiKBBI

The BiKBBI utilised its largest stand to date by organising

a series of seminars throughout the duration of the show. This helped attract many visitors including plenty of current BiKBBI members; however, there was also a raft of visitors who located the stand to find out more about becoming a member. Hugely encouraging was the fact that there were many enquiries about the apprenticeship initiatives that the institute is instigating to try and close the skills-gap and protect the long-term future of our industry.

BiKBBI, CEO, Damian Walters commented, “I was incredibly encouraged by the volume and quality of exhibitors, perhaps a sign of positivity within our industry, I understand that organisers, UBM was recently acquired and really hope that the new owners support the show in 2 years’ time as we would very much continue to support what we find a worthwhile presence.”

Damian added, “We are really pleased that we deigned

our stand to facilitate a seminar programme as it meant that that in addition to having our physical presence at the show, we were able to extend out ‘reach’ by simultaneously broadcasting the seminars via our social media platforms, and they were viewed by hundreds. These can still be found on our Facebook page.”

www.bikbbi.org.uk