KBzine: the original kitchen and bathroom industry e-news - since 2002
11th March 2011
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International News
Products by Chervana Hobbs
'From megawatts to negawatts: taking the energy out of buildings'
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Welcome to the
I felt that this industry would be a good one when I joined it just over two years ago and this initial confidence has been backed up time and time again by some of the initiatives taken by its players, to improve people's lives and wellbeing and help preserve our environment. This feeling was underlined today when I learned that kbb London is to be the launch platform for a fundraising initiative hoping to raise £20,000 to help WaterAid in its work to improve access to safe water, hygiene, and sanitation in some of the world's poorest communities. The campaign will be officially launched at kbb London in May and run through to kbb Birmingham in March 2012. "Given that kbb London will be full of companies providing goods and services for kitchen and bathroom contracts where the supply of water is a core requirement, it seemed natural that we should launch our campaign to help WaterAid in its important work at the show," says kbb London Brand Director Andrew Vaughan. "We have pledged to raise £20,000 for WaterAid by kbb Birmingham in March 2012, but we cannot do it on our own! We are calling on the KBB Industry as a whole to support the kbb WaterAid initiative and will shortly be announcing a number of fund raising events we hope the sector will get behind with us. "It is amazing what a huge difference that even a small amount of money can make. As little as £15 can enable a person to have access to safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation, so just imagine how much good WaterAid can do with the money they will receive when we hit our target!" If you're not familiar with WaterAid (www.wateraid.org), it is an international charity working in 26 countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific region to transform the lives of some of the world's poorest people by improving access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. Over the past 30 years, it has reached 14.38 million people with safe water and - since 2004 - 9.4 million people with sanitation. Despite the inroads made, at least 4,000 children die every day as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation and 884 million people still do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in eight of the world's population. Some 2.6 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation. This is almost two fifths of the world's population. As we covet the latest dishwasher, washing machine or hi-tech bathroom as they're launched, we should perhaps take time out to consider those who cannot enjoy the one commodity that these goods need, to be able to run - water. I do hope (but don't doubt) that this industry will work together to support kbb's fantastic initiative and help it exceed its goal. Yours,
 Jan Hobbs
This Week's News
Mereway Kitchens inspirational new spring 2011 Launch - an introduction
Polypipe fined after worker injured by fork lift truck Polypipe has been fined after a fork lift truck that had been lowering a cage containing two workers to the ground, hit one of the men. The man, who has asked not to be named, had been standing on top of a lorry, loading coiled plastic pipes at Polypipe's site on Boston Road Industrial Estate, Horncastle, Lincolnshire. KitchenAid adds revolutionary finish to gas hob range
OHSAS 18001 certification for British Tile Manufacturer British Ceramic Tile is proud to announce its recent certification to OHSAS 18001:2007 - the internationally recognised assessment specification for occupational health & safety management systems. Abode wins JPD Innovation Award
Speaking about the award, Darren Holiday says: "JPD understands the reasoning behind the launch of the website and how useful it is as a helpful tool for training its staff on the full breadth of ranges and technical data. The site also allows salespeople an interactive view of our full portfolio where individual taps can be moved across the screen marrying up to different sinks." Showerwall expands UK distribution with the appointment of Q4 Bathrooms Showerwall has appointed York-based Q4 Bathrooms from 1st March to be a distributor for its waterproof wallpanelling product, expanding further the product's availability nationwide. Q4 has two locations in York and Manchester servicing the North and North West of England, making Showerwall now available from 19 distribution points nationwide including IDS, Ideal Bathrooms, Showerlux and Formula 1, on a delivery lead time of 24 - 48 hours. Whirlpool's new tumble dryers take drying to a new level
AKW raises the standard with electric care shower AKW Medicare is celebrating the six month anniversary of the launch of its LUDA electric care shower with soaring sales figures. A market leader in the provision of elderly and disabled bathroom products, the company reports that sales for January exceeded half of the total sales for 2010. Uptake by the trade and extremely positive feedback from end users is confirming that the company has raised the standard for electric care showers with this product. Blazing a trail for reducing textile waste
A consortium of industry experts led by the Furniture Industry Research Association -the furniture industry body - and supported by The Technology Strategy Board, has developed a means of producing flame-retardant products made from recycled fibre and flame retardant components. TTA Awards 2011 finalists announced The 2011 Tile Association Awards celebrate all that is best in the wall and floor tile industry.They recognise and reward the products, people, businesses and projects in the tile industry. These are the finalists. The winners will be announced at the annual TTA Gala Dinner on Saturday, 2nd April 2011 at the Birmingham Hilton Hotel, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. New housing report shows big changes in the mix
The KBzine Archive Search We keep an extensive archive of news stories and product information that have featured in past issues of The KBzine. If you would like to run a search of the The KBzine web site using the search tool below please just go ahead by entering in the name of the person, product or company or any other key words that you are looking for. News in Brief Last week I was blown away by some of the products launched by AEG as part of its Neue Kollektion! See next week's KBZine for my report or call: 08445 610561 Congratulations to Ideal Standard International, which is celebrating the win of its third RoSPA Occupational Health & Safety Gold Medal Award! www.ideal-standard.co.uk Atag has updated its QuliMax Combi-steam oven with a new twin steam generator and improved interior. Tel: 0208 247 3993 Bertazzoni's new X36 6 DUAL range cooker has a hybrid oven cavity that enables users to choose between cooking with either gas or electricity. E: [email protected]
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Environmental support for food waste disposers The Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management (CIWEM) has issued a Policy Position Statement supporting the use of food waste disposers in the management of food waste from kitchens. Vac from the Sea competition winner joins expedition
Brit Liggett, a 26 year old blogger from Brooklyn, New York, wins the Electrolux and 5 Gyres competition, where first prize is becoming a crew member on the forthcoming 5 Gyres research expedition through the Beagle Channel in March. Get your business on track with help from new tools Around 40% of SMEs in the UK - two million businesses - do not keep adequate records, even though they are legally bound to keep them, to make sure they make a correct income tax or corporation tax self assessment return. Failure to take reasonable care in record-keeping leads to a loss of around £6.5billion in tax every year. Forging ahead: London's future London's status as a leading global capital - financially, socially and culturally - has been the subject of much debate in the wake of the worst recession on record. A modern, commercially effective and sustainable built environment is paramount to the successful development of 21st century London as the city rises to the challenges of economic recovery and growth, climate change or realizing the 'Big Society' vision.
Ellis Furniture achieves OHSAS 18001
Retail not the source of inflationary pressure, argues BRC Tuesday's official inflation figures are evidence that little inflationary pressure is coming from the retail sector. The latest numbers from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show Shop Price Inflation running behind both CPI and RPI. The main factors driving inflation are high fuel and transport costs - the result of soaring global commodity prices, not shop prices. Smart Systems is latest KBSA corporate member The Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom Specialist Association has announced that Smart Systems is the latest industry supplier to become a corporate member. People
Ellis Furniture welcomes new marketing manager
Season's greetings from Croydex turn into hard cash for hospice
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Marketing
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