With the opening of its new UK headquarters in Leicestershire, Roca has created an impressive platform to showcase its offering to a wide cross-section of the UK bathrooms market, from the trade and merchant channel to the higher-end retail sector. PBM reports.
The new Roca UK premises in Bardon, Leicestershire totals over 145,000 square foot of space and includes a dedicated warehouse, increased office and meeting room space, as well as extensive new showroom facilities for all Roca UK brands, under one roof.
Alan Dodds, the company’s UK Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to officially launch our new Roca UK headquarters. Both Roca and Laufen brands are growing strongly and the new site provides a tremendous opportunity to continue on this trajectory and accelerate our growth. It will also provide a central location for our trade and retail partners to come and experience the whole spectrum of Roca UK products. We have the best team in the industry and these new state-of-the-art facilities reflect our ambitious plans.”
The innovative new showroom is said to offer one of the biggest bathroom display spaces in the UK and is designed to take visitors on a journey through the brands and products available, with over 40 collections on show including dedicated displays of each of the Roca UK brands.
Highlights include over 20 collections from Roca,including the futuristic Beyond collection which features ‘smooth and sleek lines’ and contemporary design. There are 14 collections from Swiss manufacturer Laufen,including the very latest designer bathroom collaborations such as the innovative Sonar by Patricia Urquiola.
The Armani/Roca brand is present, with a “luxurious collection which manages to be both contemporary and timeless, in accordance with Giorgio Armani’s design philosophy” whilst the “contemporary style” of the Cosmic range is showcased with a line-up thatincludes furniture, basins and a new range of lighting and mirrors.
As well as the extensive showroom, the new site features a vast warehouse complete with 12 dock level loading doors, two level access loading doors and 150% more pallet locations than in its previous UK base. This increased space means that Roca UK can service its national coverage of distributors, merchants and retailers and ensures efficient and fast delivery.
One of the first groups of visitors to the new HQ was from the merchant sector, with the facility playing host to the inaugural BMF Kitchen & Bathroom Forum last November.
Newly elected Chairman, Paul Bence (Managing Director of the George Bence Group) led the proceedings to a full-house of some 74 members. A series of informative presentations followed on key topics related to the ways in which merchants can boost sales — for example, Renee Mascari on kitchen design, Lakes Showering Spaces’ Mike Tattam on the importance of showrooms and Virtual Worlds’ Ben Roberts with an interactive demo of ‘4D’ showrooms.
Paul said: “There is so much opportunity for merchants to get involved with this sector to grow and diversify their businesses, and I actively encourage more members to get involved in future forums.”
