Teknos GBI has hosted an opening party to celebrate its move to a large new facility in Bicester, with the new Coatings Application Centre the star of the show.
The Bicester warehouse and office premises have a 33,000 sq. metre footprint overall and are home to all of Teknos GBI’s core business functions, with 22 people currently employed there out of the company’s 34 total employees in the UK and ROI.
Just like Teknos paints, the facilities have been designed with sustainability in mind, including energy efficient lighting in offices, a bike shelter to encourage cycling to work and working practices that promote lower plastics use by staff and improved recycling rates.
The building comprises a warehouse which has space for 3,000 pallets while the Coatings Application Centre includes a paint mixing room, spray booth, flash-off area for drying coated items, and a cutting room for cutting timber and other substrates.
The specialist facilities will also include a roller coater, infra-red drying oven, forced-air drying oven, UV drying oven, sanding heads and a profile spray line.
Included in the guest list were Paula Salastie, CEO of Teknos Group, and Counsellor Sean Gaul, Bicester Town Mayor, who officially opened the building with a ribbon cutting ceremony, and Martti Kiikka, Paula’s father and ex-CEO of Teknos Group who opened the UK for Teknos 27 years ago. Following the ceremony, guests enjoyed food and drink from local suppliers and toured the new premises.
Emma Moore, MD of Teknos GBI, commented: “Not only are we in brand new offices, we also have a host of new and innovative products to bring to market such as Pento Fluid Silverwood for the cladding market and the FIRA ‘Severe’-rated Platin 4545 for furniture and flooring.
“Building on our success in the industrial wood and joinery sector, we’re also bringing our industrial paints for GRP and PVC to window and door manufacturers. If you are visiting the FIT Show this year, you can see these first-hand on our stand. Our distributor network has expanded rapidly in the last few months and we now have 13 merchants stocking our Decorative range across the UK and ROI. They have been hand-picked for the knowledge and service levels they give to their customers; further expansion of this network of high quality TeknosPro merchants is one of my priorities in the coming months.
“The Teknos Group has ambitions to become the most sustainable coating solution provider in the world and is introducing sustainability into every business function. Teknos GBI’s new head office is a tangible example of this, by encouraging energy efficiency, maximising productivity to reduce waste and ensuring safe working practices.”
For further information, visit www.teknospro.co.uk.
