Fri 1 Feb 2008
February
Appliance manufacturer Electrolux has been awarded a combined total of twelve International Design Awards in the "Household/Living" appliance category for the 2008 edition of the iF Design Awards.This year 2,771 entries from 35 countries competed for the prestigious award, which was organised by International Forum Design in Hannover, Germany.
Winning appliances from the Electrolux Group include the Electrolux built-in oven range, the Electrolux barbeque, the Electrolux Compact built-in range and the Electrolux built-in dishwasher range, as well as the new Ergorapido two-in-one cordless stick cleaner.
"We are honoured to once again receive such recognition for our design work at the iF awards," explained Per Bšrjesson, Design Director at Electrolux Major Appliances Europe. "Our products are designed to make consumers' lives a little easier and, with this in mind, we continue to strive to reach the perfect fusion between appliance design and functionality. Receiving so many awards for these efforts is a great stimulus for our whole design team."
www.electrolux.com
The world's largest kitchen manufacturer, Nobilia, is pleased to announce that it is to increase its supply of kitchens for housebuilder, Barratt North London.
"We were impressed with the high quality of the Nobilia product as well as their comprehensive logistic and installation processes," said Heidi Mackie, buyer for Barratt North London.
Nobilia has already begun work on three sites and will be commencing on a further four sites in the near future - thereby increasing the amount of kitchens supplied to around 700.
Nobilia has been in operation for over 60 years and produces over 2,200 kitchens daily from its factory in Germany. Its UK arm has a purpose-built administration and distribution centre located in Halifax, Yorkshire, which currently employs more than 35 people. However, team numbers are set to increase over the next year as the business continues to grow 100 per cent year-on-year.
In just seven years of operating in the UK, Nobilia has seen incredible success and currently has an order bank of over £20 million. The product portfolio combined with excellent quality and infrastructure has resulted in Nobilia GB working with some of the countries biggest construction names such as Berkeley Homes, Galliford Try Group and Bloor Homes.
www.nobiliagb.co.uk
Andy Fergus-Smith has been promoted to Director of Reade Signs in recognition of his dedication and commitment to the company.
Andy is now developing the Reade Signs brand while maintaining the core values that have always been key to Reade's success - giving customers the service required so that they can gain the attention they need via branding and signage.
Reade were one of the first signage companies to embrace digital, which is a massive benefit to their customers as they are now being provided with cutting-edge signage and imagery. In 2003, Reade Signs moved to their current Aldershot premises to continue growing the business and to provide an unrivalled level of service to their customers. Corporate Social responsibility is also vital to the Reade Signs management team who ensure compliance with health and safety, furthering their employees' training and dealing with environmental issues such as recycling materials.
www.readesigns.com
National property management company, Peverel OM, has announced that it has been appointed to manage Beaufort Park by St George, a London-based mixed-use developer.
The former RAF aerodrome site in Hendon consists of contemporary studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and penthouses as well as a Mediterranean-style boulevard of cafes, restaurants and retail units.
Peverel OM has been able to provide greater levels of accessibility for its customers through its award winning interactive customer website 'Avenue', which clinched the RICS award for Property Management Strategy and Delivery in the Private sector in June 2007.
'Avenue' has helped to play a part in the company's contract win in Hendon; it contains a range of scheme information, documents, individual financial statements, a secure payment channel and the option to receive text or email messages with important development specific information.
Managing Director, Lee Middleburgh at Peverel OM, explains: "More and more people are embracing web technology, which is not only more environmentally friendly, but it also saves time and effort spent on writing and sending cheques in the post. We have also found that it eliminates the process required for cashing cheques and, like banking, it allows residents 24/7 access to view specific information about their account. We believe that we are the first to apply this service to residential property management."
www.peverelom.co.uk
Connells Residential was named the UK's Best New Homes Agent for the third year in a row at the prestigious Estate Agency of the Year Awards which were hosted by TV Presenter Mariella Frostrup recently.
In total Connells won five awards, including Overall Winner. The company also won Gold Awards for Best Large Estate Agency and Best Financial Services and a Bronze Award for Best Innovation.
"To win this award for three years in a row against some very strong competition is an amazing achievement which underlines our dominance in the new homes market," said Connells Chief Executive, Ken Waller. "The sale of new homes is a cultural part of our business and we have developed a very wide range of added valued services to ensure that our offering is second to none."
The judges recognised Connells passionate commitment and investment in their land and new homes operation, singling out for particular praise the in-house conveyancing, specialist new homes mortgage service, nationwide part exchange management and ability to consistently exceed house builders' expectation on price.
Over the past few years Connells has made substantial investment in its land and new homes operation, more than doubling its number of land operators and substantially increasing its specialist new homes sales and marketing management.
www.connells.co.uk
CORT, a US furniture rental supplier owned by Berkshire Hathaway, has acquired Roomservice Group as part of an expansion into the UK market.
The new UK operation, which will be known as Roomservice by CORT, will retain its existing senior management team.
Roomservice by CORT will act as a one-stop-shop for furniture solutions in residential and commercial property. The company will offer a full range of furnishing services with a particular focus on the rental of furniture and accompanying asset management solutions.
In addition, the business will continue to provide furniture rental services to multi-national corporations, relocation service providers and their agents to support the relocation of international assignees.
The acquisition follows a long-standing relationship between the two companies, which has seen Roomservice act as CORT's preferred provider in the UK for the past six years.
"The purchase of Roomservice is our first acquisition outside of the US and clearly demonstrates our commitment to developing our global network of furniture solutions and relocation services," said Jeff Pederson, President of CORT. "We believe our new UK operation will be ideally positioned to capitalise on a number of growth sectors, including the increased interest in institutional ownership of residential property. We are already in talks with several developers and financial institutions in this area and anticipate announcing a significant deal in the near future."
www.cort.com
First published in Show House Magazine February 2008.
The greatest care has been taken to ensure accuracy but some information contained within this article may have changed since it was first published.
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