Rio 2016 has begun and everyone in the ukBathrooms office will be cheering on Team GB diver: Jack Laugher!

Jack, the son of one of our long-standing members of staff has gone from strength to strength over the years competing with other world class divers and winning a steady stream of medals and prizes.

Jack will be recognisable to the general public for his diving, but also alongside other Team GB athletes on Aldi’s recent value fruit and veg advert campaigns, amongst other sponsorship deals. Jack has certainly put the hard work in over the years, and kudos to Jack’s parents for their commitment and support, early training starts and such a hectic schedule can’t be easy to manage!

Jack will also be diving with team mate Chris Mears in their Synchronised Dive, the pair have been training and competing together, good luck to them both we know their hard work and dedication will pay off.

You can next watch Jack competing in Diving for Team GB:

Men’s synchronised 3m springboard Wednesday 10^th August

Men’s 3m springboard Monday 15^th August

From everyone here we wish Jack and Chris the very best of luck in Rio 2016!

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Kelly Hoppen is a renowned name in the interior Design world, and now increasingly so in the consciousness of the general public, with Kelly’s appearances on popular programs such as Dragons Den, and interior Design series ‘Superior Interiors’. Creating chic, sleek interiors Kelly Hoppen’s designs are timelessly elegant and her style is highly coveted. Key notes are upscaled decorative accessories (think large scale vases and lamps), which create a sense of space and luxury, combined with a more paired back colour pallet and luxurious materials and surfaces.

Kelly Hoppen MBE

In 2013 Crosswater, one of the UK’s most popular brassware brand names and Kelly Hoppen teamed up to produce a range of fashionably stylised and lustrous coordinating mixer taps, showers and mixers.

The first range was dubbed: KH Zero 1. These products were welcomed into the market with continued success and interest. The popularity of these has seen a further 5 ranges launched.

The current Design groups are: KH Zero 1, KH Zero 2, KH Zero 3, KH Zero 5, KH Zero 6

KH Zero 1.

This design range fuses together squared edge, ample-feeling tap bodies with slimmer curved spout designs that feature very sculptural negative spaces. The matching shower valve plates combine the same mix of squared back face plates, with round handle blocks and slim, curved levers. The handles add a lovely functional element, with comfortable smooth action technology and premium quality you would expect from Crosswater.

KH Zero 2.

The Zero 2 range features rounded solid tap bodies with elongated, sophisticated thin lever handles, following the form of the spout. Modern and chic, these pivot on a smooth joint to control both temperature and flow in one action. The cleverly designed, slim handles are the main showpiece feature of these taps. Coordinating bath and basin versions with minimal ceramicware would create a softly serene, sophisticated bathroom space with a spa feel.

KH Zero 3.

Zero 3 has a well designed, thin handle on a pivot similar in fashion to the Zero 2, but with a completely different overall aesthetic. Boldly geometric, with crisp 90 degree angles and squared off corners the Zero 3 evokes a more architectural taste with strong, straight lines and corners.

You could pair these with black basins, polished concrete floors, geometric tiles, and a bespoke smoked glass wetroom screen for a look right out of the most exclusive interior design magazine of the moment.

KH Zero 5.

Next is Zero 5, with a completely different feel again. This is a single kitchen tap, with a subtlety traditional design, featuring decorative fluted nozzle and base detail. Combine this kitchen mixer with a Belfast Sink for a beautiful timeless look.

KH Zero 6.

Last but not least is Zero 6, an edgier range with a nice contemporary twist. The forward angled tap bodies add a sense of movement and energy. The slim handles are light and smoothly operated adding to the overall dynamic, a pleasure to operate.

Overall you have a great choice on offer here, with varying designs that can be incorporated into a wide range of interior design plans for all kind of bathroom spaces.

For further technical details or to browse the whole range please visit Crosswater here:

https://www.crosswater.co.uk/designer-collections/kelly-hoppen/

We can supply the entire range, if there is a specific tap you would like but you cannot find it on our website simply give our friendly sales team a call, or bob us an email for a quote: [email protected]

Remember to come back to ukBathrooms.com to place your Kelly Hoppen brassware order, we can have these delivered to you in 3 to 5 working days ready to install in your new bathroom!

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Our Winter Sale over Christmas 2015 and New Year 2016 was hugely popular, with lots of our customers; new and seasoned regulars, making great savings on coveted branded bathroom goods through our website. Don’t despair if you missed out on the January offers, we are extending some of these great savings into February. As such, a selection of brands are still at an additional 5% off normal web prices.

This is a really great chance to snap up those branded goods and make decent savings on items that will be increasing in price in 2016; as manufacturers will eventually introduce their annual price increases.

We wanted to showcase some of our favourite Sale items to give you an idea of which products are on offer.

Our top 5 Sale items

5. Imperial Astoria Deco Close Coupled WC – Save up to an additional £182 off this WC

Imperial Bathrooms are a quintessential British bathroom manufacturer. All their ceramics are hand finished in the UK to the highest quality.

Perfect for: Anyone looking for a traditional bathroom with unrivaled attention to detail.

4. Burlington Close Coupled Toilet – Save an extra 5% on all Burlington

Burlington is a fantastic Traditional styled brand, bringing together the most elegant and rich styling from decades gone by with the most up to date materials and technology available today.

Perfect for: Those who want the traditional look but the reliability and water saving features of a contemporary WC.

3. Simpsons Edge Pivot Shower Enclosure – Save up to £110.80 off the RRP

Shower enclosures can be a tough decision. At one extreme you have design led manufacturers who can be eye wateringly expensive, or you can have an unbranded shower; which whilst cheap runs the risk of leaking (which we don’t sell). Simpsons is a great manufacturer, who are proud to offer lifetime guarantees and competitive prices.

Perfect for: When you don’t want to lose sleep over a leaky shower

2. Hansgrohe Ecostat S Concealed Shower Valve – save from £116.88 off the RRP

Hansgrohe is synonymous with reliability. Powered by its revolutionary iBox the Ecostat is a plumbers dream to fit and by far our most popular shower valve.

Perfect for: Keeping your plumber happy

1. Villeroy & Boch Subway WC – Save an additional 5%

*Pan available in open and fully back to the wall

German Design Giants Villeroy and Boch offer this ever popular close coupled toilet suite from their established Subway range, a favourite with architects and designers. With the full Subway range you can mix and match complimentary products to create a well put together bathroom suite.

Perfect for: Design enthusiasts

This is just our perspective; let us know in the comments what your top 5 would be.

Armitage Shanks, along with its parent company Ideal Standard have launched a new charity aiming to raise £200,000 to celebrate its 200 year anniversary in 2017. The ‘Armitage Thanks’ campaign marks the run up to the company’s incredible 200 year anniversary and aims to support the local communities with a range of fundraising events and tasks.

40% of the money raised in the new initiative will be donated to Bowel and Cancer research, after being nominated by the firm’s staff members. The remainder of the money will go to local charities overseen by The Smile Foundation.

Armitage Shanks was founded in 1817 by Thomas Bond and has become one of the most successful sanitary pottery manufacturers in the world. In 1969 Armitage merged with competitor Shanks Holdings and created the iconic brand that we see today. Armitage Shanks is now owned by the Ideal Standard International group who is helping with the charity campaign.

Armitage Shanks employs over 300 people at its 4-acre manufacturing site and produces over 1.4 million pieces each year, including sanitary ware, bathroom fixtures and plumbing supplies.

Managing director of Ideal Standard UK Keith Boad told the press, “Since the early years of the 19th century, Armitage Shanks products have been used, seen and welcomed by everyone from paupers to pop stars, in everywhere from pubs and palaces to major sporting stadiums and motorway service stations,”

Adding, “The bicentenary is truly an historic milestone for us and we are very proud, so we are going to mark it by saying a big ‘Armitage Thanks’ for supporting us over the last 200 years.

Deborah Gilbert, from Bowel & Cancer Research talked about the new initiative saying, “More than 41,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in the UK. Our aim is to help change that. The nature of bowel disease means that people don’t always talk about it and risk dying of embarrassment. The fact is, however, that bowel cancer claims lives and the support of an iconic company such as Ideal Standard, along with Armitage Shanks, is a fantastic boost. Not only will it help us to beat the disease, but its international profile will also help us to nail the ‘loo taboo’ and bring the reality of bowel cancer to the fore.”

Employees of Armitage Shanks and Ideal Standard are already setting up an array of charity event including a team to take up the National Three Peaks Challenge, quiz nights and coffee mornings.

Here are some of our favourite Armitage Shanks products:

Armitage Shanks Airside Wall Hung Basin

Armitage Shanks Markwik Insulate Thermostatic Pillar Basin Mixer Tap

Armitage Shanks Sandringham Classic Close Coupled WC

Armitage Shanks Sensorflow Basin Mixer with Built-in Electronic Sensor

Over 200 guests joined Ideal Standard as it unveiled its Tonic II range in London last week. Designed by the award winning German design studio Artefakt, the range consists of ceramics, baths, furniture and fittings.

The range was unveiled at London’s iconic OXO Tower, where the products were shown in crisp white rooms with understated chandelier lighting and against the backdrop of the Thames River. The set was reminiscent of a modern art installation with the Tonic II range dominating view with its bold and contemporary design.

The reaction to the Tonic II range has been largely positive and has created a lot of excitement throughout the industry. The soft geometric design of the products was created to evoke calm and tranquillity. The new range offers a broad choice of sizes and furniture combinations, in a range of stylish colours to suit just about any bathroom.

The launch event also saw the introduction of Ideal Standard’s innovative new AquaBlade flush technology. The pioneering design means that the integrated channel creates a pressurised blade of water that flows from the top of the bowl rinsing the whole area clean.

This new technology is set to revolutionise the toilet market, because unlike standard toilet flushing systems, the AquaBlade creates an even spread of water across the whole surface are.

Set to revolutionise the toilet market, unlike existing flushing systems where water does not cover the entire toilet bowl, AquaBlade technology gives optimum water flow from the top of the bowl on every flush, and covers every inch of the ceramic. Interior surfaces are also streamlined to give a quieter flush.

Anna Burns, from Ideal standard told the press, “We’re delighted – the response has been amazing and we thank everyone who came along on the day.

“A lot of investment and research has gone into the creation of Tonic II with AquaBlade, which aims to combine both beauty and functionality. Tonic II delivers on both fronts and we’re very proud of this collection, which I’m confident offers our customers a highly desirable, luxury range with huge commercial potential.”

For more information about the Tonic II range or the AquaBlade system please call on of our helpful sales representatives on 01765 964 720.

ISH is the world’s largest industrial exhibition for the combination of energy and water, incorporating The Bathroom Experience, Building Services, Energy, Air Conditioning Technology and Renewable Energies.

This year will see over 2,400 exhibitors displaying just about everything from sustainable sanitation solutions, innovative bathroom design and energy efficient heating technologies. At the world’s biggest and leading trade fair, all aspects of future-oriented building solutions can be seen over a period of five days.

This trade fair organisation made its debut over fifty years ago, and this year, international trade visitors from the installation trade, retail trade, firms of engineers and architects, housing and property companies, service providers, public authorities and universities meet at Messe Frankfurt’s fully-booked up Exhibition Centre.

This is what can we expect at the exhibition this year, the theme of which is “comfort meets technology”. We shall see that the ISH Top Themes focus on current issues and trends, including conservation of resources and of renewable energies and how innovative technologies will focus on an individual’s convenience of use among other things, a bathroom tour of five continents which will tell us something about the efficient use of water, a vital commodity.

Energy is also a covered in the Energy Efficiency Plus exhibits and subjects such as the new energy model in tomorrow’s heating market, for the homes of the near future, with different technology trends, and sustainability. The Exhibition feature under Future Buildings has been designed to show energy intelligence, technology, comfort and energy efficiency as well as integrated room automation.

We are expecting some interesting innovations to come out of this year’s ISH Event, at UK Bathrooms we will, as in previous years, bring these to you as appropriate at our online pages.

We would be very interested to know is just what turns you off the most when you walk into a bathroom, your own or someone else’s?

We raise the question because when reading in a trade magazine recently, the Swedish furniture giant Ikea conducted a survey amongst 2,000 adults to see what it is that annoyed them when visiting the bathroom.

The biggest turn off for both men and women it seems is hair in the plughole, this was a big turn off for men as 20% said that pulling their partners hair out of the plug hole was a major bugbear. Their partners on the other hand were really put out by men not flushing the toilet, so it is not leaving the seat up then is it!

How happy would you be to show people around your bathroom was another question that was asked. It seems that the happy folk in the South West of our country would be very pleased to let people into their bathrooms; a massive 94% said they would be quite happy. This is in complete contrast to 12% of the Welsh who would really like to ban any visitors’ from using their facilities and we presume that means guests in their houses.

So this has set us off thinking here at UK Bathrooms, we would love to hear from all our readers what turns you off when you visit a bathroom, your own or someone else’s, tell us we’re dying to know.

In our twenty or so years designing and supplying bathrooms we have heard many strange tales, some of which we have shared with you, occasionally with pictures, but the latest piece of news was quite a surprise!

We have occasionally read about humans abandoning their newly born children, but very rarely animals. So it was sad to hear that a beautiful and very rare one day old clouded leopard pup was abandoned by her mother at Cotswold Wildlife Park, found by the keeper shivering and clearly close to death.

The keeper took the pup home and decided that the best place to keep the leopard was in his bathroom, away from his doge downstairs. Apparently it was necessary to keep the pup warm and his bathroom was just such a place, could it be that he had a nice underfloor floor heating mat installed?

Well the leopard pup, named Nimbus was kept by the keeper for six weeks and we are delighted to hear that she has her own area in the park, when in time she will join another clouded leopard. The species hails from South East Asia and are on the vulnerable” of the International Union for Conservation of Nature; a happy ending for one clouded leopard.

To celebrate Le Tour de France coming through our base of operations in Ripon, North Yorkshire, ukBathrooms is offering a free, Yorkshire-made shower tray and 90mm high flow waste with selected Merlyn Series 8 shower doors and enclosures.

Made in Yorkshire, by well renowned bathroom manufacturer April Products, these fantastic shower trays are a very high standard and come complete with a lifetime guarantee, and will be given away for free to those customers who purchase selected Merlyn Series 8 shower doors and enclosures.

This is a limited offer, so if you are in the market for a fantastic shower enclosure at a great price and want to celebrate Le Tour de France with us, then it is advised that you place your order sooner rather than later so you don’t miss out.

Merlyn showers have some of the best quality shower doors and enclosures available and come standard with their ‘Mershield’ technology. This special coating helps reduce water marks and dirt build up, meaning less cleaning and more time for relaxing 🙂

The 8mm thick toughened safety glass also comes with a lifetime guarantee for peace of mind, so what are you waiting for? Order your Merlyn Series 8 shower door or enclosure today and get a free shower tray and 90mm high flow waste.

Will you be visiting Yorkshire to watch Le Tour de France’s Grand Depart? Get involved and leave you comments below.

It’s a new era here at UKBathrooms today we have launched our brand new shiny site, doesn’t it look great? It’s been a good while in coming, we had our previous site for six years, for us that design was just getting a bit too old. We wanted something new, fresh and modern so we took the plunge in 2012 to start working on a new design, with Bronco.

The first step was to create our new logo, which as you know we introduced last month, which was designed by Sharp, who also worked on the colour scheme, icons and text which were the foundations of our new design. Bronco designed our first website in 2007, then again a year later in 2008. Since then they have been constantly updating the website, altering it and adding new aspects until it became pretty bulky.

We had a vision for our new website it had to be:

• A responsive design
• A familiarity for our customers
• Sleek and sharp
• Easy to use
• Provide a clear message to our customers
• Quality
• Have conversion rate optimisation

Not too much really! The basis of the redesign was to focus on Lifestyle, an attainable lifestyle for ukBathrooms customers. A website that would encourage visitors to not only buy from us (our unbeatable prices help with that) but also come back for all their bathroom needs and recommend to friends and family. Our main aim was to have a responsive design, so the website is functional not only on desktops, but tablet devices and mobile phones. Many of our customers now visit on tablets and mobiles, especially when out and about, so we wanted to make sure our site looked and worked well on these devices.

With all these changes, we also wanted to keep some familiarity for our customers, we haven’t changed as a company it’s just our website looks different. You can still find the same great prices on quality bathroom products, helpful service and speedy delivery from us here at ukBathrooms. We just made the website easier to use and much more user friendly. Our product pages include more details, our images are bigger and we have added easy to use filters which makes searching for the right product so much easier.

We also know how much our customers love the social side of our website, we have added easy to use social buttons, so you can easily keep up with all the latest news, reviews and offers.  So if you like the look of our new website, then please share it among your friends and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Thanks UKBathrooms