Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
JP Kitchens & Bathrooms has signed up to an exclusivity arrangement with Egyptian based Ceramic manufacturer, Cleopatra to supply their White Ville European designed bathroom ceramic to the UK market.
Based on the outskirts of Cairo, Ceramica Cleopatra is an Egyptian manufacturer of ceramic and porcelain wall and floor tiles and both domestic and commercial sanitaryware. Established in 1983, it has become one of the largest private corporations in Eygpt and one of the world’s largest ceramic, porcelain and sanitaryware producers. Its integrated industrial complex of 17 plants (pictured) in the North West Gulf of Suez and Tenth of Ramadan City, employs 25,000 people and the business now exports to 108 countries worldwide.
Whiteville is a collection of bathroom ceramic designs created by a team of international award winning designers commissioned by Cleopatra. Like Swiss-French born David Emmanuel Michaud who holds extensive patents for his performance sportswear designs and Nilo Gioacchini, the Italian designer who has worked on many bathroom projects with his ‘Mobile Totale’ now on permanent exhibition in the MOMA Museum of Modern Arts in New York. Finally, Luca Cimarra, an architectural designer who won the Design PLUS 2007 award at ISH, just one of his many acolades. Together they have formed a collection they believe covers minimalist to luxury, classical to contemporary and smart to trendy. They are designs that impressed the JP team enough to pitch and win an exclusive contract arrangement for the UK and Irish market.
“We are very excited to be taking Whiteville ceramic into stock.” Said Graham Bucktrout Managing Director for JP. “It’s a well designed range of ceramic, with European styling that will suit the UK market. Coupled with a price led range of commercial ceramic, it will cover the requirements of all our customer types. One can not help but be impressed by the scale of the Cleopatra operation in Egypt but it is their desire to tailor their designs to cater for all markets that really impressed us, that, coupled with the quality of product they produce. We have been in talks for a number of months now and are excited to be launching the product in the summer of 2019.”
The White Ville range incorporates a broad number of ceramic designs with innovations like vortex, rimless, water saving wc pans at its core. The range offers 8 matt colours along with white, pergamon, gold and silver and it has an impressive two year new product development plan to grow the brand.
