Keen-eyed viewers of the current series of Channel 4’s Big Brother will have spotted two distinctive wall coverings in the bathroom. One is a custom-made floral wallpaper depicting scenes from previous shows, the other consists of thousands of tiny glass mosaic tiles (tesserae). This innovative wall covering forms part of the Trend Wallpaper collection designed to create outstanding feature walls with tactile appeal.

Geberit has opened a new logistics centre to ensure it can continue to respond with speed and efficiency as the number of orders the manufacturer receives continues to grow.

Slip resistance has long been a contentious topic in the flooring industry. It is, perhaps, less important in a domestic setting than in commercial contracts where there is less risk of litigation but it still needs to be taken into account particularly where any floor is likely to get wet.

Kevin Galer has recently been appointed Financial Accountant for the Mereway Kitchens.

Towel warmers from the Essential range have been flying off the shelves at Ideal Bathrooms with retailers ordering in larger quantities as they know they can be certain of selling these high quality products for an unbeatable price.

Building on the successful launch last year of the industry’s first surface materials e-commerce site with its Webstore, IDS has upgraded it to be even slicker in functionality and looks.

Companies can check whether they have the best possible deal on refuelling with an Instant Fuel Card Audit - a new free service from The Fuelcard People.

PROFILE SHOWERS, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of shower enclosures, has launched its new state of the art shower enclosures website:

www.profileshowers.co.uk

PWS’ Avant Black range was selected for an award-winning show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. Instead of worktops, lilies and orchids were planted on top of the base units.

The concept of the Wet Room has seen a steady growth in popularity and is having a major impact on bathroom layout and design.

Congratulations to a group of Mereway staff who recently completed a walk for charity. Jo Brown, Sales Co-Ordinator for Mereway Kitchens organised a ‘Crocus Walk’ of 7 miles for Breakthrough for Breast Cancer, whose work gives hope to the 46,000 women who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK.

Marcrist International has launched the diamond CC750 tile blade, designed for cutting curves in even the hardest ceramic and porcelain tiles.

Caroline Hardman, Northern Regional Sales Manager at Franke UK Ltd, recently took part in The Great Manchester charity run to raise money for The Christies Cancer Care charity; and successfully raised £525!

A visit to this year’s KBB show paid off for Kerry Hopkins from Maddisons Bathroom and Wetroom Specialists in York as her name was drawn from more than 800 entries as the winner of a new car in a competition to celebrate the recent alliance between Croydex and Damixa.

REHAU hosted its fourth Lightweight Network seminar at the end of June in conjunction with Hettich, Egger and Homag.

Companies can achieve significant administration savings by using a fuel card from The Fuelcard People. Regardless of which card they choose from the wide range offered, a single weekly invoice will cover all refuelling, with payment by direct debit.

Corporate membership of the KBSA is proving to be a recession beating benefit according to several corporate members who have voiced their support and urged other organisations to take up membership.

Triton’s Eco showers combine style and performance with water saving opportunities. The T80Z Eco electric shower and Dart Eco and Dove Eco mixer showers have been designed to offer advanced environmentally friendly options across all applications without compromising on styling.

Created by the Roca Innovation Lab. together with the designers Gabriele and Oscar Buratti, W+W is a truly exciting new product revelation from Roca.

The Hudson Reed Eco-Click water saving system has been extended to include five different basin mixer designs, at the same price as the standard models.

Deva is adding to its range of vertical thermostatic showers with the launch of the sleek and stylish COMPVBS9000 bar shower and slide rail kit, available in chrome.

Affordable refrigeration brand Lec, has improved the energy efficiency of its range of under counter freezers.

New from Siemens is combined washer dryer WD14H420GB, a 60cm wide freestanding model. Conventional washer dryers use significant amounts of fresh, cold water to dry the clothes.

The latest addition to Baumatic’s family of BlackLine cooking appliances is the chic new P632BS 60cm multi-function oven, finished in sleek black steel with a super-stylish mirrored glass door.

“More Pleasure, Less Consumption” is the ethos at Hansgrohe and demonstrated by their award-winning portfolio of showers, mixer taps and thermostatic mixers all with water and energy saving EcoSmart technology.

Intrinsically British and respected the world over for harnessing innovative design, Triflow Concepts launches a new tap that will make separate filtration taps as well as kettles a thing of the past.

Following its successful launch earlier in the year, GROHE has incorporated the Euphoria handshower into a new shower system, which has won this years iF award. Now available, it is a real testament to GROHE Quality, Design and Technology as well as offering outstanding value at an impressive £498.

Emphases on saving water is intensifying globally. In response, VADO has developed three solutions that can help reduce water usage and wastage; H2Eco, VADO HydroCyc and the new Atmosphere shower range.

Pegler Yorkshire is demonstrating it has its finger on the pulse of the water conserving designer tap market. Within the renowned Francis Pegler range water conserving taps, mixers and showers include the Haze Eco, the Loko Eco and the Pulsar Eco – which incorporate Triple Action Click Cartridges which can reduce mixed flow rates by up to 70%.

The introduction of Part G of the Building Regulations and in particular part 2 of this new legislation - Water Efficiency - has meant that the brassware industry has taken stock of not only the look and functionality of products but their environmental credentials too.

Roca has introduced two new ‘one piece’ baths, Georgia and Element, to its already comprehensive and extensive bath collection. The new models are improved versions of the current Georgia and Element baths – the difference being that the new designs are crafted from one single piece of acrylic. This means that the baths are completely freestanding and there is no requirement for panels, which makes for easier installation as well as enhancing their aesthetic appearance.

Danish masters of bathroom design, Dansani, offer you the chance to truly submerge and relax in their stylish ‘Square’ bath.

Elegant period design that works just as well in a contemporary interior as in a period home is the hallmark of Victoria & Albert’s extensive collection of classic baths.

Frontline, the UK’s leading bathroom supplier, introduces the Aquabathe range of free-standing baths.

The Wave 1700 x 750mm double ended bath from Puracast range, launched in Spring 2010, is practical, stylish and manufactured to the highest quality standard.

Kaldewei, the world’s leading manufacturer of steel baths and shower trays, is currently running promotions for one of their most popular baths, Puro. From now until the end of September 2010, every sale of a Puro bath will be rewarded with high street vouchers for the retailer, plus supported by an incentive to entice the consumer to purchase.

Leading international bathroom products manufacturer VitrA say that the bath is one of the essential items in the bathroom – a very personal choice where the user will enjoy the experiences of re-vitalisation, relaxation, skin pampering and more.

The first showerbath from Carron dates back to the 1930’s. The showerbath continues to be an ever popular choice today and as such the Carron range now features no less than 6 dedicated showerbath designs, each one created on the drawing board of Carron’s in house design team.

The bathroom has evolved from merely a functional room in a home to become a haven to escape the increasing pressures of everyday life where people go to relax and unwind. While a freestanding bath can be a stunning feature in a large bathroom, it is not a practical solution for all.

Surface materials distributor IDS has won a prestigious RoSPA (Royal Society for the Preventions of Accidents) Occupational Health and Safety Award at a ceremony coinciding with the Safety & Health Expo, Europe’s leading annual health and safety exhibition.

Based in West Yorkshire, CD UK are distributors of Parapan®, Corian®, Alulux doors, Fontana sinks and Air Uno cooker hoods.

The clean lines of a top-end European kitchen are now within reach of a wider audience thanks to Bellissimo’s genuinely handle-free Treviso range in 50 solid colour and woodgrain foils.

Sourcebook is the complete kitchen component distributor stocking a wide range of doors, wirework, handles, drawers, hinges, sinks, taps and lighting.

Over the last twenty years, Maurice Lay has developed its popular Caple brand by expanding its range of appliances, sinks and taps, and furniture, to meet the rising expectations of modern consumers. Consistently growing and nurturing this brand, a constant release of ground-breaking products into the UK market such as state-of-the-art appliances, printed splashbacks and contemporary kitchens, has significantly raised its profile.

North East Sheets & Panel’s reputation as a supplier of quality products has grown through 12 successful years of trading. Developing from a small local supplier to a major regional supplier (with a growing band of nationwide customers) speaks for itself.

Allied Kingswood offers a number of complete kitchen solutions plus dedicated bedroom and bathroom products for the independent KBB retailer from distribution centres in London, the Midlands, the North East and the North West.

James Latham and LG Hausys recently signed a further five-year exclusive UK (excluding Ireland) deal for the distribution of LG’s solid surface HI-MACS® natural acrylic stone. The companies have already achieved an impressive and continuous growth during the last period.

For any manufacturer, independent kitchen designer or retailer accessing quality and key components easily and quickly is essential. DK Distribution have set out their stall to provide exactly this service. With a country-wide weekly delivery using their own fleet, DK offer a wide variety of key products.

Zenolite is a high gloss acrylic decorative panel that offers an eco-friendly, tough and lightweight alternative to more traditional interior surface materials such as back-painted glass, ceramic, aluminium and wood.

Ideal Bathrooms has designed a point of sale storage unit which, for a limited period of time, is free with every order for six Essential straight towel warmers. The unit is attractive, promotes the 5-year guarantee and also shows customers that there is stock readily available.

Ideal Bathrooms has increased staff to front its sales office, the number of vehicles in its fleet and delivery routes - in order to guarantee meeting the standards customers expect.

In an Ideal Bathrooms survey, just over 2-years ago, 59% of respondents said they would purchase a new bathroom suite from a bathroom retailer or showroom compared to just 9% from the Internet. During the short period of time since then, the Internet has become a real threat to retailers. Whilst at present, this is mainly for smaller boxed items, which are easy to package and handle, such as taps and shower kits, it is highly likely that these Internet traders will soon be selling complete bathrooms.

Supplying over 1200 active customers throughout the whole of the UK and Eire, East Coast Fitting’s (ECF) extensive product portfolio includes over 3600 door design and finish combinations, 900 stocked handles, over 440 kitchen and bedroom cabinet options, along with a considerably wide range of storage solutions, lighting and functional hardware.

An event showcasing the next generation of kitchen storage and accessory solutions from leading manufacturers and distributors has been launched. Designed to fill a gap in the market for a UK trade exhibition of kitchen components, the first Kx v.10 will feature LDL Components, Blum, Peka, Wesco, Furnipart and Turnstyle.

The Duetto soft close corner storage unit is a new offering from the Crestwood sourcebook providing the perfect storage solution for L-shaped kitchen lay-outs. Equipped with heavy duty slides, pull-in devices and an efficient and truly refined smooth damping technology, Duetto is available for 900mm cabinets, and 500mm and 450mm door widths.

One of the key motivational factors behind Blum developing the most advanced kitchen storage solutions came from independent research which found that 66% of new kitchen buyers living in an average four-person home found that they had inadequate storage space only after installation was completed.

EGGER has updated its UK collection with a new range of decors which raise the bar once again. Product manager Andrew Sanderson explains why this year’s introductions are the best yet

Launched at the KBB show in March, the Nuvola corner solution adds yet another option to the extensive range of wirework available through UK distributor Herbert Direct. It works behind a 90 degree opening hinged door.

The brand new Atlas from INDAUX, marketed in the UK by SFA Marketing, is the perfect fitting device for suspending wall-mounted cabinets, leaving clear open spaces below.

Good kitchen design is about providing solutions to the complexities of modern life. Schüller recognise that kitchens are not just about functionality, they also need to epitomise todays’ lifestyle requirements. Great kitchen design is about providing adaptability and flexibility.

The Bella by BA kitchen and bedroom door ranges are well known and used in the KBB marketplace. Available in 35 colours and 23 door styles with any colour available in any style this collection is recognised as one of the best available in the market today.

Replacing a kitchen, bedroom or bathroom is a decision that’s likely to impact on the purchaser’s lifestyle for years to come, and is a decision that needs to be approached in a measured and informed manner.

Here's an offer you won't want to miss. Ultraheat is reducing prices by up to 27% on stainless steel designer radiators and towel rails in its Premier Range this autumn.

Baumatic is giving away one of its superb Gelato ice cream makers with every new range cooker purchased from Magnet Kitchens during its summer sale.

Following the launch of a number of new bathroom suites, additional options for existing suites and new designs for washbasins and WC’s, Impulse Bathrooms have now produced a new retail sales brochure showing their full range.

Committed to keeping the industry up-to-date with the latest kitchen systems technology, Franke has just introduced three new brochures which detail the latest sinks, taps, decorative hoods and other innovations within the comprehensive product portfolio.

CRL will introduce the International Series Hinge for frameless shower door applications in the autumn. Offered in both traditional square corner and bevel edge styles, the hinges are available as wall-mount with full back plate and 180◦ glass-to-glass models which essentially cover most popular installation configurations.

Roca has launched a new furniture collection, Diverta, bringing all-in-one practical and innovative solutions to the modern bathroom.

HiB have again extended their lead as innovative mirror suppliers to the bathroom industry with two superb designs – the demistable and LED lit mirrors Hannnah and Keo.

For a warm, inviting kitchen environment look no further than Memphis, the latest kitchen furniture range to be introduced to the Four Seasons collection.

With its inspired combination of subtle curves and striking angles, the stunning Modest range from Crosswater is guaranteed to impress. It may be modest in name but its robust chrome-finished construction and sleek styling makes a bold statement.

Compac has launched two stunning quartz work surface colourways – Botticino (pictured) and Pierre Bleue. These new shades will offer the designer endless opportunities to create beautiful yet practical kitchens or bathrooms.

Bauhaus brings the latest in contemporary bathroom design with an addition to its market-leading range of Elite furniture.

Having made its début at KBB2010, the ZX Elements sink from Carron Phoenix proves that old products can be given a new lease of life.

Amica has introduced its latest built-in hob. Inari features a control panel with ErgoTouch fingertip sensor controls and a Touch Slider sensor control for optional quick, smooth adjustment.