Bristan The Bathroom Company

Bristan the bathroom Company

Youve seen their items. Youve heard their name. Youve thought about their taps for your bathroom. But besides the fact that theyre one of the UKs biggest manufacturers of bathroom taps, sanitaryware, showers, shower enclosures and decorative heating, what more do you know in relation to Bristan?

Created in 1977, Bristan are part of the Bristan Group, which involves Heritage Bathrooms (strapline: Luxury & Style) and Sirrus (apparently producers of showers and mixer valves ever since 1861). Bristan offer everything for any bathroom from the economy Value Club selection of taps to the Prism Shower Pole with integral diverter and body jets. It is the sheer product range and prices, all secured by a five year parts guarantee that has guaranteed their standing in the marketplace. But what does this company represent?

Visionary
The stated company vision of where they need to be in the longer term is, "To be the initially choice for taps and showers." Simple, direct and no messing about. Possibly a little like the company itself. As the large selection indicates, Bristan is certainly hoping to create something for every market area.

They also have a mission, a statement of what they seek to accomplish day in, day out. "To deliver the most appealing, affordable items and an extraordinary customer experience by having a genuine understanding of their needs." Well, fair enough; if they can do that on a daily basis (and there are individuals whod say that they do) then they really could be the first choice.

Catering for all
To genuinely become first choice for all, Bristan have to appeal to everybody and they do display a canny understanding of the various customers requirements. For example, the id range of bathroom furniture and taps and fittings is geared towards people with varying physical requirements. Either a basin that could be built in at a non-standard height for easier accessibility, or taps that are more easily turned on and off, the product rangecaters for small children, the aged and people with a physical disability.

In a niche-but-rapidly-growing market, Bristans Dune collection targets the eco-conscious consumer. The bath, sink and lavatory are all designed to conserve water (I.e. use less) in comparison to the industry standard specifications. While the accompanying ranges of taps (and there are many) feature flow limiters and systems such as eco click, a feature that subtly encourages the consumer to waste less water.

Full training given
Yet another way in which Bristan hope to affect customer opinion is guaranteeing not just the standard of the items but also the quality of their setup. Bristan Prime is a charter scheme which plumbers and fitters are asked to join and thereby market themselves as Bristan experts. The organization offers training for current and new items, both from the Tamworth base (with showroom and wet room facilities for hands-on experience) to the online Bristan Training Academy (dot co dot uk) enabling qualification as a shower specialists following a number of online modules and tests. Along with the training, Prime members acquired sales and marketing support and also have access to a hotline providing them with priority technical support if it is required.

So, theyve got a wide range of products, along with a wide range of people trained to fit them; how else are Bristan managing their reputation?

Good works
In the contemporary business mindset of corporate public responsibility, its not just about the profit margin for Bristan. For the past two years, theyve worked directly with Cancer Research UK, as their selected charity partner. The company has pledged to raise more than 50,000 over the course of the partnership and not only that but parent company Masco has agreed to match what they raise. By September 2010, theyd already reached the 20,000 bench mark and were going strong.

Apparently Cancer Research UK isnt the only charity Bristan has supported though. A quick look at the companys Facebook page (http://en-gb.facebook.com/Bristan.ltd?sk=info) and we see that the Groups HR Manager agreed to sit in a bath (what else?!) of cold baked beans in aid of Comic Relief earlier this year.

Bristan online
Just like many companies, Bristan have included the internet into their marketing strategy. Along with the Facebook site and the website, they have a corporate blog, to trumpet new product launches and have established a factory outlet shop selling stock no longer in the current brochure on ebay. With a positive feed-back rating of 99.8% it would seem to be a profitable outlet plus a method of buying bathroom products that appeals to a great deal of buyers.

But in the end, its all about the taps
and the baths, and the basins, as well as showers and the radiators, and so forth. What Bristan truly come down to is the range of products. A read through the website demonstrates that what they are most interested in talking about is what they produce. And really thats absolutely the way it ought to be. If its the newest Rare selection of taps and accessories (7 themes, each named after a particular jewel or rare stone) or on the more practical side, the release of the new Nero shower valve, Bristans status should be built on the quality and value of the items they design and offer. At the end of the day, they already know if theyre going to be first choice then they have got to come up with the goods. And thats just what theyre doing.