Baxi creates a new force in commercial heating

Baxi has brought together five operating divisions as Baxi Commercial. The new company has a turnover of £100 million a year and a workforce of 600. Paul Rivett is managing director of the new organisation, which brings together Andrews Water Heaters, Elson Hot Water, Heatrae Sadia, Potterton Commercial and Rycroft. The product offering ranges from gas-fired storage and instantaneous water heaters, hot-water storage tanks and electric storage water heaters to gas-fired boilers, large storage cylinders and plate-to-plate heat exchangers. Paul Rivett says, ‘Until now, the Baxi brand has been synonymous with domestic warmth and home comfort, despite the group having a strong UK presence in the commercial market through brands such as Andrews, Potterton and Heatrae. ‘By bringing these businesses closer together in terms of research and development, market intelligence, sales and service, we can begin to realise our true potential as a market-leading commercial-heating business through offering both the widest range of products in the market and a unique ability to provide comprehensive heating and hot-water solutions.’ A state-of-the art facility for designing commercial products will be developed at Heatrae Sadia’s site in Norwich. Plans include expanding the current R&D resources to house design, development and testing facilities. ‘The commercial market faces many challenges,’ says Paul Rivett. ‘The Government has yet to reveal its strategy for energy efficiency, despite commercial boilers growing faster than the domestic sector. ‘But the needs of the industry are more far reaching than energy-saving technology. Increasingly, the industry is required to ensure that its products take into consideration areas such as whole-life costing, space efficiency and speedier, more efficient methods of site construction. By creating a dedicated commercial R&D resource, we are not only able to respond quickly to market needs, but also be one step ahead in terms of developing next-generation heating products and hot-water solutions.’