Baxi

Baxi (part of BDR Thermea)
Private
Industry Heating
Founded 1866
Headquarters Warwick[1], England
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 David Pinder (UK CEO)
Products Boilers, solar thermal, biomass, micro-CHP
Services Service, maintenance and repair of boilers
Revenue €1.8 billion
Number of employees
 6,400 (worldwide as part of BDR Thermea)
Divisions UK: Baxi Domestic, Potterton Commercial, Andrews Water Heaters, Potterton, Heatrae Sadia, Main Heating, Remeha Commercial, Elson, Santon, heateam, interpart
Website baxi.co.uk

Baxi is a part of BDR Thermea, one of Europe's largest manufacturers and distributors of domestic and commercial water and space heating systems.

It employs 6,400 people throughout Europe with a turnover exceeding €1.2 billion. The group has significant market shares across all major continental territories and in the United Kingdom. It is also expanding into new markets such as Romania and Argentina and already has a direct presence in Russia, China and the Czech Republic, and joint venture partnerships in developing locations, like Turkey.

Today, BDR Thermea owns and sells some of the leading brands in the European market for heating products.[2]

It is known under various pseudonyms worldwide, including Chappée and Ideal Standard in France, Roca in Spain and Broetje in Germany.

Baxi operates five sites in the UK: Warwick, Preston, Norwich, Wokingham and Erdington.

Its investment is based on boiler products and renewable technologies, including solar thermal hot water systems, ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, biomass boilers and micro combined heat and power with baxi-innotech.[3]

History

The group can trace its beginnings back over 150 years to Richard Baxendale, an iron founder, who began the Baxendale Company in 1866, based in Preston in Lancashire. Since the company was founded, it has been responsible for many of the key engineering breakthroughs which have revolutionised the boiler market.

The current Baxi Group was formed in November 2000 by the merger of the heating interests of Newmond plc (formerly the European Building Products Division of Williams Holding Plc) and Baxi Holdings plc.

The company's main shareholders are now private equity investors, BC Partners and Electra.

Baxi International

Baxi International, a division of the Baxi Group, was formed in 2002 to manage the group's international sales, marketing and after-sales activities in more than 70 countries across the world.[4]

Joint Ventures

Strategic acquisitions and joint ventures since 2000 have included Baymak (Turkey joint venture), Baxi Belgium, SenerTec (combined heat and power), European Fuel Cell (fuel cell technology) and Roca Heating, the market leader in residential heating equipment in Spain and Portugal.[5]

In October 2004, Baxi Holding Ltd sold the Aqualisa division, to a management buy-out backed by CBPE Capital for £82.5 million.[6]

Baxi in England

Preston

The company continues to be a major employer in Preston at the manufacturing and testing facility.[7]

Baxi is a former owner and sponsor of Preston North End, having taken over the club in summer 1994 when it had been in serious financial difficulty for several years. Baxi's chief executive Bryan Gray became club chairman. One of the first announcements by the new board was that Deepdale, until then a dilapidated stadium owned by Preston Council, would be upgraded into a modern stadium after the injection of extra funds by BAXI and from a subsequent new share issue.[8]

Bryan Gray resigned as club chairman in the autumn of 2001 and BAXI declined to appoint a replacement, so it was immediately clear that they intended to sell their holding in the club.[9] By this time, three of the four new stands at Deepdale had been rebuilt and reopened but work on the fourth was delayed by several years following the collapse of ITV Digital, which cost the club an income of £4.6 million over the next two years (the stand was finally opened in 2008). The club was initially bought by existing directors and sponsors but has subsequently been taken over by Lancashire businessman Trevor Hemmings.[9]

Warwick

The company's contact centre currently employs some 100 call handlers working from offices based in Warwick. Handling customer enquiries relating to heating system breakdowns, the contact centre also provides a technical helpdesk and handles approximately 6,000 calls per day.[10]

Merge

In July 2009 the group agreed to merge with Netherlands business rival De Dietrich Remeha to form BDR Thermea.[11]

Baxi partnership

It is Britain's largest employee owned manufacturing company.[12] The Original company was left in a Trust for the benefit of the Employees.[13] The Trust required an act of parliament specially to set it up due to UK trust Laws placing restrictions on trust and the original intentions of the trust not being compatible. This resulted in the Baxi Partnership Limited Trusts Act 2000 being enacted.[13]

The BDR Thermea employs more than 5,400 people throughout Europe with a turnover of £850 million.[14]

UK subsidiaries and locations

Overseas subsidiaries and locations

  • BAXI – Bassano del Grappa (Italy)
  • Baymak (Turkey joint venture),
  • CSE (now renamed Baxi Belgium),
  • SenerTec(Combined Heat and Power specialists),
  • European Fuel Cell
  • Roca Heating (2005), in Spain and Portugal.
  • Brötje in Germany
  • Chappée in France

See also

  • Top Track 100 – Baxi is No. 52 in the list of biggest private companies.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.baxi.co.uk/about-baxi/contact-baxi.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.bdrthermea.com (Baxi in the world – UK)
  3. ↑ Baxi-innotech
  4. ↑ http://www.baxigroup.co.uk (Baxi International)
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  6. ↑ http://www.baxigroup.com
  7. ↑ Baxi Heating – The Manufacturer.com – Promoting best practice in Manufacturing
  8. ↑ "Col backed Baxi's PNE revolution". Lancashire Evening Post. 8 February 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Baxi in PNE sell-off". Lancashire Evening Post. 28 June 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  11. ↑ "Baxi to merge with Dutch rival and create heating giant". The Times. London. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  12. ↑ The Business of Football – Paul Robert Lloyd Archived 3 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 September 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  14. ↑ "Baxi jobs under threat". Retrieved 9 July 2013.
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