Bathroom and plumbing manufacturer Geberit celebrated 150 years of trading at The Custard Factory, in Birmingham, with a party to thank its trade customers for their support.

Over 170 guests attended Geberit’s 150th anniversary event, which spanned a selection of independent and national retailers, merchants and housebuilders, to celebrate the past, present and future of the European manufacturer.

The event included a customer dinner, Geberit film, musicians who used Geberit pipe as wind and percussion instruments, bathroom-themed games, plus selfie photography spot.

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It formed just one of Geberit Group’s events which have been taking place around the world, in each of the countries served by the company.

The Custard Factory location was chosen for its industrial setting, because it was from a similar historical era to the Geberit Group, and for its proximity to the UK head office, as it was also welcoming employees to an event the following day.

Speaking at the event, managing director of Geberit UK Mark Larden explained how the company had grown from its roots as a one-man enterprise in Switzerland in 1874 to employing 11,000 people, generating CHF 3bn turnover, and present in over 50 countries with 20 manufacturing plants.

Geberit has been present in the UK since 1999, which was the same year it transitioned from a family business to a listed company on the Six Swiss Stock Exchange.

Mark Larden commented on its anniversary in the UK: “We are celebrating 25 years, this year, and the other milestone that we reached last year was our turnover hit £100m for the first time.”

He thanked invited guests for their contribution to Geberit UK reaching its turnover milestone and stated: “Your support has been the cornerstone to our success and we’re profoundly grateful for that.”

National sales director (Retail, Trade and Care) Peter Davis recognised the difficulty of predicting the future, but highlighted potential sales growth for wall-hung, with 90% of the UK market still floorstanding WCs.

He stated the recent launch of its affordable shower toilet Aquacare Alba was “another example of how Geberit is trying to progress and move things on” and said the company was planning to launch new products, for behind and in-front of the wall, to accelerate growth.