Baxi was launched by iron moulder Richard Baxendale in 1866 and a controllable underfloor draught system for solid fuel heating, launched in 1935, was the first product to bear the Baxi name. Throughout the 1950s, the company became increasingly focused on the domestic heating sector and Baxi became a familiar household name.
Today, Baxi is a leading UK boiler manufacturer employing nearly 1,600 people. The company has a factory in Preston, close to where the company began 150 years ago, where it makes over seven million components each year. It is the only UK boiler manufacturer with its own foundry and its paint shop has been benchmarked by Mitsubishi.
As part of Baxi’s 150th anniversary celebrations, people are being invited to share happy memories of the company by e-mailing a message and photograph of themselves to mybaxistory@baxi.co.uk. Each story will be entered into a commemorative online book, to be hosted on the Baxi website, and each photograph will become part of a 150-shaped montage of images, to be completed by the end of 2016.
Paul Clancy, MD Baxi Ireland, said, “Our business has reached an incredibly important milestone; very few businesses have been around for as long as we have and it’s a remarkable achievement. We are proud to be celebrating 150 years of Baxi – especially as in 2016 we are stronger and more successful than ever.
“We will be marking the company’s anniversary – and future – with a variety of events and activities throughout the year and are kicking off the celebrations by launching My Baxi Story. Being around for such a long time means there are millions of people who have had experiences and have built relationships with us.
“My Baxi Story is about giving anyone with happy memories of Baxi – whether they are a heating engineer, consumer, former or current employee, merchant, supplier or partner – an opportunity to share their story. Everyone that gets involved will become part of a special commemorative online book and image.”
To start off the My Baxi Story Campaign, we asked some of the Baxi team in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for their memories:
Paul Clancy, Managing Director, Baxi Potterton Myson – “150 years is indeed a great brand heritage, one we are all very proud of. We intend to celebrate this milestone with a number of customer events throughout Ireland.Over the 150 years we have added more market leading brands to our portfolio such as Potterton, Heatrea Sadia and Andrews Water Heaters. Only by creating innovative products and solutions around customers needs have we been able to grow over these 150 years. Baxi Potterton Myson is looking forward with great optimism.”
Sharon English, Area Sales Manager, Northern Ireland – “I am privileged to be working with the company for the past 16 years and have been delighted to see the business grow from strength to strength. This includes from our appliances to the state-of-the-art training facilities now available to installers across Ireland.”
Vincent Broderick, Sales Director – “My history with Baxi goes back to when Baxi acquired the assets of Blue Circle Heating in 1999. Since then I have seen the company increase its diversity in heating and hot water products moving from a domestic boiler supplier to one of the leading suppliers of heating and hot water solutions in the world. I am looking forward to seeing this continue in the next decade as the market moves into renewables and combined solutions such as Heat Interface units as we continue our progress with market leading products and services.”
Richard Louth, Area Sales Manager – “I’m very proud to be associated with a company of this heritage. Our long term commitment to the Irish heating industry is reflected by the massive investment undertaken in installer training and new state-of-the-art training centre in Calmount Park HQ. Very shortly we will have new Combined Heat and Power interlinked with our latest additions to our commercial range. It is our intention to invite all interested specifiers and mechanical contractors to visit this new installation.”
Anyone with a Baxi story to tell should e-mail mybaxistory@baxi.co.uk with a message and a photograph. Alternatively, they can write to Jocelynne Rowan, PR Manager, Baxi, Brooks House, Coventry Road, Warwick CV34 4LL. For more information, visit www.baxi.co.uk
