Baxi is a manufacturer and distributor of domestic and commercial

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

and space heating systems, based in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is a subsidiary of European group BDR Thermea. Baxi employs 6,400 people throughout Europe, with a turnover exceeding €1.2 billion. The group has significant

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

s across all major continental territories and in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is also expanding into new markets such as

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and already has a direct presence in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It has a presence of joint venture partnerships in developing locations, like

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Today, BDR Thermea owns and sells some of the leading brands in the European market for heating products. It is known under various pseudonyms worldwide, including ''Chappée'' and ''Ideal Standard'' in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, ''Roca'' in Spain, and ''Broetje'' in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Baxi operates three sites in the UK:

, Preston and

Wokingham Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...

. There are also numerous training centers nationwide, including

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

and

Godmanchester Godmanchester ( ) is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is separated from Huntingdon, to the north, by the valley of the River Great Ouse. Being on the Roman roads ...

. Its investment is based on boiler products and renewable technologies, including

solar thermal Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in Industrial sector, industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors. Solar thermal collectors are classified ...

hot water systems, ground source

heat pump A heat pump is a device that uses electricity to transfer heat from a colder place to a warmer place. Specifically, the heat pump transfers thermal energy using a heat pump and refrigeration cycle, cooling the cool space and warming the warm s ...

s, air source heat pumps, biomass boilers and micro combined heat and power with ''baxi-innotech''.

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 revolutionized the boiler market. The current ''Baxi Group'' was formed in November 2000 after 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 A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

are now

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

investors,

BC Partners BC Partners LLP is a British international investment firm with over $40 billion of assets under management across private equity, credit and real estate in Europe and North America. Its global headquarters are in London. The firm invests across ...

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.

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 A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

heating equipment in Spain and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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

million 1,000,000 (one million), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the ...

Baxi in England

Preston

The company continues to be a major employer in Preston at the manufacturing and testing facility. Baxi is 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. Gray resigned as club chairman in the autumn of 2001 and Baxi declined to appoint a replacement, so it was immediately clear that the company intended to sell its holding in the club. By this time, three of the four new stands at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

had been rebuilt and reopened but work on the fourth was delayed by several years following the collapse of

ITV Digital ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners ...

, 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 Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

businessman Trevor Hemmings.

Warwick

The company's contact centre currently employs some 100 call handlers working from offices based in

. Handling customer enquiries relating to heating system breakdowns, the contact centre also provides a technical helpdesk and handles approximately 6,000 calls per day.

Merge

In July 2010, the group agreed to merge with

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

business rival De Dietrich Remeha to form BDR Thermea.

Baxi Partnership

It is Britain's largest employee owned manufacturing company. The original company was left in a trust for the benefit of its employees. The trust required an act of Parliament specially to set it up because UK trust laws placed restrictions on trust and the original intentions of the trust not being compatible. This resulted in the Baxi Partnership Limited Trusts Act 2000 (c. iv) being enacted. The BDR Thermea employs more than 5,400 people throughout Europe with a turnover of £850 million.

Products

* Baxi Toolbelt app * Benchmark Checklist app

UK subsidiaries and locations

*Andrews Water Heaters –

*Baxi – Preston *Baxi Customer Support (Servicing) –

*Baxi Genuine Parts –

*Elson – Preston *Heatrae Sadia – Preston *Main – Warwick *Potterton – Warwick *Potterton Commercial –

*Santon – Preston *Remeha Commercial –

Not a subsidiary of Baxi

Overseas subsidiaries and locations

*BAXI –

Bassano del Grappa Bassano del Grappa ( or ''Bassan'', ) is a city and ''comune'', in the Province of Vicenza, Vicenza province, in the region of Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Va ...

(Italy) *Baymak (Turkey joint venture), *CSE (now renamed Baxi Belgium), *SenerTec (

Combined Heat and Power Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to electricity generation, generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise ...

specialists), *European Fuel Cell *Roca Heating (2005), in Spain and Portugal. *Brötje in Germany *Chappée in France

References

{{reflist
Telegraph article listing Baxi & new turnover figure

External links

Baxi Website
Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Employee-owned companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Preston Private equity portfolio companies Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning companies Companies based in Warwick British brands Preston North End F.C.