Contour News

Vincent Selby

Contour Showers are delighted to announce  the apointment of Vincent Selby as Area Manager for the South East region. Vincent has a wealth of experience in our industry and will be a valued member of the sales team. Vincent can be contacted on his mobile number: 07971 154992

At Contour Showers we pride ourselves on our customer service and ability to listen to our customers needs, so it was nice to receive the following feedback from one of our customers:

DSL Installations was founded in 1993 as a family run business providing specialist in

stallations of disabled bathrooms, kitchens and mobility access within the home. We pride ourselves on our customer satisfaction, and were delighted to become a part of the Trading Standards ‘Buy With Confidence’ scheme in 2009. We also consistently achieve very high scores on the consumer led website www.checkatrade.com.

To achieve such high standards we insist on working with suppliers that have similar working practices, so we are proud to have been an installer of Contour Showers products since 1998. We have always found their professionalism and innovation to be of the highest standard. They also value the input from the installers to help innovate and refine their products. We aim to continue this excellent partnership, and would not hesitate in recommending them to all new and prospective customers.

Mrs A. Emery - DSL Director

DSL Installations - Unit 16 Invincible Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7QU & Unit 3 D2 Trading Estate, Castle Road, Slittingbourne, Kent, ME10 3RH

Email: sales@dsl-installations.co.uk Website: www.dsl-installations.co.uk

Stan Spinks

Contour Showers are delighted to announce the appointment of Stan Spinks as Area Manager for the North West region. Stan has a wealth of experience having been in the industry for 25 years and will be a much valued member of the sales team. Stan can be contacted on his mobile number 07866 768404

Contour Showers has experience gained in 50 years of business, developing the most comprehensive and appropriate range of showering options available from one source to assist independence for the elderly and special needs.

We believe as a company in producing increasingly environmentally friendly and innovative showering solutions that both exceed expectations and reduce whole life costs.

With this in mind, we now provide all our shower trays, floor formers, shower doors and enclosures with an assuring Lifetime Guarantee.

The guarantee applies against manufacturing defects, and covers products in domestic use, provided they have been used in the manner they were intended.

As a British manufacturer the Lifetime Guarantee is just another trusted addition to our comprehensive range of shower trays, eco-friendly floor formers and recyclable shower doors.

For more information about our products and services please call 0800 1692781, email sales@contour-showers.co.uk or browse our website.

Careful selection of components and materials can make a significant contribution towards improving the overall energy performance- including embodied energy- in both new build and refurbishment homes, claims Contour Showers.

The company, the UK’s leading manufacturer of showering solutions for the majority, has undertaken major investment in its production processes, to the extent its new ‘eco-friendly’ Eco-dec® wetfloor former has a carbon footprint up to 70% lower than any similar plastic product on the market, thus helping enhance the overall energy rating of the building, whilst enabling efficient creation of a wetfloor in the bathroom.

Manufactured in the UK from over 90% recycled plastic and itself 100% recyclable, Eco-dec® is proven to yield only 53.5kg CO2 equivalent over its life, compared to 184kg CO2 equivalent for alternative formers*. Further, Eco-dec® is lighter in weight, reducing transport, labour and structural installation costs, and is guaranteed for 25 years.

Contour Showers’ Marketing & IT Manager Marc Smith elaborates, “Embodied energy accounts for some 27% of the lifetime carbon costs of housing, so small changes in product specification can make a big difference! If you multiply the savings our Eco-dec® can make across fixtures and fittings in other rooms in a home, the impact on the overall carbon footprint would be major!

“The Empty Homes Agency’s ‘New Tricks with Old Bricks’ report maintains that if the 288,000+ long-term empty homes in England were re-used and upgraded to higher energy efficiency standards as part of the Government’s plans for three million new homes by 2020, the research results suggest that the immediate carbon cost could be cut by 8%, or more than 10 million tonnes. This saving is equivalent to taking 3.3 million cars off the road for a whole year, the entire annual household CO2 emissions of a city one-and-a-half times the size of Birmingham, or every household in Reading going zero-carbon for 26 years. That figure can be further improved simply by use of building products with low embodied energy, which do not compromise performance standards- as advised in the Sustainable Homes’ Embodied Energy in Residential Property Development Guide- and yield value for money.”

Eco-dec® is just part of Contour Showers’ comprehensive range, the majority of which is recyclable. The British company has over 50 years’ experience in the provision of showering solutions, manufactured and assembled in the UK, with an offering now encompassing options from wetfloor areas through low-level and step-in shower trays to self-contained cubicles and ancillary items from shower seats to grabrails.

In the next few months, 2 of our staff will be raising money for charity by participating in various events:

Mark Spradbery

On 4th October Mark will be participating in a 10k run to help raise funds for Cancer Research UK. Mark will be doing the 10k run, along with 1300 other runners, at Hylands Park, Chelmsford. Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading independent organisation dedicated to cancer research using a team of over 4500 scientists, doctors and nurses. If you would like to sponsor Mark you can do so online at www.run10ksponsorme.org/markspradbery  

Janet Hindmarch

On August 29th Janet will be embarking on a trek to the summit of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK, raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Last year Janet raised £286.50 for the cause by completing a sponsored walk up Mt. Snowdon and is hoping to smash last years figure with her latest adventure. If you would like to sponsor Janet you can do so online at www.justgiving.com/janethindmarch

Investor in People                                                                                                                                                                                                We are currently giving our staff the opportunity to study for an NVQ on site and free of charge. A number of our staff have taken advantage of this and are currently studying for this widely recognised qualification.

Carol Reece, who works in our finance department, recently finished studying for an NVQ Level 3 in business and administration. As well as successfully completing the course she also picked up the award for student of the year.

Charity Event

John Leadbeater

On 28th June, John participated in a ‘reverse bungee jump’ at the Chesterway pub in Northwich. John was raising money for the Doctor Joe Jaffe Hospital Support Charity, who are raising funds to provide cancer treatment equipment for the Christie New Patient Treatment Centre. The event was a complete success and John managed to raise £72 for the charity. Well done John!

A lateral approach to problem-solving has resulted in an innovative solution to effective shower waste drainage, which offers benefits for both the installer and the user.

Contour Showers, the UK’s leading manufacturer of showering solutions for the elderly and less able, maintains its Primo XTRA shower waste pump is unique in its design, thus overcoming all the inherent issues with conventional waste pumps, which are noisy, block easily, require precise siting to function properly and need regular maintenance. The company is so sure of Primo’s performance that it guarantees it for up to five years.

Primo XTRA utilises peristaltic technology similar to that employed in heart bypass equipment. The unit is operated by a flowswitch in the cold water supply or it can be linked directly to the shower, it monitors water flow and begins silently operating as soon as water begins to flow down the waste. Specially designed ‘rollers’ within the pump mechanism ‘massage’ the waste water along the pipework to maintain a constant flow regardless of the quantity of hair, soap and other washing debris that may be suspended in the water. The system thus prevents solids within the waste collecting and causing a blockage. The speed of the blades pump ensures a constant pressure and thus eliminates pockets of air accumulating and creating therefore reducing the traditional gurgling and slurping as the water drains.

Contour’s Primo XTRA is not handed and can be installed horizontally or vertically up to 400mm above the shower tray waste, with the control box sited in- or outside the bathroom. It requires no non-return valves, and can be used with electric or mixer showers. Primo XTRA is made from components that are 100% recyclable, At the end of its life, it is therefore 100% recyclable.

Explains Kevin Bower, Contour Commercial Director, “So often people comment that shower waste pumps are noisy- to the extent that in multi-occupancy buildings such as blocks of flats or residential or care homes, neighbours are physically disturbed by the noise from the pump next door! And if the shower waste blocks, as it can frequently do, the consequences are at least disruptive and can be costly. We have applied our 50 years’ experience in providing showering solutions to develop Primo XTRA to overcome those issues, to minimise noise and risk of blockage, and optimise durability: the motor in our Primo has been tested to run constantly at optimum capacity for six years- more than it would ever do in a ‘real life’ environment.”

Adds John Range,Director at Effectable Construction Services, “ In our opinion Primo XTRA is the most reliable pump on the market; with its five-year guarantee it provides the service user confidence coupled with long term cost savings incurred by service calls from older unreliable models.”

Contour supplies Primo XTRA with a range of kits to enable efficient installation whether with a shower tray, floor former or traditional screeded wetfloor area. Contour is the leading British manufacturer of shower solutions for the elderly and less able, manufacturing and supplying its product range in the UK. Its innovation extends beyond Primo: for example, all its shower trays feature Microban® active hygiene protection as an integral element of the tray, creating a surface hostile to microbes- including MRSA & listeria monocytogenes - and resistant to bacteria throughout the trays’ lifetime. Full details, CAD blocks and technical data are available on Contour’s website.

Compliance with new regulatory accessibility requirements in multi-occupancy environments by provision of accessible bedrooms is being simplified with innovations at Contour Showers. 

The new BS8300:2009 specifies that there should be at least one accessible bedroom- including en-suite sanitary facilities- in hotels, student accommodation, nursing or residential homes, and if only one such facility is provided, it should be an accessible shower room rather than bathroom, with the preferred solution being a level access shower with shower chair/tip-up seat. 

Contour is the UK’s leading manufacturer of shower solutions for the elderly and disabled, with almost half a century of experience servicing the sector. As a result, it is uniquely positioned to help specifiers select the most appropriate equipment to ensure compliance with the new Standard. 

All Contour’s level access shower trays have been purpose-designed to enable creation of a wheelchair-friendly showering area. The Swift & Eagle range uniquely use the company’s Trueseal concept, vinyl sheet flooring can be hot seam welded directly onto the trays to form a secure, watertight joint minimising risk of future problems. An Eagle bath replacement tray can be cut to length on site to facilitate a perfect fit, without impact on the showering area of the tray and without affecting the preformed fall to ensure good shower waste drainage. 

Contour’s shower trays all include an anti-slip surface for assured underfoot grip, and exclusively feature integral Microban® anti-bacterial technology which inhibits sustenance of harmful bacteria including MRSA and listeria Monocytogenes inbetween regular cleaning cycles. 

Complimenting the shower trays, Contour’s Luxe range of shower doors optimise ease of passage for the user and are carefully designed to simultaneously provide appropriate access- and protection from water- for the carer. The range of Contour shower seats further optimise accessibility, with all variants being flush fold-away when not in use but providing security and comfort. 

To help simplify the selection process, Contour’s new-look website- www.contour-showers.co.uk-  now features a specific ‘Specify It’ button, which opens a range of tools enabling the specifier to click, copy and paste the selected product, saving time writing, and ensuring accuracy, of the specification. The selection process is further enhanced by all specification and installation data being on-line and available to download in PDF format. The site also incorporates an interactive ‘flash’ gallery to help visualise the proposed equipment, complimenting Contour’s existing 3D design service. 

Kevin Bower, Contour Showers Commercial Director, observes, “Accessibility has always been a priority in our product design and evolution, but for many architects, facilities managers and similar professionals, the new Standard is opening doors to a whole spectrum of criteria they could not be fully ‘au fait’ with. With our 50 years’ experience, we are best positioned to help them meet the Standard with as little effort as possible.”

The problem of designing new build or refurbishment hotel schemes to accommodate the needs of most is being simplified with developments at Contour Showers. 

The new BS8300:2009 requires that there should be at least one accessible bedroom- including en-suite sanitary facilities- in hotels, and, if only one such facility is provided, it should be an accessible shower room rather than bathroom with the preferred solution being a level access shower with shower chair/tip-up seat. Whilst the Standard applies to new build, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 covers refurbishment or upgrade projects, to ensure the accommodation is accessible.

Kevin Bower, Contour Showers’ Commercial Director, elaborates, “The tendency has been, whether or not specifically to achieve compliance, to install a shower over a bath. In reality, this is not practical for most: one in six of the UK population has a ‘life limiting’ illness which affects mobility- including the ability to physically step in or out of a bath! By 2010, over half the British population will be aged over 50- a sector with increasing disposal wealth and therefore in a position to spend money staying in hotels- but also facing associated issues such as reduced mobility- whether or not they view themselves as disabled. Forward-thinking hoteliers will therefore either install level access shower facilities or wetfloors, thereby not only achieving legislative compliance but actually providing what the customer needs!” 

All Contour’s level access shower trays and wetfloor formers have been purpose-designed to enable creation of a wheelchair-friendly/ accessible showering area, with minimal disruption and optimum ease of installation. Uniquely, all Contour shower trays exclusively incorporate Microban® anti-bacterial technology which inhibits sustenance of harmful bacteria including MRSA and listeria monocytogenes, inbetween regular cleaning cycles. This anti-bacterial technology is especially relevant to areas of high activity with continual shared usage, as it will not wash or wear out, and provides continuous protection for the lifetime of the tray. Contour guarantees its shower trays for up to 25 years, reducing ‘whole life’ costs and optimising value for money. 

To simplify the selection/ specification process, Contour has added a ‘Specify It’ button on its website which opens a myriad of tools enabling click, copy and paste of the selected product, saving time writing, and ensuring accuracy, of the specification. The selection process is further enhanced by all specification and installation data being on-line and available to download in PDF format. 

Contour is the leading British manufacturer of shower trays, producing and assembling its product range in the UK. Contour applies its half-century of experience in the bathroom sector to help create the most appropriate accessible bathroom or wetroom for each individual client.

Statistics show some 10.5million- ie one in six- people in the UK have a limiting long-term illness which impinges on their daily life with mobility being the most common limitation. Further, by 2011, all public funded housing in England will have to be built to ‘Lifetime Homes’ standards. As a result, there is increasing pressure on specifiers to implement accessibility in the domestic, public and commercial environments, but they face a myriad of product options beyond their usual ‘comfort’ zone.

 An innovative solution is now at hand, highlighted and supported by Contour Showers at the NEC in April. Quad amputee Ray Edwards, chair of the Limbless Association and managing director of Access Consultants, maintains his in-depth knowledge of Building Regulations Approved Document M and his own experiences and connections put him and the Association in a unique position to provide pertinent, relevant consultancy on new-build or adaptations to create accessible environments with empathy.

 A key element of the Limbless Association’s work is information and advice to and for those who have congenital or acquired limb loss to make the most of life- including adaptations to optimise independence. It will be highlighted at the NEC, at the specialist Naidex exhibition, on April 29, on Contour Showers stand, B100, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of shower solutions for the less able.

 Elaborates Ray, “Occupational Therapists are expert on advising on the type of equipment to help someone, but inevitably do not have the knowledge for how that piece of kit will fit into a building, whether/ how it will comply- or otherwise- with relevant Regulations. Architects and contractors know the space and regulatory considerations, but cannot know about the relevance of every single piece of equipment to an individual’s particular issues. The Association in conjunction with Access Consultants integrates both those areas, and works with the client to create an empathetic environment that meets every party’s needs and helps inspire the individual to be as independent as possible. 

Full details of the Limbless Association’s work is available at www.limbless-association.org.