AstralPool team settles into their new UK base…
The AstralPool UK team has relocated to a suite of plush new offices across town from its previous base in Fareham, Hampshire. Practising what they preach, and playing to their strengths, AstralPool’s Technical Director, Simon Jones, personally designed the layout of the 3,000 sq ft base to best suit the team’s needs. With state-of-the-art training and conference facilities within walking distance, on the impressive Cams Hall Estate, the move marks the latest chapter in a formidable AstralPool UK story that began in the mid-80s in nearby Gosport.
With a nod to that historic past, the team meeting room has been prominently named the Alan White Suite, in honour of the company’s founding father. “Although we are very much looking forward, we wanted to pay due respect to the past history of the company and specifically to Alan, at the same time underlining the family values that make the AstralPool team so special,” explains General Manager, Dyfed Thompson Smith.
Family values clearly still matters to the AstralPool UK team that includes Simon Jones and his son William, Paul Donohoe and his daughter Lucianne Seymour – to name just a few of the in-team connections including Dyfed’s own nephew. With Heatstar courses already lined up and other seminars being added to the schedule, the neighbouring golf course and leisure facilities are set to be an added bonus with a new pool being built, of course, by one of AstralPool’s own clients.
GLOBAL STRENGTH
The move has been welcomed by the team who are no longer working from an adapted administration office shared with a dusty warehouse. “Some of the staff have been involved for 35 years and are thrilled by what they agree is the best environment they have ever worked in.” The end of the lease at their previous warehouse base offered an opportunity for a strategic review of UK operations with warehousing and distribution moved to Astral’s sister company, Certikin, in Witney.
About 95% of AstralPool’s 7,000 product lines are purchased in house. Dyfed again: “Utilising a purpose-built state of the art facility at Witney makes sense for us as a business with the synergy of one operation and lorries going to one location. “We know customers will see the benefit of more accurate picking, utilising new technology and playing to our strengths in depth,” he continues.
“Although we are part of the mighty Fluidra operation, our company roots are still integral; values you will intrinsically find in a family-orientated business. “We benefit from being part of the corporate machine but blend this with family values, we really do think that we, as a team, and our customers, benefit from that global strength but with a personal feel.”
AstralPool UK
Tel. 01329 514000
www.astralpooluk.com
