Innovation flows at Friville facility

As HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports, the event, held in an impressive training centre close to a sizeable factory that exports products ranging from antibacterial taps and showers to grab rails to over 70 countries worldwide, also provided the opportunity for sharing of expertise and experience between the host personnel and a group of 17 public health engineers from throughout England and Scotland, who attended as guests.

Before the main presentations began, on the first day of a two-day visit during which guests, including public health engineer members of the UK’s Society of Public Health Engineers (SoPHE), were also treated to a tour of the sizeable adjacent Delabie factory, the company’s export and international training manager, Vincent Robinet, briefly explained Delabie’s history; the company was first established in 1928 by Georges Delabie in Friville itself, when it began developing and manufacturing its first bathroom and kitchen taps and traps. Still an independent family firm today, Delabie is located in maritime Picardy, widely recognised as the historical birthplace of French tap manufacture (the area is rich in copper and zinc, the two main constituents of brass). The company, whose UK sales operations are managed by subsidiary, Delabie UK, at offices in Wallingford, now produces some five million individual components every year – ranging from sophisticated antibacterial taps, thermostatic mixers, and showers, to soap dispensers, comfort shower seats, and grab rails.

Manufactured in France