Author: Jonathan

Fenceguard Is Out of This World!

Back in 1982 the only way of treating a fence or shed was to use either Creosote, or a spirit-based Wood Preservative, both of which are now largely banned due to their not so nice raw materials.

So Palace Chemicals developed a water based shed and fence treatment called Fenceguard in 2 colours (Chestnut Brown an Autumn Gold). The great advantage of this product range was that it didn’t kill the plants. You washed your brush out in water and it was even safe around children and pets. It started its life in a bottle, which meant finding another receptacle to pour it into before you could use it, so we quickly moved the product into a 5lt bucket, again a new idea!

To give the product as much publicity as possible it was advertised on the ‘home and garden’ slot on TV (Granada TV, TVS, Yorkshire and Central television stations) for the first 2 years – That’s when there were only 3 TV channels to choose from. The campaign was a fantastic success and many thousands were sold in the early days.

As trends changed through the years, so did the need for new colourways, so Red Cedar and Fir Green (also known as Forest Green) colours were added to the range within a few years later.

When the pandemic arrived, sales went through the roof. Most People were in lockdown, which meant DIY became a way of passing the time in many households.

With the range becoming even more popular, we looked at the current market and the trends had moved again; and so launched Lunar Grey! Within 2 weeks the sales on this colour went off the chart!

With competitive pricing and fantastic quality at the heart of the range, we are looking at a continued revitalisation for 2021, we are adding Midnight Black to the range – Watch this space – We could be going intergalactic!

For enquiries or orders email us here. Or give us a call on 01513369111 for more information on our product ranges.

A Smart App for Your Smart Phone

We are constantly striving to provide our customers with the latest product information, all in one place. This is where the accessibility of our App comes into play!

The Palace App is a fast and convenient way to navigate our product range, updated with the latest technical information Palace Chemicals released the fourth version of its smart phone and tablet app, which meets the latest technical requirements and ensure it is compatible with the latest devices.

The intention of the sales and development team at Palace in developing the app was to make sure the 42-year-old business was making it as easy as possible for its users to access product information, instructions, data sheets and safety information. The latest version includes all of the latest products developed by the company, which is the largest independent manufacturer of tile adhesives, tile grouts, building chemicals, wood treatments, and decorating sundries currently operating in the UK.

It is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and is compatible with smart phones and tablets.

Charles Clapham, Managing Director, said: “While Palace may be 42 years old, innovation remains at our core. Our updated app is a great tool to showcase our entire catalogue. We wanted to make product information available to our end users in a convenient and easy to use way. We understand that people lead very busy lives, especially in the construction and domestic trades, so convenience and ease of access can only help.”

Click here to download on the Apple Store (iOS) and here for the link to Google Play (Android).

Mark Kennedy – The Inspiration Behind The 20/21 City Home Kit

As the 2020/21 Premier League season gets underway, Palace Chemicals Ltd (which operates Laticrete UK) is celebrating the part it has been able to play in putting mosaics at the heart of Manchester City’s new home kit.

Palace Chemicals, one of the UK’s largest independent manufacturer’s of adhesives and building materials, and licensee of Laticrete for the UK, has been the supplier of choice for Man City mosaic artist Mark Kennedy for more than a decade – and Mark’s work has now been used by Puma as the inspiration behind the club’s new home kit.

The official YouTube clip for the launch describes the city as being full of Art, Industry, Music, Noise & Fashion and that it’s mirrored in the mosaics of Manchester. This shirt is a tribute to ‘our City’, a mash up that make it legendary!

View the footage below for a closer look at Mark’s mosaic work, which has inspired Puma and Manchester City’s 20/21 Home Kit.

Click here to find out more about Spectralock Pro Premium Grout. For enquiries or orders email us here. Or give us a call on 01513369111 for more information on our product ranges.

Sir Captain Tom’s Great Achievement

Palace Chemicals has commissioned a mosaic by a leading artist, Mark Kennedy, to celebrate the work of Captain Tom and all key workers who have contributed to the UK’s national pandemic efforts. 

Palace Chemicals has a long-standing relationship with Manchester mosaic artist Mark Kennedy and have supported him with products to make some of his most famous works. These have included a Manchester City mosaic, signed by the team, that raised over £26,000 for homelessness at Vincent Kompany’s testimonial dinner in 2019. “Our team here at Palace Chemicals have been brilliant at not only helping us to continue to supply our accounts throughout the pandemic,” explains Chairman, Charles Clapham MBE, “but have also helped us to introduce our new hand sanitiser and surface sanitiser to help keep our customers safe.”

“We wanted to do something to acknowledge not only the work of Captain Tom, but all key workers, including our fantastic team here who are doing their part to help keep our customers safe and to ensure continuity of supply.” “Captain Tom is a true symbol of the hard work and dedication shown by so many and it’s great to have something to commemorate our collective spirit.” “There have been other fantastic stories of individual and community fundraising efforts around the country for our NHS Teams and we wanted to do our bit to help.”

“The clapping was a great idea for everyone to show their appreciation for the key workers, but we knew that couldn’t go on indefinitely, so to be able to put our name (along with Mark’s) to this piece, we would hope that it would be used as an ongoing symbol of their achievements throughout these times of adversity,” concludes Clapham. Mark Kennedy who has previously created mosaics for Joe Hart, Sergio Aguero, and Yaya Toure, said: “I was contacted by Palace Chemicals and asked to create this latest piece. Captain Tom is exemplifying the efforts by everyone helping us get through this.”

“The artwork has been a labour of love and I have worked tirelessly on it over 12-hour shifts. Our hope is that this helps to raise even more money for the heroes who have helped our entire national effort.” The mosaic took over 84 man hours and thousands of tiles to complete. It has been donated by Palace Chemicals to the Captain Tom Foundation, who will be arranging a public exhibition for the artwork once the pandemic is over. The business hopes the piece can be sold or auctioned to generate even more money for the foundation’s good work.

“We believe that many people will see the mosaic as a testament to what it stands for – hard work and determination in the face of adversity as so many in society (including our own team) have demonstrated,” says Clapham. “It’s also a fantastic testament to the quality of our adhesives and grouts and also of Mark’s creativity and skill. We hope it contributes in some way to raising money for good causes.”

Click here to learn more about the products Mark used to create this fantastic testimonial.

ISO 45001 – Risk Management During Covid-19

ISO 45001 our new H&S accreditation & how it helped with risk management during COVID-19

As is the case for any responsible Manufacturing business, it is a fundamental requirement to have in place a structured and fully engaged Health & Safety Management System, whereby the first priority is always the Health, Safety & Welfare of all those the business employs or comes into contact with.

Palace Chemicals has long since maintained an effective Health & Safety Management structure, which for the past 6 years has been accredited by the BSI to BS OHSAS 18001:2007 – The UK standard for Occupational Health & Safety Management. This British Standard has recently been superseded by the new International Standard – ISO 45001:2018 which applies a broader risk-based approach to ensuring all health & safety management controls within any business are constantly assessed & reviewed to ensure the system remains effective & fully compliant.

Palace Chemicals Ltd have recently completed the migration process towards accreditation from BS OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001, a program of work which has been in progress for almost 2 years and which by early May 2020 had attained 100% accreditation to the new International standard.

The benefit of having this modern approach for our health & safety management system could not have been more relevant & valuable than during the recent Covid-19 outbreak. This developing crisis required all aspects of the business operation (Manufacturing, Transport, Distribution & Administration) to assess & identify how, when & where action needed to be taken to reduce the risk of infection. The process of risk assessment included identifying the most effective means of protection for all those who engage with the business, both internally as employees and externally with contractors, customers, drivers and any other persons or organisations we may interact with.

The principles which underpin our Health & Safety Management system required the identification of all activities where a risk may arise combined followed by the application of effective control measures; changes to operating procedures and where appropriate the elimination of activities. All options were considered and applied as necessary to ensure the most effective means of social distancing controls and hygiene controls could be introduced so long as Covid-19 remains a threat to society.

Throughout this time, it has been important to maintain a constant and highly visible level of daily communication with all persons who engage with the business both internally & externally to increase awareness as much as possible for all those at risk and clearly advise what was expected from them for their own protection. The distribution of internal memos, posters, markings on Hi-Viz tabards, floor markings and reduced access features to visitors are all examples of what has now become custom & practice throughout the working day.

As is the case for the wider society, the level of engagement with the control measures in place depends greatly upon the behaviour of those we seek to protect. Hence it remains a fundamental requirement for all our management team to constantly observe & review those controls and identify where they can be improved, either by increasing the level of process intervention, or having to remind, emphasise and ultimately enforce the control measures established for all individuals to follow & take personal responsibility in maintaining the necessary standards of social distancing & hygiene.

Our new accreditation to ISO 45001 demonstrates its versatility in applying the principles of control needed when managing any type of hazard or harm that can present a risk to all involved with the scope of the business. Covid-19 has presented unique challenges and was certainly not a foreseen hazard to our staff & visitors, but nonetheless the structure of our modern ISO 45001 accredited Health & Safety Management System has proven its role in identifying, applying, monitoring & assessing the effectiveness of the measures we have taken to reduce or eliminate all types of risk within a busy manufacturing environment.

For enquiries or orders email us here. Or give us a call on 01513369111 for more information on our product ranges.

Home & Hardware During Lockdown

How the lockdown switched demand to “Home & Hardware” and how we reacted as a business

In late March earlier this year as the full impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic was beginning to dawn on many businesses, that not only would serious decisions need taking to protect both our employees welfare and the financial well-being of the business, we would also still need to maintain a basic level of operational activity should there be anyone out there still wanting to place orders.

With over 70% of our staff furloughed and major areas of our production plant at a virtual shut down, the only glimmer of hope for any degree of continuity lay in the governments’ exemption for “Home & Hardware” stores. For many years, our well-established DIY product range had long been a favourite option for the independent local DIY & Hardware outlets in a way that the now “on-line only” major multiple DIY store chains had never been drawn to.

After a short period where it felt that even the retained remnants of our workforce may be searching for anything to manufacture, it soon became apparent within just a few days, that the fine weather many of their furloughed colleagues were enjoying was about to activate a Spring Rush for the DIY leisure products. These included seasonal favourites such as Fenceguard & Creo-Coat Shed & Fence stains; Exterior Decorative Masonry Paints; Patio Cleaners; Exterior Waterseal, Light-weight Fillers & all types of Decorating Sundries.

All are easy to use familiar products that a population with time on its hands and nowhere to go, was now searching for in large numbers and their nearest outlets were the exempted local independent shops & merchants.

It wasn’t just a case of supplying the established product range, as demand for new colour variants (notably Lunar Grey shed & Fence Stain & Masonry Paint) necessitated a rapid turnaround of product development work & supply chain support. Despite very limited availability of many essential materials & components throughout this period, Palace Chemicals was still able to ensure that their customers’ product demands soon became readily available stock items, including new fashionable additions to our now expanding DIY range.

The demand from the independent home & hardware outlets rose exponentially to volume levels we would normally associate with the major DIY chains spring promotions and it became necessary for the company to begin steadily recalling our furloughed staff so that we were in a position to re-start & ramp up production levels to progressively meet the unexpectedly high level of demand for all the above product categories.

Indeed many of our retained & returning employees quickly applied themselves to unfamiliar tasks & production roles which hadn’t been as busy for several years, but nevertheless everyone rose to meet the challenge of keeping up with the Lockdown DIY boom, by ensuring all our Home & Hardware customers received their unusually inflated orders on time in full and wherever in the country they were calling from.

The experience of the lock-down months of April-May 2020 demonstrated the versatility & “can do attitude” of the company, its staff and their ability to turnaround process infrastructure & working patterns to react positively & competently to the unfamiliar market & customer demands of the time. It remains one of the unique qualities of a wholly independent business, unencumbered by corporate controls that we can always remain close & responsive to customer needs, especially those of a similarly independent background.

For enquiries or orders email us here. Or give us a call on 01513369111 for more information on our popular product ranges.

New Products

Listening to the customer and anticipating market demands

Palace Chemicals, like most other manufacturing businesses, sends out a lot of marketing information and details of our products. The message that generally comes across is about the growth of the existing range. There’s nothing wrong with that, it helps us to grow as a business and helps our customers to grow their business as well. We all need to keep doing what we can to ensure our business and our people are economically and physically safe through these uncertain times, particularly as lockdown is gradually eased.

As one of the UK’s largest independent manufacturers of Tiling, Building & DIY products, Palace Chemicals has the capability, technology and capacity to launch any product type into our industry – but that isn’t what makes us different. It’s the way we go about it that makes Palace Chemicals unique.

The age old adage of using the two things we were given is really our point of difference. Our ears and our eyes. We’ve used our ears and listened to our customers – both current and potential. We’ve used our eyes to look at what is right for our customers, not in terms of what fits to complement our existing range, but what is needed. “What we know” and “What is wanted” are two very different things.

Having had a chance to assess the market, the requirements of the here and now as well as the future, we’ve developed new products that meet the market need. We’re now producing a range of products for our customers that are seeing us fighting to keep up with demand. We’re listening to our customers and anticipating the need, and adjusting to suit.

Want to know more about our new products? Why not visit our website and see what we’ve been up to with our new ranges that the market have asked for.

For enquiries or orders email us here. Or give us a call on 01513369111 for more information on our vast product range.

Covid-19 – Risks & Opportunities

How the Risks became an Opportunity for Palace Chemicals introducing Hand & Surface Sanitiser

Understanding the risks & opportunities which confront our business is at the cornerstone of the Quality, Environmental & Health & Safety Management systems Palace Chemicals Ltd has been accredited with and the challenges presented by Covid-19 were managed in a methodical, documented & controlled approach to ensure that whatever the positive & negative effects of the crisis may be, our response to dealing with them is planned, communicated, understood & acted upon by all management & staff involved.

In terms of risks presented by Covid-19, our first priority was to the health, safety & well-being of all our staff & site visitors, who were advised by all means of the necessary social distancing measures, such as pathway spacing, staggered breaks, increased hand sanitisation & the avoidance by 2 metres of any close contact with fellow employees. As the wider crisis deepened, it soon became necessary to furlough up to 70% of staff, which no doubt assisted with social distancing and eased the obvious financial risk to the business as the impact of the lock-down on our customers became all too apparent.

At that point in time, evidence of opportunities seemed thin on the ground, however one of the unique strengths of Palace Chemicals has always been its’ diverse capability as a manufacturer. As a business with a wide-ranging portfolio of manufactured products, we found ourselves still under increasingly high demand from key sectors throughout the lockdown, most notably for Surgical Spirit, a solvent-based product where we have supplied millions of units for over 25 years to some of the UK’s leading high street pharmacies.

Surgical Spirit is classed as highly flammable and manufacturing alcohol-based compositions of this type require a high degree of built-in plant health & safety control systems, essential for managing the hazards & risks associated with solvents of this type. These established assets have always been maintained and monitored within our Solvent packing plant & ensured the company had the standard of facilities needed to store, process & pack all products based on this category of solvent, which could now include Alcohol based sanitisers, in the form of Hand Gels & Hard Surface spray applied cleaners, both part of the key defence advised by the government enabling all the population to meet the necessary increased degree of hygiene controls now a part of everyday life.

Adhering strictly to guidance from the World Health Organisation, formulation were developed & tested by both our R&D function and an accredited microbiological testing laboratory to ensure the products we now offer have the appropriate degree of efficacy and skin compatibility, both essential requirements for this now daily hygienic practice to be conducted safely and with confidence by all end users.

Whilst there have been many examples of independent beverage producers and similar small-scale operators stepping up to meet this need, very few had an existing high-volume automated mixing & packing line readily available for supplying Alcohol based sanitisers in the industrial quantities now being called for, both for hand hygiene and hard surface cleaning as a Surface Sanitiser Spray.

This facility enabled Palace Chemicals Ltd to quickly supply in repeated full vehicle loads, the large distribution companies with the existing national networks needed to meet this demand & get this product to the market in volume with the speed of delivery needed.

As sanitising & hygiene control will now become a more prominent necessity for all our lifestyles in the defence against Covis-19, the manufacturing operation at Palace Chemicals Ltd will continue to play a significant role in meeting the needs of all major outlets for Alcohol Hand Gels and Spray applied Hard surface Sanitisers.

For enquiries or orders email us here. Or give us a call on 01513369111 for more information.

Laticrete Dazzle’s with Spectralock Pro

From grand building projects to quirky artworks: Laticrete UK products are proving time and time again that no job is too big or small; the latest being a piece of art featuring 1,500 pennies.

Carrie Reichardt’s resin dog was covered in hundreds of 1p coins using Laticrete UK’s Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout and Spectralock® Dazzle on the artwork in copper to complement the pennies with a bit of sparkly bling!

The piece was created as part of a ‘Pooch Program’ scheme by the Contemporary Art Foundation and it is one of a number of creations aimed at inspiring hard-to-reach young people to access street art. Carrie, whose house in London is covered in mosaics, has forged a partnership with industry leading Laticrete UK and its umbrella brand Palace Chemicals, which have been supporting her work since 2017. She asked Steve Ball, Commercial Director at Liverpool-based Laticrete UK and Palace Chemicals, if he could help supply the best possible grout for the job. So he sprang into action and arranged for some Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout and Spectralock® Dazzle to be sent Carrie’s way.

Carrie said: “I stuck the pennies on with glue and Laticrete UK kindly provided me with grout to use. I’d never used it before. It’s also the first time I’d used pennies and I wanted to use Laticrete Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout in particular to make it harmonious with the sparkly copper finish. I wanted the grout to blend as much as possible to make it shiny, because people like shiny stuff and a bit of bling. It was really easy to use, and it came out really well.” Carrie’s piece will be one of a number of ‘pooches’, which will be sent around school- based workshops to inspire students to design and make their own plastic dog sculpture and the dogs will go on display at a London Gallery alongside the featured artists’ pooch pieces, culminating in a “Crufts for contemporary art” awards evening. 

Speaking of being involved in such a rewarding scheme, Carrie said: “I’m pleased to think it’s encouraging young people to get involved in art, to make it very accessible and kids love it.” It took around three weeks to complete the 50cm-high piece, with help from Carrie’s assistant Jessie McCallum and fellow artist Eoghan Ebrill and Carrie says she has only ever used Laticrete products since being introduced to the supreme products three years ago. 

Laticrete Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout is a patented, high-performance cement free grout that offers colour uniformity, durability and stain resistance with extraordinary ease of application unlike any other epoxy-based grouting system, making it the ideal choice for this project. It can be used on ceramic tile, glass tile and stone applications, in both residential and commercial settings and in interiors and exteriors.

For those wanting to add a little sparkle and that WOW factor just like Carrie has, Spectralock® Dazzle offers incredible design possibilities to enhance tile and stone applications by accentuating the grout appearance through various metallic and glow- in-the-dark components. It can be mixed with any of our 40 vibrant colours to produce hundreds of stunning design combinations when used with metallic, glass, porcelain or any other type of tile. 

Laticrete Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout and Spectralock® Dazzle is ideal for pools, spas, backsplashes and bathroom installations and the exclusive glow-in-the-dark component enhances the installation even when the lights are turned off. Charles Clapham MBE, managing director of Palace Chemicals and Laticrete UK, said: “We are absolutely delighted to see our relationship with Carrie Reichardt continuing, with her latest quirky piece of art. We are glad we were able to provide her with quality, enhancing grout for her work and hope it inspires as many young people to get into art as possible.”

Read more about the products featured here: Laticrete Spectralock Pro and Spectralock Dazzle.