In the summer of 2018 Green Angel Syndicate made an investment in Alusid, maker of beautiful, high quality tiles and solid surfaces using post-industrial glass and porcelain waste. This week the company announced a major deal with Parkside Architectural Tiles, the commercial arm of Topps Tiles.
Parkside is to sell a new range of Alusid products to the architectural and design market under the brand name Sequel, starting with a handmade glazed tile called Vibe to be launched at Clerkenwell Design Week in London May 21-23.
Green Angel Syndicate’s investment formed part of a £1M+ raise to help the business scale up from batch production to volume manufacturing. The target is to increase capacity from 4,000m2 a year to 30,000m2 a month. “We are actively pursing a number of interesting opportunities in UK and Europe that will help us get to mass production more quickly,” says Dr Alasdair Bremner, co-Founder of Alusid.
Meanwhile, the business is thriving. Customers for Alusid’s Silica Stone-branded tiles and tabletops include Amazon, Nando's and Wells Fargo bank, which is using Alusid's products in its prestigious London HQ.
Alusid’s products have a much lower impact on the environment than traditional tiles and surfaces. They are made using a low energy process, from waste product that would otherwise be sent to landfill or down-cycled in low value applications.
“Our strategy has always been that customers will not buy a product just because it is greener, but because it is of premium quality as well as being sustainable,” says Bremner.
It is a strategy that seems to be working. Alusid has a healthy order book with more than 100 projects currently in the pipeline, as well as the Parkside deal.
After the launch at Clerkenwell Design Week in May, the Sequel tile range will be on display at Parkside’s Clerkenwell Design Studio.