TTA members have once again visited Spain on a highly successful trip hosted by ASCER (The Spanish Ceramic Tile Manufacturers’ Association) and the Castellón Chamber of Commerce.
The four-day trip in May was based in Castellón, and once again was fully funded, apart from one evening meal, through the generosity of the Spanish hosts. Members of the 14-strong group represented a cross-section of the industry, but with a focus this time on retailers and distributors.
The UK is the world’s third largest export market for the Spanish tile producers. The TTA group was invited to the country’s most important tile producing region to learn about tile manufacturing and issues affecting the manufacturing sector currently. Participants found the trip to be highly beneficial, as they had the opportunity to hear presentations from a number of leading manufacturers, also with the opportunity for some hands-on experience.
The visitors enjoyed a number of visits to factories and showrooms belonging to some of the major players in the tile manufacturing sector in the Castellón area, including Grespania, Gayafores, Peronda, Halcón Cerámicas, Bestile, Azteca, Dune and Apavisa. The programme also included an afternoon of training.
As well as being a great learning opportunity for the TTA group, the visit further strengthened the relationship that TTA now has with ASCER. These relations are already highly productive, following the marketing collaboration started in 2020 between the two associations, and cemented with a highly successful TTA visit to Spain last Autumn.
Two representatives of ASCER will be attending TTA Awards being held this month. Meanwhile TTA is also hoping to strengthen its international links with other tile manufacturing nations, in particular Italy.
The recent trip also included the opportunity to visit a TTA member company based nearby.
