Quality supersedes price

Charter House International (Pvt) Ltd is Sri Lanka's leading Bathware and Industrial solutions provider.

The Sunday Observer speaks with Business Development Manager,of Charter House Ranil Samarawickrama.

Tell us about your company and what you do.

Charter House is a provider of premium Bathroom and Engineering solutions. We represent world renowned brands in both markets and have served thousands of consumers and industrial users for the past 18 years.

In the general public eye, we're perhaps more identified with Bathware in particular, Grohe bathroom fittings, which is of course a household name. We also represent other prestigious bathware brands such as Inda Bathroom Accessories, Bravat Sanitaryware, Presto Industrial Taps and Mediclinics washroom equipments.

Many express surprise that Charter House also operates in the Engineering field. We don't just do bathrooms! In fact, most of the petrol pumps, tyre inflating machines, that you see about you in the country today belong to us. In this market, we represent highly esteemed brands for Industrial cleaning equipment, Liquid Controls Flow Metering Equipment, Fuel Dispensing equipment, Garage equipment, LPG Pumps & Compressors, and Fuel Dispensers. What would you say your overall generic position in the market is in both these areas?

Today, there are many who have ventured into the premium bathware market that we pioneered but our market status as number one is unchallenged both in premier bathware and industrial solutions. We really have no competition in terms of our internationally accepted, aesthetically pleasing premium and quality based products, and our exemplary service and value offered. What major factors would you attribute your success to?

In the business world, there are always a host of variables that, together, make up the master-key that unlocks the door to success.

Chief amongst those that proved victorious for us would be our focus on customer satisfaction and innovative value addition, such as the launch of our 3D bathware design software which is a first in the local industry, and the considerable support we lend by way of empowerment and upliftment to the rest of the industry, ranging from architects to plumbers - our activities in this regard serve to ensure that the quality of our products is upheld by those professionals that have occasion to interact with them in the course of their jobs. In the bathware solutions division, we've handled projects for major hotel chains like Jetwing, Aitken Spence, John Keells and Confifi who are all our regular clients. We have also been a part of many large scale projects in the Engineering solutions division including supplying generators to Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, Airport Catering, and the Sri Lanka Police; Fuel Dispensing pumps to all Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) stations and much more.