Poolrite licenses rights to Queensland manufacturer

Queensland-based lightweight-concrete manufacturer Evolve Composites Pty Ltd has signed a heads of agreement to manufacture, market, sell and distribute the Magnapool range of mineral water swimming pool equipment and associated Poolrite products in Australia and some international markets, with the aim of having product ready for the coming summer.

Evolve is based in Brisbane and manufactures and distributes the Australian-made Polyslab and Evo-Crete range. The company has an extensive distribution network and well-established sales and marketing channels into the largest wholesale and retail plumbing, irrigation and home improvement stores across Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Evolve has only agreed to licensing the rights and has not purchased Poolrite and does not own Poolrite Pty Ltd, Poolrite Australia Pty Ltd or Poolrite Research Pty Ltd. These companies still exist and all previous debts belong to these companies. This announcement follows the appointment of a voluntary administrator to the Poolrite companies by sole director Ross Palmer. In September, Poolrite's creditors were called together as Poolrite sought time to pursue investment.

The licensing agreement is planned to include Australia, New Zealand and some other markets but not Europe or the United States.

The agreement does not include any intellectual property but does include the use of the tooling which will be moved to a Evolve factory in Brisbane. While there have been staff losses, a few Poolrite staff have been employed by Evolve, and Poolrite has also retained a couple of staff to handle R&D and export into Europe and the United States.

Evolve Managing Director Ty Hermans says that because they are starting from the ground up, they’ll draw on the existing staff as much as possible. He also says that his core focus is to get product out.

“Obviously a lot of customers have been keen to know when they’re going to get product and that’s going to be our main focus. Customers are being supremely supportive saying at last there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The other item of keen interest is warranties, and Hermans says that even though it is not part of the licensing agreement, he will handle as much of the warranty backlog as possible.

“The outstanding warranty issues are quite small and we’re going to handle as much of it as we can,” he says. “We need a little time to build our stock back up, and we haven’t got our head around exactly what there is yet. It’s not part of the licence but as a goodwill gesture we’re going to look at the warranty and attack it as much as we can, once we’ve worked out the backlog. We’ll know more in a couple of weeks.

“First and foremost we’ve got to get the manufacturing underway. We understand what’s going on in the marketplace and we know builders have half-finished pools and have been waiting for equipment and materials. Now they can get them finished off. And it’s good timing as we’re coming into summer.”

Customers with warranty queries can email warranty@evolvegrp.com.

Evolve has a strong distribution channel and Hermans says that one thing they’ve always done well as a company is to maintain extremely stable distribution models.

“We’ve heard the pricing’s been a bit here and there,” he says. “But we’ll make sure it's stable and fair throughout the supply chain.”

Part of the existing Evolve channel includes distribution through mass plumbing and hardware chains such as Tradelink and Bunnings. But Hermans says he’s not going to dramatically change the existing Poolrite model.

“With MaganaPool and Poolrite our model is going to be the same as Poolrite currently has. We’re not going to change it. Current dealers and distributors will still have access to product.”

Hermans is committed to keeping the manufacturing in Australia, and more specifically Queensland.

“I’m just glad we’re able to keep things alive. People were very concerned about whether things were going to continue. One thing that we will definitely do is maintain manufacturing in Australia.”

Although the swimming pool industry is not part of Evolve’s current core businesses, the company has a reputation for pursuing innovation.

“There are a lot of synergies from a manufacturing and distributing point of view, using existing procedures we know back-to-front," he says. "We haven’t necessarily made pool equipment before, but we’re good at manufacturing, marketing and distribution nationally.”

Hermans has great confidence in the Magnapool and Poolrite products and says that many builders had been waiting for several months and during that time had been offered substitute products.

"But they held out because they, too, believed in the products. We are proud to ensure the ongoing supply of Australian-made Magnapool and Poolrite products well into the future,” he says.

Hermans says that Evolve will immediately start production to ensure that all customers receive stock. “Leading up to what looks like a nice and hot summer we want to make sure that existing Magnapool owners have all the supplies they need to ensure their pool is crystal clear for the holiday season.

“All of our plans are long-term for the ongoing success of the Magnapool range of products. Most importantly, the changes that are made now will ensure that the business is even bigger in years to come. We have plans for rapid growth both here in Australia but also internationally through our vast distribution network.”

SPLASH! will update this story in the near future.