PREMIUM APPLIANCE BRANDS LAUNCHES OZ CLARKE CONNOISSEUR BRAND FOR CHRISTMAS

This month, Premium Appliance Brands has launched its Connoisseur range of five drink-inspired gift products, endorsed by wine expert Oz Clarke.

PAB gained the license for the Oz Clarke Connoisseur range with its acquisition of small appliance firm, Catalyst Home Products in early 2007. Ever since, PAB has been updating the products in the range, ready for the new portfolio to launch in time for Christmas.

• A top of the range wine chiller (£49.99), which has an electronic temperature control from 1° C to 50° C and takes bottles up to 10cm in diameter. The advanced cooling technology, comprising of a thermoelectric cooler with heat exchanger, chills white wine and champagne to the correct temperature and maintains red wine at room temperature.
• The Oz Clarke Connoisseur electric corkscrew (£22.99). The rechargeable, cordless corkscrew, ergonomically designed with an easy grip handle, quickly removes wine corks at the touch of a button.
• The Oz Clarke Connoisseur drinks maker (£29.99) features two speed controls, a stainless steel mixing shaft and a 300ml stainless steel mixing beaker, making it ideal for mixing drinks and cocktails.
• The Oz Clarke Connoisseur ice shaver (£24.99). Ideal for cool drinks and cocktails, slushes or desserts, the powerful stainless steel crushing blades produce 400g of shaved ice per minute (from cubes).
• The Oz Clarke Connoisseur wine server (£29.99). With a fully variable electronic temperature control from 3 to 50 degrees, the wine server takes bottles up to 8.5cm diameter and the digital LED display indicates when the wine is ready to serve.

Guy Weaver, Chief Executive of Premium Appliance Brands, comments, "The Oz Clarke Connoisseur range complements our other celebrity endorsed small appliance ranges perfectly, as it reaches a different audience. Connoisseur products are an ideal gift range for the mature male, and with the new and improved products in place we are sure that they will be a best seller this Christmas."

PREMIUM APPLIANCE BRANDS BUYS CATALYST PRODUCTS

Warrington-based white goods firm, Premium Appliance Brands (PAB), has announced its acquisition of appliance firm Catalyst Home Products Ltd, as part of its 2007 expansion plans, for an initial consideration of £1 million.

Catalyst Home Products Ltd, which was established in 2003, owns the rights to a number of celebrity endorsed brands including the Oz Clarke portfolio of wine products, the Cosmopolitan branded range of small appliances and the Rosemary Conley range of grills, steamers and juicers. The company enjoys distribution with a number of major retailers in the UK, including Argos, Comet, Currys, Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrison and the Co-op. This strategic move to merge the two companies will see the Catalyst name and brands continue, headed up by founder Paul Sykes.

In its three operational years, Catalyst has been extremely successful and grown significantly, but has realised that it cannot continue this growth without major investment. Joining forces with PAB will facilitate a step-change in the business, offering increased sales via an established infrastructure and providing access to new product sources. It will also assist PAB's move into the branded sector, which began with the successful launch of its White-Westinghouse portfolio in June 2006.

Guy Weaver, Managing Director of Premium Appliance Brands, comments, "This is our second acquisition following our purchase of the appliance division of Bernstein Group Holdings in 2004. Catalyst is an extremely successful business and we are delighted to be bringing it on board and working with its Managing Director Paul Sykes. This acquisition is going to help PAB move further into the branded and small appliances sector of the market and will help fuel our growth in the coming year".