The Bathroom Academy was developed just over three years ago by trade members of the Bathroom Manufacturers Association. The project brought together many experts and encouraged them to impart their knowledge and experience for the benefit of anyone in the bathroom industry whether they were absolute beginners, students, or skilled installers.
Around 500 students have now passed through its portal and the popular ‘Generic Industry Guides’ have been very successful with well over 120,000 pdf downloads to date.
By any standards these are excellent figures. But the BMA is never an organisation to rest on its laurels and the Academy is about to undergo a complete upgrade. BMA staff together with experts from the world of education are working hard with members of the BMA to refresh and revise the structure of the website and its certification system.
“It’s very early days but the improvements during 2010 will be significant and very welcome” commented Yvonne Orgill, chief executive of the BMA. “The bathroom industry has been changing quickly over the last couple of years. New manufacturers, importers and retailers have entered the market, and there have been many staff changes, brought on by the recession. Innovative water efficient products have appeared on the shelves. Now is the time to upgrade the Academy to meet the challenge of these changes.”

Industry Guides revisions
The Academy website has been successful in bringing much needed generic bathroom information to users.
The Generic Industry Guides, most of which are free to download, cover a variety of bathroom-related subjects. They are used by students wishing to attain the formal Certificate in Bathroom Studies qualification, or by companies wishing to set up their own in-house training courses. Some of the guides will undergo revisions and updates during 2010.

Website and Structural Upgrade
The Bathroom Academy is entirely web-based at www.bathroom-academy.co.uk Users can learn as much or as little as they want to but in order to obtain the formal qualification they are committed to around 60 hours of tested study. The web site is to be restructured to make navigation easier and the certification system will be upgraded to meet today’s much improved educational standards.

“Its an exciting time for the Academy,” says Orgill “and to be honest we can’t wait to get the improvements in hand to meet the challenges which the future holds for our industry.”

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