Goodbye to 2024

What a year. As it comes to an end, let’s take a minute to reflect upon all that we’ve achieved in 2024 and give ourselves a well-deserved pat on the back. People, product, and planet guide everything we do as a business, and 2024 was no different. It’s been a record-breaking year filled with countless milestones, successes, and great memories. 

We have brought together architects, designers, and manufacturers to collaborate on creative projects to bring our showroom spaces to life. Holloway Li joined Refin to create ‘Laboratory’, an installation exploring the microcosms inherent in tile design. Opificio Ceramico and MADREMATERIA launched the spectacular Pantelleria range at our Clerkenwell showroom. Florim worked with Stiff + Trevillion to produce ‘Elements’, an event series and installation exploring the water cycle and the elemental forces that create ceramic tiles. 

We continued to support Build the Way, a traineeship providing an alternative and accessible route into a career designing and making buildings, spaces, cities, and communities.  

We hosted the Art Director of Foster + Partners during Clerkenwell Design Week, Narinder Sagoo MBE, as he delivered an inspiring talk about how sketching has shaped his life. We met Ian Simpson and Rachel Haugh of SimpsonHaugh, the architects behind the flourishing skyline of Manchester, who helped us understand that city and where it is headed. 

Demonstrating our commitment to Manchester, we opened a cool studio in the heart of the city and welcomed the design community into our new space. We went into business with Quiligotti, a Manchester terrazzo manufacturer to produce Spolia. Made from upcycled demolition waste, Spolia embodies our intention to push sustainable solutions wherever possible. Mix Interiors awarded us Best Surface at their annual awards ceremony at Manchester Central. It’s safe to say we’ve landed in Manchester with a splash! 

We hosted numerous pop-up events across the country - Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and more. We attended and exhibited at tradeshows and events across the UK, Europe and the Gulf – Material Matters, HIX, and Cersaie to name a few. And, of course, the perennial favourite, the annual Solus Golf Day. 

But it wasn’t all external work, we also continued to improve ourselves. The solar panelling initiative at headquarters continued to lower our dependence upon the National Grid and reduce our impact. We maintained our Investors in People Gold accreditation, showing what we already knew, that Solus is a great place to work. And we launched our fantastic new website, a work of staggering complexity and massive significance that will serve us for years to come. 

Nothing would be possible without our amazing team. Among all this activity, the powerhouse of the business has been thundering along. Warehouse, Samples, Sample Wallets, Systems, Sales, Sales Support, Corporate, Showroom, Orders and Business Development, People, Marketing, Product, Technical, Directors have all contributed to what has been a record-breaking year. What a team we have here.  

A huge thank you to every single person who we worked with this year – all our wonderful clients, partners, collaborators and friends. It certainly has been a year to remember. Here’s to an amazing 2025. Let’s enjoy the break.  

Merry Christmas!