Former commercial director of British Ceramic Tiles (BCT) John Chater has launched The Branded Tile Company, following a 6-8month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Supplying to trade professionals, The Branded Tile Company is offering the V&A Museum Collection, with designs formerly produced by British Ceramic Tile.

British Ceramic Tile entered administration in January 2019 with 313 redundancies and its intellectual property rights were acquired by tile and stone importer and retailer Al-Murad.

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Managing director John Chater explained: “After BCT folded it seemed the obvious thing to bring back some of the best designs and add new ranges annually, like we see in the fashion industry to create a constant ‘newness’ around the tiles.

“When BCT folded the rights went back to the licensors. I approached the V&A to secure them, with the goal being to build on the history the brand has in the UK tiling industry. We are now their global licensee for ceramics.”

He explained why now was the right time to launch a new tile company, stating there is too much choice in the market and “not enough differentiation between one product and the next”.

Chater said: “Having worked through several challenging economic periods, I know first-hand that when times are tough customers are very discerning when it comes to spending their hard-earned cash.

“As a customer, buying tiles isn’t a simple thing, it can be a very emotional decision and there’s simply too much choice and not enough differentiation between one product and the next in the market.

“We know that a growing number of customers are looking for products with provenance and strong designs – that’s why we’re launching now.”

John Chater spoke of his ambition “to be the leading supplier of UK designer tiles” and has already signed up another brand, which it expects to launch in 2021, and “is in advanced talks with several others”.