1980s

International expansion continued in the 1980s with the creation in 1981 of a subsidiary company in the city of Puebla (Mexico). Today the company includes a production facility of more than 20,000 m2 to supply the Central and North American markets.

In Europe in 1985 S&P UK was established in the town of Ipswich in England along with S&P Portugal in the city of Oporto, Portugal. These new divisions would joined the subsidiary company in France, which in 1989 went on to acquire an independent distributor company Elma Ltda.

The international expansion along with the need to provide official endorsement of the quality of S&P’s products and processes led the Company to begin the implementation of an ISO Standard 9001 system. On 2 of December 1988 the Company obtained official certification from the British Standard Institute (BSI). With this recognition S&P became the first company in Spain to achieve this important certification. When AENOR established this certificate in Spain it granted Soler & Palau registration number 0001.

At the beginning of this period, taking advantage of the great potential of RODÍN with its plastics’ production facilities, S&P ventured into the world of small electrical appliances, whose distribution at that time coincided with that of the ventilation equipment. This new line of products achieved notable success with some product lines. Despite the initial successes the project would draw to a close during the mid-1990s firstly when the Company identified the emergence of products from the Far East which led to a significant reduction in profit margin; and secondly due to the strategic decision taken to concentrate all means and efforts on the core ventilation sector and ultimate strength of the Company.

On 11th of March 1985 the first stone was laid for what would be a new Logistics Centre located in Parets del Vallés. The center was opened at the beginning of the following year.

The products are of the HXT and TXT industrial series made with sheet steel. The domestic products are enhanced with the EDM-80 and EDM-80 L bathroom range. There are products that have an immediate impact such as the CK-25 and the CK-50, and the first hand dryer is launched of the SL-2000 series and subsequently the SL-2002 series.

During this decade several product ranges were launched that proved to be crucial to the immediate future of the Company. In the Industrial Division, one example is the COMPACT axial fan series which had a very broad application appeal and provided Company with many years of benefit. In the Residential division, the launch of the new EDM-100 series and associated multiple variations was pivotal to growth of this market sector.

In 1989, the logo is updated to include three red lines for the purpose of generating a greater visual reference.

At the close of the decade sales revenues had grown to 9,500 million pesetas (57 million Euros) and the workforce totaled 828 employees.