It was with great emotion that Dr Bill Kent, the Founder of Team Horner, was in charge on 17 November 2022, a double 50-year anniversary for Team Horner and Piscines Provence Polyester.
Managers of Team Horner and Piscines Provence Polyester got together to celebrate
The event took place at Groupama Stadium in Lyon, which was taken over and lit up for the occasion, much to the great delight of the guests.
Dr. Bill Kent's speech
A delegation of about twenty employees from Team Horner USA came on a business trip to take part in the celebration. Many pioneers from the famous Piscines Provence Polyester brand were also there, including loyal customers, suppliers and friends, but also Gérard Andrei, who founded the brand in 1972. EuroSpaPoolNews was invited and attended the event, represented by Katrien Willemse - the International Communication Consultant - and Loïc Biagini, who has rubbed shoulders with Gérard Andréi and Bill Kent on numerous occasions since 1972.
This party was also a chance to celebrate the acquisition of PPP by Team Horner in January 2020, as any celebrations had been impossible due to Covid.
Nicolas and Olivier Coquard (Eco Piscine in Lyon) surrounded by Corinne and Christine, U2PPP collaborators
In this very festive and good-natured mood as everyone knows him, Dr Bill Kent did not forget to thank everyone who has contributed to the group's success over these past 5 decades. He also seized this opportunity to present the European gathering in attendance with the new president, Mike Dooley, to thank Jean Léonard, the manager of PPP since the acquisition, and to welcome Brice Nicolas, who joined the group last July as Managing Director. The latter was one of the guests of Pool Studio of EuroSpaPoolNews at the Piscine Global Europe trade show, to talk to us about Sentinel, the water analysis system fitted onto swimming pools, by Team Horner.
Jean Léonard (on the left) and Yann Samson, U2PPP Sales Manager (on the right), with the teams of TPL in Vendres and Aqua Plaisir in Troyes
Jean Léonard presenting the '50 years Team PPP' T-shirt created for the occasion and inspired by American football
As a reminder, Dr Bill Kent (who has a PhD in Business Administration) joined Team Horner in 1972, before becoming its owner in 1975 and transferring its shares to employees in 2016. Team Horner is based in Florida and has been manufacturing pool and hot tub equipment for 50 years (heat pumps, chlorinators, chlorine generation systems, etc), sold at about fifteen distribution centres for professionals, which the company complements by selling accessories.
Katrien Willemse (EuroSpaPoolNews), Brice Nicolas (PPP) and Loïc Biagini (EuroSpaPoolNews)
Laurent Feuerstein, U4PPP Sales Manager (in the middle) with his German partners D&D Dimitrovski in Stuttgart
