Francis Cunild, managing director and a founding member of Matki, is retiring after 44 years with the company.

Mr Cunild’s son Nicholas will become managing director of Matki on 1 July. Nicholas has been with the company for five years, latterly as commercial director.

Since joining the industry in 1971, Mr Cunild has seen enormous changes in the market for shower enclosures. From an all but non-existent level, the popularity of shower enclosures has grown to such an extent that today few bathrooms would be designed without them. In his leading role at Matki, Mr Cunild has made significant contributions to these changes and to positioning Matki firmly at the forefront of design innovation and customer service in this part of the industry.

Commenting on his retirement, Mr Cunild, said: "My time with Matki and in the UK bathroom industry has been a great pleasure to me. Above all I have been very lucky to meet and work with so many extraordinarily good people; customers, suppliers and colleagues alike. Thank you all for your support and I wish you all the very best."

Nicholas added: "Congratulations to my Dad on his retirement and all he has achieved at Matki in the last 44 years! I have really enjoyed working with him and have learnt a great deal from him. Going forward, my focus will be to build on his successes by continuing to improve the high-quality product we design and manufacture and the service we provide to our customers."