If you are looking to buy anything from Aqua the following may be of interest.
Apparently the quality of Aqua products has been a topic of discussion on a number of forums lately and this is taken from another forum.
I have a few Aqua products myself including a bivvy and never had a problem but not purchased anything lately.
"We’ve had a few threads about Aqua over recent months, and as I wasn’t fully in possession of the facts myself, I thought it best to do my own due diligence by speaking with them direct to see what the current situation is, in order that we can mod threads accordingly in the future.
As such, I’ve just had an interesting and highly informative chat with Andy Cadwallader at Aqua, and got a good insight as to where they are at currently and where they are moving to as a business. The bottom line is that over recent years, most of the small UK suppliers that Aqua have been sourcing their raw materials from have been going out of business, so it’s become increasingly difficult for them to make solely in the UK. In addition to this, the few who can still supply parts for some of the products have themselves had to hike prices to such an extent, that it’s become impossible to continue full UK manufacture without at least doubling prices on bivvies and brollies. As such, regrettably, UK Aqua production is simply not feasible for now at least, though Aqua retains its full capability to manufacture in the UK in terms of machining and workforce should the markets change for the better in the future.
Andy explained that moving to full overseas manufacture had obviously not been without its challenges. As a business priding itself on quality it had been a steep learning curve for them, and Andy admitted some of the criticism levelled at early products has in part been justified. They had quality issues (mainly with the brollies/brolly systems) on early products so stopped supply immediately whilst these were addressed, with new levels of testing put in place before supply recommenced.
Quality is obviously something Aqua take incredibly seriously, as it’s what much of their brand has been built on, and Andy explained that they have worked tirelessly to improve standards. All new products are tested in UK labs, and Aqua now have their own full time quality control staff working in the factories abroad to ensure these exacting standards are fully met before items are shipped.
What I took from our conversation, which to be honest was refreshingly frank and up front, was that they had suffered with some quality issues but had worked extremely hard since to put them right, and were totally committed to the continued supply of only the highest quality items moving forward.
Hope this answers your question."
With Regards
Wazzy
