Designed to succeed SBA Group

DESIGNED To SuCCEED

The SBA Group is one of the largest holding groups in the Baltics, comprising over 30 manufacturing and service companies. Philip Yorke looks at the company’s resounding success and continuing programme of diversification, and also reports on its award winning projects that set new standards in eco-friendly construction and manufacturing processes.

The SBA Group was founded in Lithuania in 1990 at a time when the country had just emerged as a free market economy. Following a series of strategic acquisitions and a programme of innovative product development, it is now active in a broad range of business sectors that range from furniture to clothing and from retail to construction. However, its core business remains the design and manufacture of furniture. To underscore this the company has invested in a new manufacturing plant in Russia, dedicated solely to producing furniture for the Swedish giant IKEA.

The group is also focusing on developing its own branded product lines under the PARRA brand name. This includes bedroom, dining room and living room furniture mainly exported to the Russian market through franchising agreements or via its own retail outlets. The other major development is that of branded upholstered furniture, which is mainly sold throughout western Europe, and Germany and Scandinavia in particular.

Increasing competitiveness

SBA’s Concern division manages the largest furniture factories in the Baltics and has embarked upon the construction of a major logistics centre in Klaipeda, Lithuania, that will optimise its supply chain and significantly improve the group’s competitiveness. The first stage of the construction process will provide a central warehouse for the SBA furniture group with an area of more than 28,000m2. In addition, it will construct a furniture components factory with an area of over 12,000m2 and these projects are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018. This will mean an investment of €22 million for the first stage of construction.

The new state-of-the-art logistics centre will be used to store and distribute the products of three SBA furniture factories – Klaipedos balkdai, Germanika baldai and Visagino Linija – which will be dedicated to providing products for the company’s global export markets.

“Our most important aim is to optimise the supply chain and increase the competitiveness in global markets of not only SBA furniture factories, but also furniture factories from the entire region. Centralised logistics will enable us to fill trucks or containers with products much more efficiently, by forming cargo from the products of different factories,” said SBA Concern VP Egidijus Valentinavicius, commenting on the decision to invest in the construction of the new logistics centre. The SBA logistics centre will also provide services both to factories owned by the Concern, and to other Lithuanian manufacturers working with international retail trade networks.

New ‘Green Hall’ receives A+ energy rating

The new SBA Green Hall 2 business centre is located near the Neris River in Vilnius, Kithuania and has become the first office building in Lithuania to receive the coveted A+ energy certification. According to Lionginas Sepetys, the head of Urban Inventors (the company developing the project) and part of the SBA Group, this rating means lower costs to future tenants. It is estimated that heating and ventilation costs will be up to 50 per cent lower for companies based in the Green Hall 2 office complex, compared with traditional operating business centres.

“Energy efficiency, sustainability and minimal impact on the environment – these were the requirements that we and our architects had to meet when designing the Green Hall 2 business centre. The complex façade design echoes the curve of the Neris River and maximises energy efficiency in a building with a lot of glass façades, which was a difficult challenge for specialists in Lithuania, Germany and Denmark,” said director of Urban Inventors, L. Sepetys.

The Green Hall’s double façade, whose total area exceeds 5600m2 , is like an energy-saving shield that prevents the building from overheating during the summer and traps the warmth inside during the winter, as well as providing reliable protection against city noise. The sevenstorey Green Hall 2 business centre, with an area of 8800m2, was built in the Zverynas region of Vilnius, where Urban Investors is continuing to develop the Green Hall business valley project. Barclays bank has established itself in the first Green Hall building, with the first tenants moving into the building later this year.

Preserving the past

In another major construction project SBA Concern companies will be reconstructing and renovating the old town square of Kaunas City in Lithuania. It will preserve important historical and urban elements and provide new homes for inhabitants in a style sympathetic to the existing old architectural styles.

During the reconstruction process the old square covering will be changed, leisure zones will be set up, the lighting will be rearranged, and a new gardening project will be implemented. By utilising investors’ funds an underground parking area for nearby offices, their staff and other city dwellers will be constructed under one part of the square, which in 25 years will become the property of the city. n For further details of the SBA Group’s diverse range of products and services visit: www.sbagroup.lt