We catch up with Iby Bakos-Tonner from Muirhead to find out about their brand and exhibiting at Euro Bus Expo, on stand C78

Tell us a bit about your company?

Lasting passenger comfort with Muirhead sustainable high performance leather. Muirhead has been making fine Scottish leather for the global passenger transport industry for over 180 years. That’s 180 years of sustainable innovation, helping operators keep pace with ever-changing challenges.

The bus and coach sector faces rapidly increasing demands for comfort, hygiene and sustainability. Muirhead’s low carbon genuine leather is trusted by most European bus, coach and rail operators and global brands like British Airways, Emirates, Air Canada, Mulberry and Philips. Our sister brand, Bridge of Weir, supplies leading automotive brands, including Aston Martin, Rolls Royce and McLaren.

Alongside comfort and luxury, Muirhead leather delivers durability and exceptional performance – with flame resistance, lightweight, easy cleaning and even antiviral properties. These high-performance attributes combine to make Muirhead’s soft and comfortable leather the most durable, hard-wearing and long-lasting material for bus and coach interiors. Muirhead provides a market-leading warranty, but most of our customers find it has an even longer life, dramatically reducing the total cost of ownership.

Supplying into the majority of European seat makers and vehicle manufacturers, Muirhead enjoys repeat specifications from operators and designers across all passenger transport modes. Muirhead’s range of colours, finishes, textures and specifications are all provided from stock with no minimum order requirements and have full certification to R118.03 annex 6, 7 and 8.

Together, performance and sustainability are at the heart of our business, and the resulting fine Scottish leather offers huge benefits to the passenger transport industry worldwide.
“Innovation is essential to move ever closer to our ultimate goal of zero impact leather manufacturing. This is exemplified by our use of Life Cycle Analysis to measure the true impact of our activities and to identify opportunities for impact reduction and verification of our supply chains.” – Dr Warren Bowden, Sustainability and Innovation Director.

Tell us about your latest product(s), service(s), promotions or launches visitors can hope to see on your stand:

Our recent product innovation, Muirhead ActiveHygiene, is a sustainable natural leather with built-in antiviral properties, providing the highest hygiene standards for passenger transport interiors. Polygiene Biomaster technology from Polygiene AB, integrated at the manufacturing stage, delivers a sustainable natural material that inhibits microbial levels by up to 99.9% of bacteria and viruses* from cabin seat surfaces within two hours. This antimicrobial technology complements existing cleaning protocols, working between cleans. It has been tested to reduce SARS-CoV-2, H3N2 and H1N1 viruses by 99% (ISO 18184:2019). And tested to 50,000 cycles on the Martindale abrasion rub test (ISO 12947-2).

Muirhead is also introducing a low carbon full substance, genuine leather with reduced weight, re-engineered for the next generation of passenger transport.
Made with a unique, durable, micro-light core, LightCore™ is up to 33% lighter than standard leather without sacrificing thickness, strength and durability, helping to extend the range of electric vehicles.

Muirhead delivers much-needed durability and exceptional technical performance, breathability, flame resistance, and easy cleaning properties with a market-leading warranty, dramatically reducing the total cost of ownership. Muirhead now also offers high-quality laminated leather seat covers. We can adapt reliably and quickly to fast-moving technological innovations, industry standards, and customer requirements with an agile team.

Muirhead makes the world’s lowest carbon leather. We source hides locally from sustainably managed grass-fed farms, recycle our water, and repurpose process waste as fuel for our thermal energy plant. Muirhead is on a journey to reach net-zero carbon and zero waste to landfill by 2025. Our rigorous Life Cycle Analysis and independently verified sustainability data inspire the rest of the textiles industry. Muirhead’s parent company, Scottish Leather Group (SLG), has recently published its 2022 ESG report, which details the Group’s journey, activities, and commitments towards a sustainable future.

Why is exhibiting at Euro Bus Expo 2022 an unmissable opportunity for you?

We are excited to return to Euro Bus Expo and reconnect with our customers and industry friends in person again. We return packed with future-looking new product innovations that will support operators and manufacturers to improve passenger comfort and hygiene and achieve lower carbon emissions.
The bus and coach sector faces rapidly increasing demands for comfort, hygiene and sustainability. Muirhead’s low carbon genuine leather is trusted by most European bus, coach and rail operators and global brands.
With its extensive marketing and PR support and the opportunity to meet all the leading trade press titles, Euro Bus Expo will help us achieve our growth ambition in this dynamic marketplace.

At Muirhead, we are passionate about the passenger transport industry, and at Euro Bus Expo, we hope to meet key influencers and decision-makers in the bus and coach sector. We want to leverage our existing relationships and build new connections.

It is the perfect platform to introduce our product innovations, Muirhead ActiveHygiene and L LightCore™, to hundreds of senior buyers. Muirhead now also offers high quality laminated leather seat covers. With an agile team, Muirhead can adapt reliably and quickly to fast-moving technological innovations, industry standards, and customer requirements. Our smart cutting technology uses artificial intelligence to maximise the yield of every individual leather hide, reducing costs, minimising waste and lowering the carbon footprint of interiors.

We will raise awareness of our sustainability credentials, third-party verified carbon emissions, and Life Cycle Analyses.

And last but not least, we would like to refresh our market intelligence, keep our finger on the pulse and stay up to date with industry developments.