At 9:41 on the morning of August 4th, 2026, the team at Tubs Parts gathered around a large Black Forest gateau, put on home-made balloon hats, and marked the moment. Exactly twenty years earlier, to the minute, the Tubs Parts website received its very first order, for a commercial hot tub run by a tour operator in Chamonix.
The tour operator closed in 2011, but Tubs Parts has picked up many other loyal customers over the last 20 years, and is still very much open for business.
From Two People, a Baby, and a Van…
To understand how Tubs Parts reached this milestone, you have to go back to 2003. Simon Mawby and Gina Atwood had recently moved from California to the French Alps when the job that had brought them there fell through. Unemployed and with a new baby, they looked around for opportunities, and noticed that the après-ski hot tub culture of the USA had not yet transferred to Europe. Gina had a hunch Europe would eventually catch up. They made contact with a hot tub manufacturer, and Mont Blanc Spas was born.
Those early years were an intense apprenticeship — just the two of them in the van, baby in the back, figuring out from the ground up how to sell, install, maintain and repair complex machines. Sometimes customers would end up holding the baby during site visits. There is a good chance that she boosted spa sales. “She was a very charming baby,” remarks Simon.
What proved harder than the repairs themselves was simply finding the parts. If it was difficult for people with supplier relationships and hands-on experience, they reasoned, it must be nearly impossible for spa owners working alone. That became the spark for the Tubs Parts website, launched on August 4th, 2006. They started modestly — filters and chemicals, just to get something online — and the catalogue grew from there, one customer request at a time.
…To 21 People and Counting
Twenty years later, Tubs Parts has grown into a team of 21, serving customers across Europe from its warehouse in Cluses. What is perhaps most striking about that team is the level of collective experience. Quentin Gagnieux, who became Managing Director in January 2026, first joined the company in 2012. Three other colleagues — JC, Iris and Kaled — also have more than ten years each with the company. The team speaks five European languages fluently.
“When we opened our new warehouse in 2024, it was filled with the families and friends of our colleagues, and we were able to welcome customers and suppliers to our new home,” says Quentin. “That day said everything about what Tubs Parts is. The human connection — between the members of our team, and between our team and our customers and suppliers — is at the heart of everything we do.”
It is a culture that was built gradually, and somewhat organically. The early Tubs Parts customer was often a determined spa owner, armed with a strong DIY spirit, willing to order a circuit board and attempt their own repairs. Since the team included technicians doing exactly those repairs themselves, they could guide customers through the process step by step — by phone, by email, or whatever was necessary. Over time, professional customers found their way to Tubs Parts too: plumbers, electricians, and swimming pool installers looking for parts and support. “With a spa owner, once their hot tub was working, you were unlikely to hear from them again,” says Gina Atwood, co-founder and Purchasing Director. “In fact, you hope that you don’t hear from them again because it means that their spa is working! But with professional customers, we’ve had the chance to build relationships that have lasted years. We learn so much from them — and from each other.”
Looking Ahead to Lyon
Simon and Gina first attended Piscine Global in Lyon in 2004 and have never missed an edition. Tubs Parts began exhibiting at the show in 2014, and it is always a highly anticipated highlight — a chance to put faces to names and strengthen relationships built over years of calls and emails.
This November, at stand 6E32, the anniversary celebrations continue. Special events are planned for the afternoons of the 17th, 18th and 19th — one each day, details still under wraps. If the Cluses party is anything to go by, balloon hats may be involved.
“Our customers are such a vital part of what we do,” says Gina. “We hope to find some small ways to really thank them for their contributions to our success.”
Twenty years in, that feels like exactly the right instinct.
Piscine Global Lyon 2026
Booth 6E32
Anniversary events: afternoons of 17th, 18th and 19th November
