Ideal Standard International is a privately-held multinational plumbing fixture

Plumbing fixture

A plumbing fixture is an exchangeable device which can be connected to an existing plumbing system to deliver and drain away water but which is also configured to enable a particular use.-Common fixtures:The most common plumbing fixtures are:*Bathtubs...

 company based in Brussels, Belgium. Principally owned by Bain Capital Partners, it operates throughout the world except in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 where the formerly affiliated American Standard Brands

American Standard Brands

American Standard Brands is a closely held manufacturer of plumbing fixtures, sold under the American Standard, Crane, Fiat, Sanymetal, Showerite and Eljer brand names, based in Piscataway Township, New Jersey, United States. It is principally owned by Sun Capital Partners with Bain Capital...

 operates which Bain Capital Partners has a minority stake in.

History

The company was originally founded as the National Radiator Company in Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

 in 1936
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66776

"(W)hile at first glance its factory, like the city, may be tarnished with age and lack the shine of its modern European equivalents it's still there and, also like its hometown, it's trying to find its place in a new global manufacturing environment."
http://www.kbbreview.com/Default.aspx.LocID-088new0nr.RefLocID-08800l00q.Lang-EN.htm

It is also the name of a renowned athletics club.