one step ahead Tarkett

onE stEp ahEad

Tarkett is a global leader in the development and manufacture of sustainable flooring for domestic, commercial and sports surface applications. The company continues to stay one step ahead of the competition through its development of sustainable, innovative flooring that meets today’s technological and environmental challenges, as Philip Yorke reports.

Tarkett has been producing unique flooring and sports surface solutions for more than 130 years for homes, offices, hospitals, retail stores, hotels and a broad range of sports venues. The company’s drive for leadership through sustainable, profitable growth is based on a range of key success strategies that create value for its customers and stakeholders alike.

Tarkett was founded in France in 1880 by two young entrepreneurs whose early success set the stage for the future growth of the company. Tarkett’s new headquarters are located in the prestigious ‘La Defence’ area of Paris, and are the hub for its global operations which span over 100 countries and five continents. Today the Tarkett Group employs more than 12,000 people worldwide and in 2016 recorded consolidated revenues of more than €2.7 billion.

Every year the Tarkett group sells more than 1.3 million square metres of flooring each day, and these are manufactured in-house at its 34 modern production sites, which are strategically located worldwide.

Award winning innovation

Tarkett not only sees sustainability as the cornerstone of its strategy for future growth, but also innovation and design. In the European theatre this is being driven by Fabrice Barthelemy, the company’s president of its EMEA division since February 2017, who is also a member of the Executive Management Committee and reports directly to Tarkett’s new CEO, Glen Morrison. Barthelemy joined Tarkett in 2008 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and has also been responsible for the company’s information systems and corporate legal departments.

A fine example of Tarkett’s continuing quest for innovation and sustainability is its recent launch in the EMEA region of a unique, modular vinyl tile flooring system created with designers and architects in mind. This new collection makes custom-made interior environments more exciting than ever before. Built upon the principle of combining colours, shapes and patterns, iD Mixonomi® is an intuitive tool created to provide personalised and tailor-made flooring installations from timeless patterns to the most vibrant collages. This exciting new product line offers an inspiring palette of 33 colours and 10 shapes to provide endless design options.

This innovative new collection has been awarded the coveted Red Dot Award for product design excellence in 2017. This was won in competition with participants from over 50 countries that entered around 5500 product designs and innovations.

For this special collection, Tarkett has also developed a dedicated online library of patterns and layouts, along with a configurator and digital visualiser. It also provides further inspiration for bespoke flooring designs, thus offering a unique customer experience. Tarkett’s iD Mixonomi has been available throughout the EMEA area since September 2017.

Circular sustainability

For many years Tarkett has been committed to sustainability and the circular economy by applying cradle to cradle principles across all its activities. The company’s ReStart® collection and recycling programme is one of the cornerstones of its commitment to closing the material loop. A new strategic partnership with Veolia has enabled it to offer clients a better collection and recycling service, while increasing volumes and the quality of recycled input in its flooring.

It also illustrates the capacity of the private sector to offer solutions that support sustainable economic growth.

Tarkett and Veolia are both members of the World Economic Forum and Circular Economy 100 Network, where the two companies engage in new projects and discussions to stimulate the acceleration of the Circular Economy on an international scale.

New easyTurf acquisition

In tandem with the company’s strategy for sustainability and eco-friendly operations, it has acquired many companies over the last decade that share its commitment to sustainability. Significant acquisitions in recent years have included many of the world’s brand leaders, such as Marley Floors, Field Turf, Johnsonite and Tandus, the leading commercial carpet company in the US.

However, Tarkett’s most recent takeover has been through its EasyTurf subsidiary, which recently acquired the assets of AlternaScapes, a landscape turf distributor and installer located in North America. For almost 20 years, the company has been a key distributor for Tarkett’s FieldTurf products, which are designed for use in artificial turf sports facilities of all kinds.

Tarkett also recently strengthened its commercial and industrial activities in China by acquiring the assets of a vinyl flooring facility located near Beijing. This is now fully operational and producing a wide range of Tarkett sustainable flooring products. These strategic acquisitions, and key business partnerships, are driving the sales of Tarkett products worldwide to new levels. For further details of Tarkett’s innovative sustainable flooring, and sports flooring solutions visit: www.tarkett.com