Groundswell in eco-innovation Tarkett

grounDswEll in Eco-innovation

Tarkett is the global brand leader in innovative eco-flooring and sports surface solutions. The company offers a broad range of products that include vinyl, carpet, rubber, wood, laminate and synthetic turf, as well as advanced surfaces for athletics tracks. Today Tarkett enjoys strong growth across the board thanks to its sustainable, eco-friendly products and strategic global acquisitions, as Philip Yorke reports.

For almost 140 years, Tarkett has been a market leader in the development and supply of unique flooring and sports surface solutions. Today with more than 13,000 employees, the company serves over 100 countries worldwide through its key brands that include Tarkett, Desso, Johnsonite, Tandus Centiva, FieldTurf and Beynon. As an indicator of its dominant role in the global marketplace, Tarkett sells over 1.4 million square metres of flooring every single day. Market applications include products for hospitals, schools, housing, hotels, offices, stores and sports fields.

Tarkett’s new prestige headquarters are located in the select ‘La Defence’ area of Paris, and are the hub of its extensive global operations. The company is listed on the Euronext stock exchange in Paris and in 2017 recorded revenues of more than €2.8 billion.

expanding global reach

Recently the Tarkett Group announced a number of strategic investments that will expand its global operations and increase its luxury vinyl tiles production capacity in North America and Europe. The additional capacity will significantly enhance its sustainable and environmentally friendly manufacturing base worldwide.

In another recent move, Tarkett announced that it had completed the acquisition of Lexmark Carpet Mills. This will reinforce its presence in the growing North American hospitality sector. It has identified sales and supply chain synergies between the two companies, which will enable optimised performance and contribute to a seamless integration.

“With the acquisition of Lexmark, Tarkett has reinforced its position in carpets for the hospitality market in North America and is now one of three leading brands in this sector,” said Fabrice Barthelemy, chairman of Tarkett’s management board. “Additionally this move enables us to provide a global offering to key international accounts and strengthens our expertise in this important segment. We are very pleased to welcome Paul Cleary and his team to the Tarkett family.”

Lexmark Carpet Mills produces high quality carpets primarily for the North American hospitality market and is well recognised among leading hospitality chains for its state-of-the-art products and services. In 2017 Lexmark achieved sales of more than $120 million and employed around 500 people.

on-going investments

Tarkett is planning to invest a further $60 million over a three-year period in order to increase its production capacity at two key manufacturing facilities based in Alabama. This significant expansion addresses the increasing demand for Tarkett’s vinyl modular flooring in North America.

In order to meet growing demand in Europe for its products, Tarkett will also build a new distribution centre in Florence, Italy to facilitate the growing European market. Furthermore, over €20 million will be invested over the next three years in new manufacturing facilities

in Luxembourg and Poland. Barthelemy commented, “These investments will further enhance our strong position in the European vinyl tiles marketplace and facilitate our customer’s access to our unique range of exclusive designs.”

Over the last few years, Tarkett has also strengthened its commercial and industrial activities in China through a number of strategic transactions. One such investment was its recent acquisition of the assets of a vinyl flooring facility located near Beijing, which is now fully operational and producing a wide range of Tarkett sustainable flooring products. These strategic acquisitions, transactions and key business partnerships continue to drive the sales of Tarkett products to entirely new levels.

Where the grass is greener

The Tarkett Group, through its FieldTurf subsidiary, recently announced the acquisition of the assets of ‘Grassman’, a marketleading Australian synthetic turf manufacturer. This acquisition significantly expands FieldTurf’s presence in the Australian market, in particular, in the areas of hockey, tennis, landscape and utilities. This move will also add to the company’s growth in the soccer and rugby sectors.

“We are excited to expand in the growing Australian market,” said Eric Daliere, president of Tarkett Sports. “Grassman, led by its founder Gary Waterford, has been a true pioneer and innovator in the synthetic turf industry. This acquisition will significantly strengthen our ability to provide high-quality innovative products and to deliver an exceptional overall experience to our Australian customers.” Focus on the circular economy

For many years Tarkett has been committed to the cause of sustainability and the circular economy. It has demonstrated this by applying cradle-to-cradle principles across all of 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 also enabled Tarkett to offer clients a better collection and recycling service, whilst increasing volumes and quality of recycled input in its flooring. It also illustrates the capacity of the private sector to offer solutions that support sustainable, economic growth. n