Enter the industry Oscars now!

The 2023 Flooring Innovation Awards are off to a good start with a steady flow of competition entries from all sectors of the industry already flowing in and a high calibre new judge joining the scheme's independent panel.

"We have been very impressed by the quality already of the entries that are starting to come in for this year's awards," said Flooring Innovation Awards organiser Bridgette Kelly.

"And this year we are delighted to welcome NICF President Brian King to our panel of judges," says Bridgette. "Brian brings a wealth of industry knowledge to the role, with a lot of literally hands-on experience of flooring products.

The national Flooring Innovation Awards (FIA) sets out to identify products and services that are genuinely new and exceptional in the sector. Award categories cover not only flooring products, but also recognise achievements in service, technology and marketing.

Last year there were more than 100 submissions to the award scheme and 34 shortlisted entries received the coveted Innovation Star. The judges then went on to select the Innovation Gold in each of 10 categories to receive the ultimate award. The 10 categories are:

• Carpets & rugs - natural fibre

• Carpets & rugs - man-made fibre

• Smooths (vinyls, laminate, woods)

• Design - carpets and rugs

• Design - smooths

• Underlay & accessories (trims, profiles, anti-slip, etc.)

• Installation, products & tools

• Environmental initiatives

• Marketing concepts and merchandising/POS

• Technologies (techniques, apps, online, etc.)

MEET OUR NEW JUDGE...

The latest judge to join the panel for the Flooring Innovation Awards is Brian King, President of the National Institute of Carpet & Floorlayers (NICF).

Brian has been fitting floor coverings for over 25 years, running his own flooring company in NW England. Brian joined the NICF in 2003 and became a Master Fitter in 2008. He became a FITA instructor in 2010 and joined the NICF Council in 2011.

Our FIA 2023 judges