A Competition To Crown The High Street In The Wonders Of Wool

To celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III, we are asking all Independent Flooring Retailers to create an outstanding window or in-store display featuring wonderful wool.

1st Prize

Overnight accommodation and Spa Day for 2 people, including a tour of all things woolly

2nd Prize

2 x tickets to visit one of the Royal palaces or residencies + afternoon tea

3rd Prize

3 runners up will receive a gorgeous wool throw each

#lovewoolcarpets

Competition Entry Details:

• The display must be original and showcase at least one benefit of using wool as a floorcovering.

• Entries and images should be submitted by COB Friday 28th April on to your own retail social channels.

• To enter you must use the hashtag #lovewoolcarpets and mention at least one benefit of wool

• Judging will take place the first week of May and the winning retailers will be announced at the Buying Group Show on the 10th May.

• One entry per independent store, per location permitted.

• All winners will also be notified by email.

Supported by The Campaign for Wool, British Wool, SMG, Stocklists and Interiors Monthly and the following wool manufacturers:

Abingdon, Adam, Alternative Flooring, Axminster Carpets, Brintons, Brockway, Cavalier, Cormar, Danspin, Hugh MacKay, Penthouse, The Real Shetland Company, Ulster, Victoria and Westex.

Curated into six distinctive themes and a choice of 130 different SKUs, Moduleo’s new Roots collection is appealing, aspirational and as diverse and vivid as nature itself. Designed to handle whatever life throws at them, these slip, scratch and stain resistant floors are warm, comfortable and silent underfoot.

They’re sustainable too - being fully recyclable and made from up to 50% recycled materials. So, for floors everyone can be proud of, make it Roots by Moduleo.

Discover more at moduleo.co.uk

Tiles styled for choice

Providing unrivalled versatility in design choice and installation, we review the latest tile styles, material specifications, and industry support.

When choosing the perfect tile for any space, there are so many advantages to Amtico’s LVT. This authentic luxury vinyl tile is available in many different stone, ceramic and wood effects to bring the beauty of natural tile style into the home while offering warmth and comfort underfoot, especially when teamed with underfloor heating. One of the latest collections is Spacia Stone. Hardwearing, durable and maintenance-free, this soft stone-effect vinyl is subtle, sophisticated and perfect for blending in or creating an impact with a trend-led scheme. The Tones palette takes inspiration from nature with nine calming shades, all of which are available in a selection of sizes including Small and Large Parquet for a contemporary take on this classic laying pattern. There are also three Tumbled Stones with their characterful Cotswold feel and two Concrete LVT tiles for an industrial vibe.

Amtico’s Stone collection enhances both modern and contemporary decors with its Pale, Cool and Neutral tones to complement kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, living spaces and more. The Marble palette in White, Grey, Rose or Black meanwhile is a no-maintenance and affordable way of bringing this luxury stone into the home.

structures, and the ultra-deep embossed texture and super-matt finish brings the knots and cracks of grains to life.

Despite its 100% water-resistance, maintaining Ocean+ is no different than any other BerryAlloc laminate. A tough and highly scratch-resistant surface fights off the signs of daily life, requiring nothing more than occasional mopping, sweeping or vacuuming. Water-resistant, fade-free, scratch-resistant, beautiful to look at and simple to look after, it ticks all the boxes of a floor made for modern life.

We caught up with Stella Coyle, national retail sales manager of Karndean Designflooring to find out more on tile style trends, she said, “Nothing shouts quality and opulence like marble! A luxurious stone since the beginning of time, marble has never been more popular and is a big trend for 2023.

“The latest designer homes are oozing glamour and sophistication thanks to the introduction of marble, either in small touches such as kitchen worksurfaces or wall to wall for eye catching impact. With its clean colours and characterful distinctive veining, marble flooring is currently making a splash in bathrooms, kitchens and sitting rooms.”

With Amtico LVT, tiles feature organically inspired surface textures and embossed finishes for an authentic look and feel. Customers can unleash their inner interior designer with the online Room Visualiser to see how different products and patterns will look before making their final choice.

Ocean+ is the latest laminate flooring collection from BerryAlloc to take advantage of its pioneering hydro+ 100% water-resistant technology. BerryAlloc first introduced hydro+ back in 2008, making it the original pioneer in 100% water-resistant laminate floors. Ocean+ is the company’s latest Made in Belgium collection to take advantage of this technology, bringing a laminate floor that’s completely safe for every room in the house, even bathrooms and kitchens.

A hydrophobic coating that BerryAlloc applies to all sides of the plank during the manufacturing process, hydro+ repels water from joints and is combined with airtight locking systems to make Ocean+ completely water-resistant. The Ocean+ collection is made of four different specifications, and two abrasion class levels in standard (190 x 1288mm) and over-size (241 x 2038mm) formats, to ensure it can be enjoyed in all sizes of room and in both homes and businesses.

The collection features impressively lifelike wood, and stone designs. From elegant oaks to rustic woods, there are 30 original looks to suit any interior, including a stylish stone design and the unique Retro Chic tile. The wood effects of Ocean+ are available in a range of natural

Karndean Designflooring report that traditionally here in Britain, we have used marble flooring in high-end kitchens and sumptuous spa bathrooms. But there’s no reason why you can’t bring the lavish look of marble flooring into any room.

Stella Coyle explains, “Create a boutique hotel style in your bedroom or give your living room an uber chic atmosphere that will be instantly relaxing. In hallways, our marble flooring will create classic elegance without the worry.

“Use our pale white marble designs to achieve a cool tropical feel to accompany either an all-white scheme or a bold colour palette or combine with a dark marble for a statement floor that stands out from the crowd. If you are seeking a new take on a contemporary trend, our latest herringbone marble floor designs could be just the thing.”

Realistically replicating the beauty of Carrara marble from the Apuan Mountains in Italy, Karndean Designflooring’s Knight Tile collection offers three marble designs, from the palest Frosted Marble to the drama of Midnight Marble. There are options in full sized and herringbone tiles with formats to suit any interior.

Flooring solutions designer and manufacturer, Shaw Contract has seen huge take up in its In Stock UK programme since launch. A simple solution for flooring contractors and facilities managers with fast turnaround projects, the In Stock UK programme means customers can choose from a specially curated range of high-quality resilient flooring options, along with carpet tiles made and stocked in the UK. With yarn in stock at the facility too, this means that product is available for quick dispatch, within 24 hours of an order acknowledgement for account holders.

In Stock UK includes Shaw Contract’s Auxiliary and District carpet tile collections, along with its ever popular Rapid Select carpet tiles.

Rita is Director of Bancmarketing Ltd and has over 30 years of marketing experience with a proven track record in both business to business and business to consumer multi-channel marketing.

This year Shaw announced an industry-leading 15-year warranty covering its carpet tiles’ installation in a second location using IOBAC’s MagTabs which are also available through the In Stock programme. Shaw Contract is the only manufacturer currently to offer this warranty.

The Tile Association (TTA) is the trade association for the entire tiling industry – retailers & distributors, manufacturers, contractors, independent tile fixers and students. It supports its members to ensure they are best-placed to take advantage of business opportunities in today’s marketplace, by providing exclusive services.These include use of TTA logo in marketing materials, a free listing in the business directory section of TTA website, which is a source of business for many members, access to technical support and documentation, and business helplines.

From April, Shaw’s latest LVT collection, Nordic, is also available through the In Stock programme. At a 5mm thickness, Nordic can be used seamlessly alongside most carpet tiles, without the need of a transition strip. With superior scratch resistance from its ExoGuard finish, Nordic LVT is ideal for the spaces where we work, learn and collaborate. Nordic is Floorscore certified for low VOCs, Indoor Air Comfort Gold certified and is available in 10 wood tones.

Technical support is important to ensure adherence to British Standards and to enable members to meet customer expectations regarding sustainability. TTA has a Sustainability Working Group which aims to improve and promote the sustainability proposition of tiled surfaces in both commercial and domestic projects.

Key trends in floor tiling include the continuing popularity of the concrete, industrial look, as well as finishes which replicate the appearance of timber flooring and also large format tiles or panels, which provide an aesthetic style by reducing grout lines, but do require specialist handling and installation techniques. TTA has technical documents which covers this area, as well as topics such as slip resistance, natural stone, wetrooms, tiling to heated floors and tiling for terraces and patios. The popularity of 20mm porcelain tiles for patios is an important trend currently, as homeowners seek to expand their usable living space into their gardens, coordinating and extending the tiled look from inside the home into their exterior space.

April 1st is no joke

Every year on the 1st April landfill tax increases and this year will be no exception.

This of course means your skip costs will also increase significantly in a few weeks’ time.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, especially for the flooring industry as new and uplifted carpet and underlay waste can be easily recycled using a ‘’Kenburn Carpet Crusher’’

With the public becoming more aware of environmental issues, by promoting your ‘’zero to landfill’’ waste policy you’ll find your sales conversion rates will improve as your customers will respond enthusiastically to ‘’eco-friendly’’ initiatives.

Another major incentive for installing a Kenburn carpet crusher is the financial savings that can be made, as it costs less to recycle new and uplifted carpet and underlay waste than it does to send it to landfill. Typically, the cost to recycle carpet/underlay waste works out at around 40 pence per square metre.

"The feedback we receive from our customers when we exhibit at all the trade shows is that the public are more willing to pay for ‘’an uplift and recycling charge’’ as opposed to ‘’an uplift and disposal charge’’, says Kenburn.

Over the past eight years the Kenburn carpet crusher has helped hundreds of retailers and contractors throughout the UK to reduce their ever-increasing waste management costs.

The company can visit your site and explain how the scheme works, how the compacted waste is collected and recycled and what the costs will be to ‘’go green’’. T 01727 844988 www.kenburn.co.uk

RBV Flooring Ltd, Bradford

SALES/GENERAL ENQUIRIES/TRADE COUNTER 01274 670011

COMMERCIAL MANAGERS:

Chris Bellaby 07740 718170 | John Miller 07846 771146

AGENTS:

Matt Bell – Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancs - 07980 223303

Paul Hugo – Midlands, Fylde Coast - 07813 714498

Phil Brough – Staffs, North Wales, Cheshire - 07773 022206

Agents Required For The Yorkshire Area

We are on the search for agents in the UK, who will benefit from our very competitive pricing strategy, making it easier to make sales happen. Contact Chris or John on rbvflooring@yahoo.com