Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

FLOORING

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND december 2018 / january 2019

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Welcoming a nother additi on to the Choices F looring famil y - p27

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Upfront

FLOORING

With the silly season left far, far behind and all but a distant memory, it’s now time to gear up for a truly productive year.

Flooring magazine is preparing for an even bigger 2019 and we will focus on bringing you up to the minute industry news, new products, technical information, as well as highlighting the ICONS that make up this fabulous flooring community.

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND december 2018 / january 2019

vol 36 no 6

News 4 Signature Floors – Using media to improve results

Icons

This issue’s ICON features the wellknown character Ross Hodgson and makes fascinating reading.

18 Ross Hodgson

If by chance you know of a person who in your opinion should be acknowledged as an industry Icon, then please don’t hesitate to contact me, as I’m sure there are many hidden gems out there.

Overseas News

Cheers,

Sports Flooring

43 IKEA’s new Hong Kong store furnished with Flowcrete flooring

30 University of Oxford installs glass flooring

Vicky Cammiade Publisher

Regular Reports 28 Airstep – Retailer of the month 32 FCIA News 48 Software 52 Safety

Front Cover Choices Flooring www.choicesflooring.com.au

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News

Signature Floors - Using media to improve results 2018 has been an exciting year for Signature Floors. In addition to the roll out of new categories, new ranges, new products for both Residential and Commercial Divisions, Signature has created several exclusive collaborations that have expanded the way the company is reaching out to home owners and buyers of its comprehensive range of flooring products.

Teaming up with well-known Interiors Influencer - Catherine Heraghty for her video series “2 in 12” - hosted on the realestate.com.au Lifestyle Channel, Catherine worked exclusively with Signature to achieve the impossible.

Transforming one house into two dwellings in just 12 short weeks over 12 episodes, Catherine covered all the information homeowners need when selecting flooring for their homes. The information and advice she shared was gold. Why she chose particular carpet 4 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

as an investment property to rent for income. I was able to team fabulous products to suit the luxury for me and the performance for the rental” said Catherine. This is great information to share to anyone who is embarking upon a new build or renovation, and who needs to cut through the clutter to find the right products with the right performance.” she said.

“Reaching out to this motivated audience is our objective” says Martina Kramer, Marketing Manager for Signature Floors. “Whilst there is always a place for print, social media is our choice of platform for engaging with and inspiring our end users. We know that a single Instagram post can create multiple sales for our retail partners, so we have a dedicated Community Manager at Signature who engages in conversations and provides important experiences for all of our audiences across the country” she said.

The power of the Influencer is indeed very real. Guy Sebastian and wife Jules also collaborated with Signature and specified Signature carpet for their new house build in Sydney. We sent them into one of our retail partners' store, they found a carpet they loved, then posted it on the spot to Instagram. The result was amazing with spikes around Australia in the sale of Signature’s premium carpets.

This immediacy of response highlights the power of new media.

ranges for their fibre performance, timber colour combinations and finish options, Catherine provided the large audience with valuable information and confidence to step in-store and find the right purchase for their needs – which they did! Catherine specially selected Signature’s European Style Oak “Maison Oak™” and Signature’s “Oak de France™” collection for the ground floors. This was combined with luxurious European pure wool collection “Nobby” which is made from 100% pure undyed wool and Signature’s super soft and hard-wearing Luxcloud™ SDN Collection for upstairs. Every product Catherine presented in the “2 in 12” series saw significant increased sales across the country.

Catherine’s inspirational story was also shared to her dedicated Facebook and Instagram followers too. “We built one home for my family and the second

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The Men of Newfurn helping raise awareness for Movember

The Movember Foundation is the leading charity changing the face of men’s health. They are addressing some of the biggest health issues faced by men: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention.

In November, the men of Newfurn’s Central Office took up the challenge in an attempt to raise some money. Andrew Lewis (CEO), Tim Drew (GM – Retail Development), Terry Triggs (GM – Product), John Nicholls (GM- New Zealand), Jeremy Naug (Commercial Manager

Northern), Craig Kennedy (Commercial Manager Southern), Mark Cleeman (Store Development & Design Manager) and David Mapstone (Project Manager) not only transformed their looks, but they also raised $14,695 for the Movember foundation. Well Done Gentlemen.

MJS completes geographic footprint

MJS Floorcoverings, Australia’s largest family owned and operated distribution company, has now completed its geographic footprint of the Australia market, with the announcement of its Perth based facility opening in early 2019.

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Established in 1967 by the late, Mervyn John Sturgess, now managed and supported by second and third generation Sturgess’s- it yet another mile stone in the MJS family history book.

Brett Sturgess (Managing Director) says that “with Perth’s opening it now takes MJS locations nationally to a total of 20 - all geographically located to best service our customers’ requirements and the suppliers we represent. Western Australian customers can expect service from a dedicated team, supported locally by WA State Manager, Alex Sturgess (third generation), in customer satisfaction.

All of us in the MJS Team look forward to supporting our new Partner’s in Business within the Western Australian market.”

Correction In the Oct/Nov issue of Flooring Magazine we reported that Basha’s Floors & Blinds “began operations in Nowra in 1902”. We have since been informed that in fact it started in the “Creswick goldfields in 1867” making them the oldest floor covering business in Australia and also the 72nd registered oldest business in Australia’s history.

What an achievement.

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signaturefloors

Product Update MiPlank – designed for the Australian lifestyle Spotted Gum

Inspired by the iconic Australian species of timber; Spotted Gum, these planks are uniquely Australian. Featuring light tones with a distinctive refined texture, Spotted Gum is a timeless and classic timber perfect for any home.

Paperbark

Paperbark features a unique combination of a smooth texture and light timber tones which range from warm, sun drenched yellows to moody greys, creating a sense of refined luxury.

Sassafras

Sassafras features wonderful, variable and dynamic colouring. The combination of golden tones with striking deep, rich brown grain and knot detailing creates a statement floor.

Spotted Gum

Designed exclusively for the Australian lifestyle, Polyflor’s latest collection MiPlank has been carefully created by a team of Australian, local interior designers. The collection features 15 planks inspired by natural timber, each containing unique knot and grain detailing; ensuring that each plank has its’ own unique appeal. Made for busy families, MiPlank features a PUR coating that makes it easy to clean and maintain. Whilst the thicker and longer design of the planks means that MiPlank is easy to install, it also adds a feeling of spaciousness to any room. With shades ranging from light, washed pines and oaks to rich, dark smoked timbers; MiPlank has a species perfect for any home.

Within the MiPlank collection, 8 of the 15 shades are featured on long, 1505mm planks, whilst the remaining 7 are 1219mm long planks. This helps to create a seamless, spacious feeling in any environment. At 5mm thick with a 0.55mm wear layer, MiPlank is quiet underfoot, has excellent noise reduction properties and is suitable for heavy foot traffic, whether that be commercial or in the home. The collection has been purposefully crafted to replicate real timber and features several species unique to Australia in addition to other popular European species.

MiPlank features planks which

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have been crafted from samples of real Australian timber. The process of selecting these timbers was rigorous to ensure that the colour, detail and diversity matched that of the Australian landscape.

Polyflor wanted to create a range which illustrated the extraordinary uniqueness of the species available in Australia and allow customers a wide selection.

The MiPlank collection includes:

Wattle

Wattle is a striking light brown timber, with warm undertones and obvious growth rings. Inspired by natural timber, these planks feature unique knot and grain detailing to ensure an authentic Australian timber look.

Red Heart Gum

A modern alternative to Jarrah, Red Heart Gum incorporates the rich red tones of the Australian species which is balanced

Silver Birch

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with the smooth grain and cool grey undertones. Red Heart Gum is perfect for adding warmth and a sense of traditional style to any home.

Grey Gum

Designed to replicate an Australian native species, Grey Gum combines a smooth refined grain with contemporary grey undertones to create a truly unique, Australian feel.

Tasmanian Myrtle

Created to purposefully mimic the evergreen native which is unique to Victoria and Tasmania; Tasmanian Myrtle features reddish undertones with a distinctive black grain.

Blackwood

Inspired by the Australian hardwood that yields an attractive timber finish; Blackwood features lustrous golden brown grain distinctively contrasted with bands of rich, darker tones for a sophisticated, homely look.

Dark Oak

Polyflor pride themselves on being environmentally friendly, so the creation of MiPlank has been no different.

MiPlank is not just made from recycled content, but is also 100% recyclable.

The BRE Rating takes account of the performance of the specification for each of the environmental impacts, and the fact that some impacts are assigned more importance than others. Those with A+ ratings (such as Polyflor) have

the lowest overall environmental impact.

Additionally, MiPlank has exceptionally low VOC outputs.

Designed with quality in mind, MiPlank has been manufactured to last and features a 15 year Residential / 10 year Commercial manufactures warranty. The collection of timbers is both timeless and classic, to avoid needing to refit a floor simply because a trend has come and gone.

Signature Floors launches premium Chakra Collection Signature Floors re-launch their highly successful and prestigious Chakra carpet collection. Chakra Carpet Tiles is a premium classic that adds a calming and contemporary influence to any commercial project.

From deep charcoals to lighter, mid tone palettes, their team of colourists have been focused on creating a modern collection that imitates nature, with a richly dense texture that adds a luxurious element to installations.

Chakra is the ideal foundation for high

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end hotels and lobbies, as there is also the flexibility to replace a tile when there is any spill or stain – making the carpet collection the perfect impactful option for high traffic areas. Furthermore, Chakra guarantees the ideal combination of stylish performance, with its solution dyed nylon and unique cut and loop construction, delivering outstanding soil and stain resistance and excellent durability.

Signature Floors are committed to creating flooring surfaces that are

sustainable with intelligent designs, which is why Chakra features an Ecospecifier GreenTag GreenRate Level ’A’ certification with full points available for Green Star projects in the materials calculators, with additional points in Indoor Environment Quality.

Chakra is Signature’s latest luxurious collection that creates connected, integrated solutions that offer flexibility and functionality with aesthetics to fit any style for any superior hospitality project.

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Virtuo Rigid 55 Lock: a plank for all seasons Gerflor has launched its latest innovation, Virtuo Rigid 55 Lock extra large planks in a dynamic and growing LVT market. The new range is competitively positioned and offers a range of features to appeal to buyers in the hybrid category.

Virtuo Rigid 55 Lock is a new generation of vinyl flooring that fuses technological innovation with the latest design trends. Sophisticated printing and embossing delivers realistic timber designs in large format 225x1524 planks. An extruded PVC core assures dimensional stability. This, combined with the Unilin locking system, creates a stable flooring solution for the range of climatic conditions found around Australia. The 0.55mm wear layer further enhances Virtuo Rigid 55 Lock’s hard wearing credentials.

“This stunning collection features realistic timber finishes that are leading consumer demand”, according to Gerflor’s Creative Director, Gino Venturelli.

Inspired by Nature

“Life brings us to spaces that are more artificial than ever before. If you go to cities around the world you see a lot of concrete, a lot of glass but not so many trees. People are drawn to a feeling that connects us to nature,” Venturelli said.

Venturelli and his team have applied their research to the latest designs to deliver a range that reflects homemakers yearning for a more natural living environment.

Puno Brown

YARRA COFFEE: The velvety texture of an aged natural timber is realistically portrayed with this toasted wood design.

Tonal variations enhance the rustial appeal of Yarra Coffee.

PUNO: Inject the natural appeal of cedar into your room with planks from the Puno design. Choose a warm, inviting shade of brown to highlight the knots and grains or strip the look back to a cool, clean canvas with Puno Pure’s soft natural hues in this realistic cedar timber design.

KILDA OAK: Contemporary designs with a realistic appeal to complement

your oak inspired design direction. This versatile palette morphs from a smokey fusion of cool greys and warmer brown into honey tones. Deeper accent shades add rustic authenticity to this large format designer plank range.

LOVINA: A versatile marriage of grey/ brown delivers timeless appeal in a rustic oak wood design that brings a natural beauty indoors.

“Wood designs are still very popular, and I am committed to developing the most inspiring design for Gerflor’s customers,” Venturelli said.

Kilda Cashmere

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NEW*

G E R M A N M A D E L A M I N AT E F L O O R I N G AUTHENTIC TIMBER LOOK DESIGNS

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FROM AC3 TO AC5 RATING

EASY INSTALLATION

LOW MAINTENANCE & HARD WEARING

PRODUCED FROM SUSTAINABLE RAW MATERIALS

Designed and manufactured in Germany, Kronotex ranges are so sturdy they will maintain their beauty even in heavy traffic commercial spaces. *10mm & 12mm ranges

P: 1300 737 155 | E: salesaust@qep.com www.kronotex-aust.com.au

Timber-effects flooring range National Tiles has responded to what it perceives is the demand for natural timber and timber-look flooring products with hardwearing, stable and long-lasting solutions for residential and commercial builds and renovations. These products are the result of major advancements in technology and manufacturing.

Laminate emulates timber flooring without the price tag of timber. With an aluminium oxide coating for protection against wear, stain and fading and HDF (high density fibreboard) core creating a high resistance to indentation, laminate floors are ideal for high traffic homes or commercial environments.

Available in a European Oak-inspired palette of eight matte-finished colours, the Residence Laminate series captures the warmth and sophistication of timber flooring. It features an AC5 abrasion rating.

The Cottage line has 13 colourways replicating European Oak. It has a matte finish and bevelled edge with an AC4 abrasion rating for wear resistance. The Cabin series is available in five European Oak-influenced colourways with a matte finish as well as a bevelled edge, and has an AC3 abrasion rating.

Designed to endure the hustle and bustle of modern life and busy families, the engineered timber range is ethically sourced and environmentally sustainable.

Available in eight mattefinished colours with a bevelled edge and a highdensity Hevea core, Aspen Oak uses French Oak and carefully crafts it with technological processes.

To achieve the warmth and comfort of a timber-look floor without the cost and ongoing maintenance, Vinyl Plank is designed to be softer, quieter and more comfortable than most other flooring types. It comes in two versions, Vale 3mm and Vale 5mm. They both have a commercial grade wear layer and provide a versatile alternative to real timber.

The Hybrid flooring collection combines the benefits of laminate and vinyl plank to produce a floating floor suitable for residential homes. Built for harsh Australian conditions, it has an OptimCore substrate layer that remains stable in extreme climates.

Mistura Hybrid has embossed textures that simulate timber grains and a micro-bevelled profile creates an authentic timber flooring look. With a preadhered acoustic backing, Mistura meets the acoustic requirements for apartment living applications.

Floorcovering Association of Victoria Inc. The Flooring Association of Victoria had its AGM on the Thursday 15th November. The meeting had an enthusiastic turn out. The following people were elected: • John Guyett was elected Secretary and formal office bearer.

• President : Ben Vander Veen • Vice President: David Robertson • Committee: Stuart Bloomfield, David Lauder, Andrew Jones and Penny Lack Steven Main will roll out the new OH&S manuals over the next 6 months.

Training seminars will commence early next year for Silica dust safety protocols. Members will be advised directly of the dates.

The new awards night has been confirmed as the 10th August 2019 continuing at the Plaza Ballroom. Entries to be sent to: favawards@gmail.com FAV is currently interviewing for a full time OH&S and compliance officer and we hope to have the position filled by early January 2019.

For any urgent IR issues FAV members should contact Ben Vander Veen on 0421 302 517 or email: contactfavic@gmail.com

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Want to be part of a passionate and progressive flooring group?

With locations across Australia you can become your own boss but have the backing of a large group.

For a strictly confidential discussion about the future direction of your business, please contact: Andrew Verstak - General Manager Style Flooring & Interiors Email: andrew@stylefloors.com.au • Phone: 0499 828 000 • Website: stylefloors.com.au

DriTac introduces “green” floor primer DriTac Flooring Products, LLC has launched a “green”, single-component acrylic floor primer for interior use on various approved substrates, including concrete, wood, light-weight concrete and gypcrete. Primer 3000’s concentrated Quick Dry, Bond-Strengthening technology enhances the bond with approved substrates, self-leveling underlayment, gypsum-based underlayment and patches, prior to adhesive application for wood, resilient and carpet tile flooring installations. Primer 3000 is approved for use with all DriTac flooring adhesives and available in 1-gallon containers and 4-gallon pails.

Manufactured in the USA, this versatile floor primer offers easy broom, sprayer, or nap roller application with a robust spread rate of up to 800 square feet per gallon, depending on application method, subfloor preparation and porosity.

Primer 3000’s solvent-free, low odor formula is easy to clean and colored green for easy identification. This premium-grade primer also touts DriTac’s “Green” Certification, designated for flooring installation solutions that contain zero VOCs and zero solvents.

“The performance characteristics of this product are outstanding. It’s easyto-use with minimal mixing required.

Primer 3000 allows us to offer our valued customer-base another premium-grade, eco-friendly flooring installation solution that can be used on its own or as part of our Total Sound Reduction System

(SRS),” said Chuck Hall, Senior Vice President of Sales.

Primer 3000 can be used in conjunction with DriTac’s Total Sound Reduction System, consisting of a layer of approved DriTac flooring adhesive above the primer, topped by a DriTac underlayment beneath a second layer of adhesive, prior to the installation of wood or resilient flooring. DriTac’s SRS offers a system solution with a lifetime warranty from a trusted, single-source supplier.

DriTac Flooring Products, LLC is celebrating over 60 years as one of the most experienced manufacturers of environmentally friendly flooring installation solutions in the market.

DriTac is committed to manufacturing sustainable products for the flooring industry with a comprehensive line of premium “green” zero VOC and zero solvent adhesives and installation products that help contribute points towards LEED certification.

PRIMER SF PRIMER SF is a single component polyurethane, water and solvent-free, moisture-cure primer for treating subfloors before laying wood floors.

The low level viscosity and the excellent penetration make it ideal for strengthening and waterproofing concrete and anhydrite subfloors in just one coat.

PRIMER SF can be used for treating crumbly screeds or those with a high level of residue moisture (up to a maximum of 5% C.M.) as well as being suitable as 16 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

a binder for the preparation of synthetic mortar for quick repairs. The EC1 classification certifies that the emission of volatile organic compounds is very low both during application and when the floor is in use. Moreover, the absence of solvents makes it safe for transportation and storage (non-flammable product) and when applied (odorless, it can also be used in the vicinity of rooms that are in use). Recommended especially for screeds with built-in heating.

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Ross Hodgson: Business, Bowling, Mobsters and Bundaberg Rum Mark Hodgson said of his father Ross; “I attribute all my success in business to my father’s teaching. Put simply I thought what would Dad do in this instance; and I’d do the opposite, and it’s worked a charm!”

Ross Hodgson’s family are fourthgeneration Australian, originally from the United Kingdom. Ross has three brothers; Laurie owns Southern Cross carpet mills in Dandenong with help from Ross; Rod is a Psychiatrist and Les is deceased.

Ross’s parents were living in Cotham Road in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Kew when Ross was born on 18th May 1942 while the Second World War was

still raging across the globe. Darwin had been bombed just a few months earlier and for many in Australia, this was the most perilous time of the war.

In 1942 King George VI was the reigning monarch; John Curtin was Australian Prime Minister and Colonus won the Melbourne Cup. Besides Ross, other personalities to be born in 1942 were Ita Buttrose; playwright David

Williamson; journalist George Negus; racing driver Colin Bond; tennis great Margaret Court and politician Bronwyn Bishop. If you went to the movies in 1942 you would be watching Gone with the wind; Citizen Kane; The Maltese Falcon or Disney’s Dumbo.

Ross’s childhood was one of moving about a lot. From Kew the family moved to Ivanhoe where they ran a dairy. Ross

(L-R) Mark, Tom and Ross Hodgson

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Ross and Laurence Hodgson

recalls that they used to service a wide area that included Doncaster. The huge Doncaster shopping complex was vacant land back then and Ross used to go with his father and catch rabbits with ferrets while Dad delivered the milk. From Ivanhoe the family moved to Thornbury where they ran a school tuck shop and from there to Cora Lynn where they ran a farm. Ross remembers this was in the Koo Wee Rup swamp and today the town still only has a population of less than three hundred people.

The next move was to Wesburn in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. Wesburn was a forestry town and nearby Yarra Junction has the distinction of being the town where the second-most amount of timber was shipped in the entire World, first place going to Seattle in Washington State, USA. In Wesburn the family ran the newsagency and general store and Ross’s father was the postmaster. Ross tells us that you could go down to Yankee Jim Creek and pluck the fish out of the water with your bare hands; those were the days. He also recalls he went to the Warburton Higher elementary school that was burnt down one Christmas by an unhappy school-mate.

Then it was on to Boronia, then Forest Hill and in 1960 Ross started his own business in Lilydale, an outer-eastern suburb of Melbourne. He was just eighteen years old at the time and had been working for Clausens Furniture and Floor coverings in Ringwood for a weekly wage of £3/7 shillings and sixpence. Ross tells us that he’d left school at fourteen and did his training there, in charge of the mat department. One of his jobs was to do the daily banking so he got to know the bank manager really well. One day the manager asked Ross what he wanted to do with his life. Ross answered “Be the manager of Clausens, and if I get enough money, to have my own business.” The manager sat him down, they opened an account and when Ross saved £6,000 the manager gave him a loan for the same amount.

First business venture

Ross worked two extra jobs to achieve his first goal, one of them a job at a tenpin bowling centre as an instructor.

Ross remembers “I left Clausens every afternoon at twenty-nine minutes past five with a minute to walk to the bowling centre, and I was always two minutes late.” Ross never achieved the Holy Grail of a perfect 300-game and only managed

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Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019 | 19

Ross was sent to Sydney as assistant manager of their floor covering division but returned to Melbourne because of the cost of living in Sydney. He joined Sequoia; a local manufacturer, then Trend Carpets and after that, Conargo Carpets as sales manager. “And after that….wonderful….I started out in 1970 on my own,” he said.

The business was Drysdale Carpet Mills in Dandenong, named after a breed of sheep originating in New Zealand where both the male and female of the species are horned. The Drysdale breed emerged in New Zealand in the 1960's when a use for this strong wool with quite a large micron count was realised for carpets.

Drysdale Carpet Mills

Ross circa 1960

298; “I went to water on the last ball” he laughs. His other job was a milk run.

Ross had his first business; Hodgsons Furnishings in Lilydale selling furniture from Australian manufacturers Danish Deluxe; Fler and other major brands. He had the business for eight years or so and in that time worked hard and saved enough money to buy his first home.

Ross has always liked carpet and so eventually he dropped out of furniture retailing and joined Gollins who at the time sold some of the best high-end

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carpets in Australia. Crossley was a wellknown brand and was the largest carpet manufacturer in the world throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Based at Halifax in Yorkshire (UK), it declined due to cheap imports and the factory closed in 1982. Hugh Mackay and Gilt Edge were two other UK manufacturers Ross recalls selling at Gollins. At the time, hundreds of thousands of dollars of carpet would land in Australia on consignment and it was Ross’s job to sell it.

Drysdale Carpet Mills were in business from the early 1970’s until 1992.

During this time Ross had many fine people working with him. He particularly remembers Effie, a Greek woman who worked the tufting machines. Ross says “She was always ten minutes early every day and was often the last to leave.

She was a really dedicated worker and I admired her ethic. She’d be a hundred now if she is still with us.” Ross went mostly for experienced people and while training has always been important to him, for good workers it was not his top priority, experience was highly regarded.

“When I had Drysdale Carpet Mills I was on the road that often I never knew what State I was going to be in. I was consigning carpet into the auctions in Sydney so I had a lot of business there.”

Ross would commute between Melbourne and Sydney as much as three times a week and often fly on to Brisbane and further up the coast. He’d bought a property on Magnetic Island and stayed there as often as he could. It was a simple property but had a magnificent 22

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mango tree in the front yard. He says “I’ve never had a better lifestyle with better people.” On one occasion Ross had entered a rum drinking event in Mount Garnet, Queensland. Ross was at odds of 30-1 on the last ten minutes and three nips behind before winning it by two and taking the first prize of $22,000.

Sixty minutes presenter Charles Wooley had seen Ross at the event and sought him out. Finding out he had the Magnetic Island property, Wooley did a 60-Minutes story with Ross about life on the island and the Great Barrier Reef.

Unfortunately the Drysdale business did not end well and is a low point of Ross’s career. He tells us “I was approached by someone with an offer to buy Drysdale. I rejected his first offer but Magnetic Island and the lifestyle lured me into accepting a second offer. The valuation came in more than the purchaser was expecting and he jumped.

He hadn’t the funds and pleaded with me for vendor terms. Against my accountants advice I accepted and spent the next two years on Magnetic Island blissfully unaware while he ran Drysdale into the ground.”

One day Ross got a phone call from his bank manager about several million dollars in drafts and was on a plane to Melbourne at seven the next day. Still with 85% of the Drysdale holdings, Ross was deemed responsible for the debt.

Ross recalls “When I got out of the car (the buyer) said “I don’t want it, it’s driving me mad, it’s all yours.” I was left with the mess, he just walked out.” Ross could have gone into receivership but maintaining ‘face’ was more important.

And so began a period of two years where Ross demonstrated his commitment to the industry by paying off every cent of the debts, even sacrificing his Magnetic Island property for the sake of his valued creditors.

Ross sold Drysdale to John Sunderland at Quest and in 1993 Ross and his twin sons Mark and Steven started CARPETWORLD. Mark and Steven wanted to get into the flooring industry and so the store in Mornington was purchased. Starting out with a shell and concrete floor Ross says “Looked like dirt,” the shop and warehouse facility has been built up over the years and is now highly regarded as one of, if not the best flooring showroom in the southern hemisphere. The premises even has a room devoted to testing flooring samples 22 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

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The Mordialloc store

“One day I went into a car wash but it took my money and I didn’t get the wash. I went back the next day and the owner was there. He refunded my money and gave me a free wash so I offered him my services if he ever needed it, saying I was AA…always available.”

for wear, something that’s not done in many other flooring businesses. Other CARPETWORLD stores around Melbourne and country Victoria are independently owned under licence.

Ross’s history at CARPETWORLD lasted only about eighteen months.

His sons Mark and Steven along with Marks wife Sue were bringing in modern business practices and Ross thought it time he took a backward step. Ask Ross if he has an email address and he’ll say “What’s that?” He spent some time on Magnetic Island and started a store in Hampton named Rug Living, a business he particularly enjoyed. Steven is also involved with the commercial side of the business and fit out a lot of high end hotels and office spaces for some of Melbourne’s quality construction companies.

Ross closed Rug Living in 2002. Of the rest of his ‘working’ life he says “One day I went into a car wash but it took my money and I didn’t get the wash. I went back the next day and the owner was there. He refunded my money and gave me a free wash so I offered him my services if he ever needed it, saying I was AA…always available. Six weeks later he offered me a position and I ended up working at the wash for ten years.” Ross eventually helped the owner sell the car wash, effectively putting himself out of a job.

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Philanthropy

Ross sponsored the Fitzroy Football club for four years when it was VFL. He also served on the committee for nine years.

The club is now the Brisbane Lions and Ross still follows their fortunes, albeit without the passion he held when they were a Victorian club. In fact, he stopped following them for two years after they relocated to Queensland.

Ross had played for a local Australian Rules football team as a junior when he lived in Wandin. He tells us he wasn’t that good but maybe that’s a bit of humility. He was in good company with many players from the Yarra Valley making it into the VFL/AFL. Ross remembers ‘Cliffy’ Stewart who went on to play with the great Ron Barassi at Carlton. Cliff played wing and Ross half back flank so they got to know each other quite well on the field, in fact Cliff’s brother is one of Ross’s best mates.

Ross also started the carpet industry PTA; or the Past Tufters Association, an industry group he set up to increase buying power for smaller manufacturers.

At times the PTA placed bigger orders than the biggest individual manufacturer. The group lasted twenty years and Ross recalls getting together for a lunch or at Christmas for “A bloody good time” with the other business owners and their employees.

Characters

Looking back on his life in the flooring industry, Ross says he’s known “The most marvellous people like Noel Kiely of Berber Carpets International, one of the most exciting people I have met.” Another well-known industry identity was Maury Camberg who Ross called on when he was working for Trend Carpets. Maury had twelve stores around Sydney. Ross recalls that Maury was “A huge drinker after eleven” and a bottle of scotch a day was not out of the question. Ross tells us that if you didn’t have a drink you didn’t get an order and Ross needed the order and his commission. One day Maury asked Ross what he had to sell so he laid it all out on the table. That day he got an order for 1,250 rolls of carpet, the biggest order he ever got.

John Osborne of Premier Carpets is another character Ross remembers well.

John did 90% of the carpets in Kings Cross and Ross and John would have business meetings with a seedy character named Abe Saffron who was also called Mr. Sin and ‘The boss of the Cross.’ Abe was an Australian hotelier, nightclub owner and property developer reputed to have been one of the major figures in organised crime in Australia in the latter half of the 20th century. Like Al Capone, Abe’s only major conviction was for federal tax evasion and for that he served only seventeen months in prison. 26

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Welcome 2019!

As we enter another year, we at Classic continue to look forward to building a safer and more accessible Australia for all. #safetyfirst #accessforall

1300 244 377 Melbourne | Sydney | Brisbane | Adelaide | Perth | Auckland For updates on industry standards and products, stay in touch with us at @classicarch

@Classic_Arch

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Ross Hodgson has spent almost sixty years in the flooring industry. In the 1950’s and 60’s things were done differently than they are today. It wasn’t unusual to have a three-martini lunch and deals were done over a glass of scotch, or in Ross’s case, a Bundy Rum. Ross did business by building relationships and that sometimes called for a social drink. Relationships were important so that the payments came in on time and the orders were often instant delivery. Ross says he loved the industry, very rarely a day goes by when you didn’t have a laugh or met someone interesting.

His tips for success is to be enthusiastic, put in the hours and are honest, including paying your bills on time.

Ross has been retired for several years now but will often travel to Queensland for a holiday, even though the property on Magnetic Island is long gone. With Drysdale Carpet Mills he travelled to New Zealand over a hundred times buying carpet yarn. He once had a $100 bet about this and went home to get his ticket stubs; finding out it was in fact 106 times. Ross looks back fondly over his time in the industry and says “I’ve had an absolute ball and there are hundreds of people who have been good to me; the whole industry has been terribly good to me and for that I’m so appreciative.”

Testing the carpet

Ross in the huge Mordialloc store

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welcoming another addition

to the Choices Flooring family

e r o t s w ne in

ide

s South

Choices Flooring would like to welcome their newest member, Bruce Tran into the Choices Flooring family.

Bruce (Choices Flooring Southside owner), has over 7 years of experience in the flooring industry. Shortly after he started his relationship with the Choices Flooring group as a Regional Development Manager, he decided he wanted to run his own business and looked for opportunities in Brisbane. After working in his role for a year, he found the perfect location in Slacks Creek.

The store’s grand opening was held on Monday 10 December and was supported by around 60 guests including designers, alliance partners, commercial agents and the executive team from Choices Flooring. CEO Andrew Lewis with Group Manager – Retail Development, Tim Drew welcomed the team to the group.

I am very excited to join such a progressive group - Bruce Tran, owner of Choices Flooring Southside.

“What a fantastic turnout! It is so great to see the community, our partners and fellow Choices Flooring members come together to celebrate this exciting store opening. We are proud to welcome the Choices Flooring Southside team to the family.”

- Andrew Lewis, Choices Flooring CEO. The store has a fresh look with the implementation of the Choices Flooring Store Evolution Program. The store’s evolution aims to provide an unparalleled in-store experience. This is demonstrated by the showroom’s layout, inspiring product displays and industry leading technology of the Inspiration Station which allows consumers to visualise over 2,000 different flooring options in their own room images.

Choices Flooring Southside look forward to welcoming customers to their showroom and are excited to help them find the floor you’ve been searching for.

Visit Choices Flooring Southside, Shop 2 / 3361 Pacific Highway Slacks Creek QLD.

For a strictly confidential discussion about the future direction of your business, please contact: New Zealand - John Nicholls

Australia - Tim Drew

Group Manager - Retail Development NZ

Group Manager - Retail Development AUS

Mobile: +64 27 322 8679

Mobile: +61 425 751 756

Email: jnicholls@choicesflooring.co.nz

Email: tdrew@choicesflooring.com.au

choicesflooring.com

Retailer of the month

Anticipation C is the key Carpet Court, Holden Hill, South Australia Philip Ashley reports

hris Blyde is a 40-year veteran of the flooring industry and it’s fair to say he’s done it all.

From the underlay room to the Director’s office; Chris has seen the highs and lows and experienced all aspects of the flooring game. Starting his career in 1978 as an apprentice carpet layer with Mills and Moore in Sydney, Chris is now co-director of Carpet Court in Holden Hill, North East of Adelaide in South Australia.

Chris and his business partner Gavin Johnston took over the store in 2010 and Chris says “We’ve evolved massively over the last eight years and the future looks very promising.”

They’ve just had their best four months in the eight years they’ve been running the store; contrary to what others are

reporting. Success comes on the back of hard work, a great team and anticipation of their customer’s needs.

Chris remembers his early days “We were very old school; I recall we had a Singer sewing machine from the 1930’s to stitch our carpet together. Sales would measure on site and come back to the warehouse to transfer the measurements onto the carpet with chalk. I started in the underlay room on the scissors to get my hand and arm strength up.” Chris values those early days where he learned all the skills from the ground up. He says “We had an electric cutter but I wasn’t allowed to use it until I’d mastered the scissors.” Understanding how things were done back then has given Chris a sound grasp of the skills and theory that underlies his profession.

Mills and Moore was started by people in the building game. They got into flooring and brought a lot of their people over to the new business. Many of the trades were carpenters who learnt the new trade. Chris says “It was a radical move but they were very good at what they did.

The company lasted about twenty years and looking back, they were fun days. I worked mostly with carpet and linoleum back then.” Chris still uses that hands-on experience and gets out as often as he can to measure on site. His partner Gavin chooses to work ‘on the tools’ and Chris regards him as one of the finest tradespersons he has ever met.

Chris moved to Adelaide in 1985 to work for Les Morris and Kevin Freak at the current business in a shop just across the road from where they are now. Les and Kevin had owned the business from 1978 and Chris worked for them for 26 years in sales. Chris recalls that back then there was a lot of work cutting roll ends; brought in by the container, in the actual showroom. During that time Les and Kevin started another Carpet Court store in the

L-R: Wayne, Karen and Chris.

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Chris in the store.

Adelaide region and Les sold the Holden Hill store Chris in 2010. Chris says “Les made it easy for me to buy him out. I believe he saw the potential in me and two stores was not what he wanted.”

Chris said “We’ve done a complete flip from when we bought the business; from 100% retail back then to about 65% insurance work now.” He says that insurance is hard work with a lot of double handling compared to retail.

Matching floor coverings is also difficult at times but Chris maintains some excellent contacts to get the right materials.

“Homemaker centres have had an impact on retail so shifting our focus to insurance has helped us greatly. We often do online campaigns in the retail sector to keep that side going” he says. While they are happy to do commercial work, they don’t have a commercial focus.

Of the industry, Chris says finding trades-people isn’t easy. He is disappointed that the TAFE colleges aren’t supplying the skilled people they used to and is highly supportive of the industry’s own efforts in getting apprentice schemes off the ground.

He says “The future of the flooring trades will be carried on the back of the industry’s own initiatives.” At Holden Hill his team consists of Steve; Kevin

and Wayne in sales; Calum in the store; his business partner Gavin and his wife Karen as office manager.

Chris says their single most important issue is service. Insurance related builders and brokers need things done quickly and Chris and Karen have found that keeping their clients up to date on their jobs with regular reports is a service their clients appreciate. “Service is more important than dollars” Karen says “and we found out that getting back to people regularly was something they appreciated most. We try to anticipate what our clients need and provide this in a timely manner.”

Out of the office Chris would like to be playing more golf and played on a Palmer designed course in Port Douglas earlier this year. He’s a voyeur of motor sports; loves the plentiful and excellent wineries around Adelaide and spends time with his grand children who are a big part of his and Karen’s life. They started travelling at least once a year in 2012 and their favourite destinations so far have been San Francisco in the US and Queenstown in New Zealand. They have a busy life but they love what they do; they have a great team to support them and anticipating their customers’ needs, appear to have their future well in hand.

…AIRSTEP UNDERLAY …“THAT’S CONFIDENCE” www.airstep.com.au • Bonded Foam Underlays • High quality Natural Rubber Underlays • SBR Double Bond Commercial Underlays • Floating Floor Underlays • Recycled Textile Underlays THE COMPLETE UNDERLAY COMPANY Manufactured and distributed by AIRSTEP AUSTRALIA LTD, PO Box 166 Dandenong Sth Vic 3175 Ph: VIC/TAS 1800 803 545 NSW 1800 802 926 WA/SA/NT/QLD 1800 806 375 Fax all states (03) 9706 8553 In New Zealand distributed by

Jacobsen Creative Surfaces Auckland (09) 574 0640 Wellington (04) 4954 300 Christchurch (03) 3664 153

Sports Flooring

University of Oxford installs glass sports flooring The University of Oxford is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world.

Its brand-new indoor sports centre now features the innovative glass flooring system MultiSports by ASB GlassFloor.

Less than 100 kilometres outside of London lies the University of Oxford, the oldest English-speaking University in the world which was founded in the 12th century. Over the centuries, the institution has established a reputation that is second to none and attracts students from all over the world. Named after Oxford graduate and Olympic medal winner Acer Nethercott, the state-of-the-art sports centre is part of a major redesign of the University’s sports facilities. The new building will be connected to the Rosenblatt swimming pool and includes a 700 m² sports hall, a multipurpose activity room, changing rooms, a reception and a café.

During the planning process of the project both the highest technical standards and greatest amount of innovation were sought. The responsibility for this redesign lies with Jon Roycroft.

As the University's Head of Sports, he holds the reins when it comes to strategic planning and development of the sports facilities. Jon Roycroft was the one who first became aware of ASB Glass-Floor: "I happened to get hold of a magazine which had an article about the GlassFloor in it. The description of the flooring instantly caught my interest.” The flooring by the Bavarian company offers a whole range of advantages: it is more enduring, more durable, more hygienic, more elastic and flexible than conventional, synthetic or parquet flooring systems.

And, it allows one to change its LED marking lines between the playing fields of different sports simply via touchscreen.

30 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

All lines

Basketball

Volleyball

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The marking line chaos is a problem of the past with this unique detail.

"Especially for sports halls which like ours are used for a whole variety of sports, it is extremely advantageous if you can easily switch between volleyball, basketball, badminton and other games."

A few months after Roycroft had gotten in touch with ASB GlassFloor, Oxford's Head of Sports visited the company in Stein an der Traun.

"That was a very special moment for us," says Christof Babinsky, Managing Director of ASB GlassFloor. "When an institution like the University of Oxford shows interest in your products, that’s a tremendous affirmation."

The on-site visit convinced Roycroft of the product. The next step was to see the flooring in action. With a delegation of colleagues, external project managers, architects and building experts, Roycroft first visited the BT Sports TV studio in London where the ASB GlassFloor is used on a daily basis. Next, they visited the Lazzate Sports Arena in Milan which has a 400 m² GlassFloor installed.

Christof Babinsky (Managing Director of ASB GlassFloor

In addition to that, and before the final decision was made, the people involved in the Oxford project visited the BallsportArena in Dresden, which has the largest GlassFloor installed to date. The project by the river Elbe was inaugurated in autumn 2017 and has since received a lot of praise from the local handball team HC Elbflorenz Dresden, its fans and visitors.

The visit to the BallsportArena in Dresden helped the delegation of Oxford come to their final decision: they decided to install the GlassFloor with its LED lines in their new sports hall. From February to March 2018, 700 square meters of the multi-sports GlassFloor equipped with LED lines were installed at the sports centre on Iffley Road.

With its dark anthracite colour, the sports hall floor features a noble appeal – and it is extremely flexible due to the LED equipment. The teachers, students and athletes can change the sport at the touch of a button: from volleyball to football, from basketball to badminton to handball and vice versa. The sports hall is mainly used by the Oxford University students, but can also be rented for special occasions.

For Babinsky, the Oxford project is a new pinnacle in the history of the glass sports floor. "If such a traditional organisation as the University of Oxford chooses our revolutionary floor, it sends the right signals.” says Babinsky.

FCIA News FCIA provide unique community training for flooring apprentices

The Floor Covering Institute of Australia (FCIA) always have many projects on the go which they use to help FCIA apprentices gain hands on experience in various flooring tasks. Depending on the project undertaken, some of the experiences include laying new carpet, carpet tiles, vinyl planks, sheet vinyl as well as gaining knowledge of moisture testing and sub-floor preparation.

Some of the FCIA’s upcoming projects include:

Pine Rivers Public Golf Club (Qld)

TAFE Queensland Skills Tech are working with the Pine Rivers Public Golf Club to refurbish the flooring in the Members’ Clubhouse. The clubhouse, an old building in need of significant refurbishment, is located on public land at 245 Narangba Road, Kurwongbah, in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. It is run by a not-for-profit management committee supported by the local Council.

A team of FCIA apprentices, enrolled with TAFE Queensland Skills Tech, will install a range of new floorcoverings in the bar area, pro-shop fitting room, men’s change room and outdoor veranda area, providing a much-needed facelift to the entrance to the clubhouse.

The FCIA thank the Pine Rivers Golf Club, TAFE Queensland Skills Tech, and MEGT Australia, for their support of the FCIA’s industry driven apprenticeship program.

32 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

The project will be conducted, and a formal handover of the renovated clubhouse in March 2019.

Parkerville Children and Youth Care Inc. (WA)

Up to 8 FCIA flooring apprentices enrolled with North Metropolitan TAFE will be working closely with the Parkerville Children and Youth Care charity to refurbish the flooring in one of their Foster Care homes. They will be completely refurbishing the flooring in the foyer, hall, lounge, dining, kitchen, carer’s room and 5 bedrooms at Narbethong Cottage which is the foster care residence for a family of 4 children and a Parkerville carer.

Parkerville was established as an orphanage in 1903 and has accumulated 115 years’ experience supporting vulnerable children, young people, adults and their families in Western Australia.

Their mission is to protect, care, advocate and promote recovery for children and young people who have experienced trauma from abuse, to support families and to work with the community to prevent child abuse.

The FCIA thank Parkerville, North Metropolitan TAFE, AMA Apprenticeship and Traineeship services, for their support of the FCIA’s industry driven apprenticeship program.

The project will be conducted, and a formal handover of the renovated Narbethong Cottage in February 2019.

The Chairman of the FCIA, Mr Andrew Lewis, stated “This is a unique program bringing apprentices, TAFE, industry, trainers, and the community together to provide genuine career opportunities for young people.”

The FCIA gratefully acknowledges our Member manufacturers and suppliers such as Armstrong, Kevmor, Airstep, Mapei, MJS Floorcoverings, Integra Commercial Flooring, Signature Floors and Tuftmaster who will donate their time, expertise and materials to these wonderful projects.

“This is a unique program bringing apprentices, TAFE, industry, trainers, and the community together to provide genuine career opportunities for young people.”

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A SINGLE VOICE FOR THE ENTIRE AUSTRALIAN FLOORING COMMUNITY Advocacy Stakeholder Engagement Best Practice Industry Panels Innovation e-Learning National Image One Industry Quality Trade Cards Training ‘Cutting Edge’ Apprenticeships

Phone (03) 9832 0663 Email info@fcia.org.au

Get involved! @FloorCoveringInstituteofAustralia

fcia.org.au

FCIA News Welcome to our new CEO The FCIA are delighted to welcome a new CEO for the Floor Covering Institute of Australia. Aaron Martin was appointed by the board in October and has hit the ground running with no shortage of work ahead to improve the Australian flooring industry.

"I have been in the Flooring Industry for 28 years, I spent the first 11 years of my career as an installer and then 6 years for a major commercial contractor as a Project Manager/General Manager.

This was followed by a Business Development and Product Development role with Ardex, National Commercial Sales Manager with Polyflor and Sales Director for Shaw Contract Australia.

“I am extremely passionate about our industry and consider it a privilege to be given the opportunity to be a part of the FCIA.” I was also lucky enough for 6 years to be the elected President of Floorcoverings Association of Victoria (FAV), representing 40 of the major commercial contractors in Victoria. I was a technical representative on the TX-9 technical committee for AS/NZ 2455 Textile Floor Covering Installation Standard and was also part of the PL-015 committee on AS1884 2012 Resilient Installation Standard.

I am extremely passionate about our industry and consider it a privilege to be given the opportunity to be a part of the FCIA. Our three immediate strategies are: 1. National roll out of 500 new apprentices per annum 2. Membership - growth to include Installers as Associate Members

3. Industry Best Practice Handbooks – Carpet, Resilient and Hard Flooring" The FCIA would also like to thank the previous Interim CEO, Mr Garry Thomas, for his leadership since January 2017. Garry has now stepped into the role of General Manager for National Training.

Best Practice Handbook: Volume 1 - now available It’s here! Have you checked out the Resilient Flooring Installation handbook yet? It is online now and can be accessed by members of the FCIA. This valuable resource is the first volume of best practice installation handbooks being developed and reinforced by installers, manufacturers, technical specialists, and industry.

Covering all aspects of resilient flooring from substrate preparation through to cleaning and maintenance.

34 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

The handbook is interactive and can be accessed via a desktop computer, laptop, and even your smart phone while on the job. Navigate easily using the table of contents, direct links to other areas of the handbook, and bookmark particular pages of interest for viewing at a later time.

This is the first volume of the handbooks, with the carpet and hard flooring handbooks coming in 2019.

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Carpets & Rugs

Sisal style design in 100% pure wool

SEBO Felix Upright

Brit is Signature’s 7 star premium wool carpet. Produced in Holland to the highest and most luxurious standards, Brit is additionally made up of 100% undyed wool with a 48oz fibre weight. Brit is a hardwearing and durable carpet that is anti-allergenic, with a fire and stain resistant fibre and a 20 year residential warranty.

“Brit is a lovely sisal-style carpet in pure undyed wool giving you the classic, traditional look, but in a beautifully soft, hard wearing wool. Great colours suit all contemporary interiors. I especially like the classic neutral Fawn for beach houses, and the deeper toned Coast for cosy city homes. You’ll love the feel of pure natural wool under foot.” states Nathalie Scipioni, award winning Building & Interior Designer, NS Studio, Sydney.

There’s no fibre quite like pure wool and a Signature Wool carpet adds warmth and texture making it an ideal choice for the family home.

Signature Floors recommends the SEBO range of twin motor vacuum cleaners for the correct care and maintenance of their wool loop products.

36 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

“There are vital differences when vacuuming carpet depending on what type of Carpet and the fibre type you have installed” acknowledges Michael Beerens, National Product Manager – Residential Carpet, Signature Floors.

The SEBO K3 Premium Barrel and SEBO Premium Felix Upright feature

multi-level brush height adjustment, variable suction, brush on/off plus optional delicate brush rollers (5010GE) and additional floor tools.

Vacuuming new wool Carpets sometimes results in slight pilling. This is temporary and in no way detracts from the carpets quality and durability. A good vacuum, such as the SEBO Felix Upright removes any trace of pilling as well as the removal of dirt particles such as dust and sand deeply anchored in the fibre that can cause premature wear and tear.

“Householders tend to use vacuum cleaners that only clean the top surface of the flooring investment. This leaves behind imbedded dirt and grit in the carpet base as well as a breeding ground for allergy causing agents” states Kristine Collins, Product Manager, SEBO Australia.

SEBO pairs the right vacuum to the carpet type and operator to suit not just residential customers but commercial customers too.

According to SEBO, German engineering is revered as the best in the world; so choose a German-made vacuum cleaner for the cleanest premises in the world! They are built to last, look fantastic and, thanks to their ergonomic design ‘drive’ like a dream! For the retailer, there is the opportunity to sell appropriate vacuum cleaners, or provide added value with the cost of the machine built into the price of the carpet. Indeed, this is potentially a win-win situation with both an additional sale and a happy customer who has been helped to care for their flooring.

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c���e� c��� THE CRUCIAL PIECE IN

Professional Cleaning Performance THE SEBO K3 PREMIUM A CHOICE RECOMMENDED PRODUCT 2018 MADE IN GERMANY

Whether it's residential or commercial soft floor furnishings, the correct vacuum cleaner is the first line of defense in premature wear and tear...not to mention customer product dissatisfaction.

SEBO K3 Premium removes up to 92% of debris far more debris than the leading brand names in full sized, stick vac, battery vac and robotic vacuums.

Your customers deserve the very best in customer service so why not recommend a SEBO to correctly care and maintain their flooring investment?

DEEP CLEANING RESULTS SEBO consistantly comes top in consumer tests, due to their professional cleaning heads, airflow and a highly efficient filtration system. All tombined to give outstanding cleaning performance on any type of floor including 100% wool loop.

RESELLER OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE SEBO is a world leader in professional vacuum cleaners - chosen for their reliability and durability, but above all because they leave floors superbly clean with 100% pet hair pick up.

BETTER INDOOR AIR QUALITY Not only do SEBO's clean the floor but they also enhance the air filtering allergens such as dust mites faeces, mould spores, pollen, bacteria, pet dander, dust and more.

SEBO's award winning range of domestic and commercial upright and barrel machines bring professional deep-cleaning results to the home and workplace.

QUALITY MATERIALS Made in Germany, SEBO's are constructed from high quality commercial-grade materials.

Designed for asthma and allergy sufferers and recommended by Carpet Manufacturers world-wide.

To discover more about SEBO or become a stockist:

1300 697 326 sebo.com.au

Hybrid Luxury Floating Floor

Godfrey Hirst featured in Newmont Mining office TOUGH. DURABLE. LOVES WATER.

Australian Species & Contemporary Decors Available

Ask about our exciting new range www.preferencefloors.com.au

Flooring can significantly impact the feel of a commercial space. Without sacrificing durability or cost-effectiveness, the in-house design team at Godfrey Hirst can tailor a low-maintenance custom carpet design based on original concepts.

Alternatively, no matter how large or small the project, a bespoke offering from their existing design collection can also be selected. To complement any custom carpet design, select from the Godfrey Hirst durable range of hard flooring options. Their flooring has been fashioned to work with the design of a space, enhancing its best qualities and finish.

Godfrey Hirst was chosen to provide both a custom carpet and a hard flooring solution throughout the workspace and executive offices of Newmont Mining.

Newmont Mining is an established American gold mining company whose Western Australian arm has inhabited the same offices in Subiaco for the last 12 years. Newmont were looking to invigorate their aging workplace interior and make a statement for visitors and staff.

Inspired by the Designer Jet® carpet tile pattern “Gecko”, a custom colour palette was created that featured a gold weave and organic overlay. This created beautiful depth and texture whilst still being extremely hard wearing for these high-use areas. Designer Jet® works by taking any striking pattern, illustration or photograph and using precision engineering to inject the dye into the pile with virtually no downtime, less waste and water consumption than other production methods. The Designer Jet® technology is a fast and efficient solution to making colour changes to an existing design or creating a complete custom design.

The Vega Luxury Vinyl Plank in Silver Bell was also used throughout the kitchen area and is the perfect commercial flooring option to achieve a beautiful timber look.

Vega features a UV coating that provides a hard wearing surface with high impact resistance and a core layer that makes the floor stable and durable. This herringbone installation works seamlessly with the Gecko custom carpet tile, elevating the overall interior of the space.

Are Your Specs Up To Date?

Timber floors have always been a soughtafter household feature but understanding how to install, sand and coat solid timber floors and install engineered, laminate and bamboo flooring correctly is essential.

The Australasian Timber Flooring Association (ATFA) proudly presents two new up to date specifications: 1. Solid timber flooring installation, sanding and coating – covering site sanded and coated solid T&G strip flooring, site sanded and coated parquetry flooring and prefinished solid T&G strip flooring 2. Engineered, laminate and bamboo installation – covering installation as floated floors, installation of Engineered and Bamboo flooring by direct adhesive fixing and site sanding and coating of raw engineered flooring Installation methods change over time and ATFA gives the most up to date information and requirements for timber flooring in order to keep members, architects, specifiers, building professionals and consumers ahead and at the forefront of this ever-changing industry.

Included in both documents on timber flooring specifications is information on product requirements, site evaluation, tolerance and building requirements as well as details relating to the execution of the works.

ATFA has invested a lot of time in compiling these documents to help

alleviate issues so that projects run smoothly. If architects include these specifications with reference in their drawings and builders adhere to this information a smoother path can be expected and help negate the need for any additional time and money being spent fixing problems. Use of these specifications will assist in the project running efficiently and with maximum ease.

As a consumer, if you are planning to build or renovate please make sure your professionals are up to date with the latest specs regarding installation in order to avoid any warranty issues down the track.

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Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019 | 39

Multilayer flooring also does “green” raw materials Modular multilayer flooring is becoming more popular by the day because of its product advantages.

Custom design, easy installation, low installation height and good durability are just some of the benefits of this innovative class of flooring. In previous years, designers have increasingly been focusing on the issues of environmental performance and health in the home. In the MMF sector, both commercial and private users welcome the fact that ecological concepts and materials are continuing to advance.

An increasing number of multilayer floor producers are turning to ecological production processes and biobased product formulations. They use key phrases like “no plasticisers dangerous to health, free of heavy metals, solvents and other harmful substances, whether soluble or volatile”, to highlight the safety of their quality products – invariably certified by recognised ecolabels such as the Blue Angel or the ECO seal, or even international labels like Greenguard in the US or the French VOC label.

Exactly where in product development the fundamental approaches for alternative product formulations and components lie can be clearly illustrated using the example of LVT

40 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

production. The starting material for conventional LVT production is PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which is obtained from crude oil or natural gas and sodium chloride. Depending on the manufacturing process, fillers and a number of special auxiliary agents and additives are combined with the polymer matrix to match the requirements of the application in terms of processability and technical properties.

Not all plasticisers are the same

As PVC is an inherently hard material, plasticisers are added to make it flexible and resilient, whilst maintaining its shape. Use of the dangerous phthalates EHP, DOP, DBP, BBP and DIBP, which can be toxic to reproductive health, has been restricted in the EU since 2015 and is subject to an authorisation requirement. According to the REACH Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), these low molecular weight plasticisers are classified as Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). Long before the restriction was introduced, a number of manufacturers had already stopped using substances like these. Various alternatives to these plasticisers are now being used in flooring production. One of these is the high molecular weight, more stable C9 and C10 phthalates DINP, DIDP and DPHP, which are recyclable and do not accumulate in either human or animal organisms, although phthalate-free plasticisers such as DOTP and DINCH are also used.

Increasingly, various polymer plasticisers that are derived from renewable raw materials and are also biodegradable are being used for specific requirements, e.g. adipates, citrates, dibenzoates and other plasticisers outside of the phthalate group of substances.

New concepts using biobased plastics

Recently, increasing use has been made of bioplastics/biogenic plastics made from raw materials derived partly or wholly from renewable agricultural or forestry production. Amongst these biogenic materials used for MMF production are plant oil-based epoxies or biopolymers belonging to the group of polyolefins (PO). Biobased PO polymers such as biopolyethylene (PE) and biopolypropylene (PP) are most commonly used as matrix materials. They require no stabilisers and are suitable for mechanical recycling. An EVA copolymer (ethylene-vinyl acetate) works as a binding substance, and natural mineral fillers such as chalk and kaolin are also used.

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BookIT is here to help BookIT is helping businesses all around the country, with solutions to everyday problems. BookIT's goal is to ensure problems are dealt with in the most efficient way possible. It is important for businesses to ensure they keep up to date with technology and understand the resources available to them which will improve their productivity. BookIT “know you are busy, so they will do the best we can to provide solutions for you and take the hard work out of implementing them.”

BookIT is always eager to hear from the industry and share the thoughts of users. Recently they interviewed a customer on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland to see how they were enjoying BookIT and the benefits it has brought to their business.

Les Welch – Suncoast Carpet Court, Maroochydore Can you tell us a bit about your business?

Sure, we are a family owned business and a current Carpet Court member. The store has been on the Sunshine Coast for over 50 years and we have been running the business for the past 3 years.

We have a very large, modern showroom in Maroochydore CBD which we are extremely proud to display to customers as well as the warehouse just 5 minutes down the road.

The Sunshine Coast is a very beautiful place to live and work, and we are fortunate to have a great team of 6

It's about time!

staff members as well as professional installers to promote the business.

Why were you interested in the BookIT system?

Initially we were looking at the BookIT system to give more insight to sub-contractors and installation teams when booking their work. We were also looking for something to better manage and organise staff appointments and internal processes. We wanted a way for management to oversee staff activities and improve productivity.

Has BookIT been easy to adopt?

Change is always met with some resistance, but once we had committed to the program and staff understood what areas we needed to utilize and why, the program was easy to implement.

Would you recommend other flooring retailers to use the system?

Yes, I will definitely recommend (and have already recommended) BookIT.

What types of problems does BookIT solve for your business?

Communication is much better between the shop and installers. An example was when we had an installer holidaying overseas. He was able to email us and advise of a problem he had found with the job after looking at the project information provided on BookIT. Without BookIT, the problem would have likely been discovered on the day of the job with little time to rectify.

The Measure Calendar allows us to better manage our staff appointments and ensure we are being as productive as we can. The staff completing the measures also have the option of taking photos on site through the app (nasty stairs, existing damage, problems with substrates etc.). It is important for us to document this information as early as possible. We also do a lot of insurance work, and installers can upload photos

Start working with efficiency!

Access BookIT anywhere, anytime web-based.

Keep track of your samples.

Find installers’ availabilities in real-time.

Last-minute job postings.

Generate automatic customer text reminders for measure appointments, overdue samples, installation dates, rescheduling and more.

Get your free app at bookitim.com.au to find out more!

Proudly Marketed by

of the completed work which allows us to easily pass this on to the insurance company once completed.

Floorcoverings

in the future of this exciting and versatile flooring category, which is why it is proactively operating as an overall information provider for all market participants. This educational work aims to increase transparency and product understanding and give guidance to both private and commercial suppliers and users in choosing the right product.

In the multilayer sector, different concepts have been successfully established for biobased products. The natural polymer lignin can be used as a blend partner for high-quality bio PVC. Further product variants can be manufactured by combining biovinyls with natural fibres (flax and hemp) or cork, for example. Some multilayer floor manufacturers use cork-vinyl mixtures such as these for core materials in their biobased products.

Biobased products also include biopolyurethane floors (PUR, or PU), where predominantly natural composite materials such as castor oil, epoxidised rapeseed oil, soybean oil or sunflower oil can be used. Crop residues, for instance, serve as plasticisers, and mineral components such as chalk serve as fillers.

Mineral carrier materials combine many advantages

Natural materials similar to ceramic can also form the basis of semi-rigid MMF substrates. They are light, yet incredibly stable and also waterproof. The individual components are produced at low temperatures, which saves resources and energy and is low-emission. The ecological balance sheet of MMF floors with an HDF core (high-density fibreboards) can also be improved by using wood fibres from sustainably-

42 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

managed forests and recyclable materials from the timber industry. The use of biodegradable raw materials means that at the end its useful life, this kind of flooring can simply be disposed of as household waste or recycled.

Resource-saving production – nontoxic in use Enormous progress has been made over the past few years in the area of ecological flooring products, and for modular multilayer floors there is still plenty of potential for development.

For all responsible manufacturers, the focus is on making high-performing MMF products that are both environmentally-friendly and safe. In addition to ecologically clean production, a comprehensive understanding of ‘sustainability’ means practising corporate social responsibility, e.g. working with regional suppliers, paying staff an appropriate remuneration, complying with occupational health requirements, avoiding child labour overseas, etc.

As is the case everywhere, environmental protection and ecology begins on the basis of a long service life for products and resource-saving production. In this respect, the members of the MMFA consider themselves to be in an ideal position.

As a European industry association, the MMFA wishes to be actively involved

www.flooringmagazine.com.au

Overseas News IKEA’s new Hong Kong store furnished with Flowcrete flooring Hong Kong’s lovers of cost effective, flatpacked Swedish furniture will be able to browse IKEA’s latest outlet with a robust, on-brand floor from Flowcrete underfoot.

IKEA’s fourth store in Hong Kong is in the Tsuen Wan area of the city, located in the CWD Building’s 8 ½ shopping mall. It offers customers not only a spacious showroom displaying furniture and home furnishings but also a children’s playroom and food court.

The iconic furniture retailer knew that it needed a build-up for the 4,000 m2 floor area that would facilitate a functional and safe site for both staff and customers while creating an overall look and atmosphere that reflected IKEA’s global brand and the high standards to which it is held.

In order to achieve the desired outcome, a combination of flooring materials was required to ensure that the final surface would be up to the task at hand. The project began by applying the rapid-curing screed system Isocrete K-Screed. This semi-dry cementitious screed incorporates proprietary additives to produce an early drying, high strength screed layer. The earlier drying time of Isocrete K-Screed enabled the flooring project to be completed much faster than a traditional screed system would allow.

The screed was then coated with the seamless epoxy system Flowshield SL with a Flowseal UV Matt sealer. The selfsmoothing system Flowshield SL creates

a decorative, hard wearing finish, ideal for environments that require a level, easy to clean surface.

The floor finish was chosen in a sleek, light grey colour as it complemented IKEA’s globally recognised image and interior design scheme and it contrasted effectively with the black signage on the floor to aid customer’s navigation around the store.

The seamless, impervious and level nature of Flowshield SL enables the store’s cleaning regime to quickly and easily wash away any dirt or contaminants, keeping the store looking fresh and unblemished.

While often overlooked, the floor plays a crucial role in the design of large-scale retail environments, as it is the largest surface in the site and it provides the back drop on which the products are displayed. This means that if it is unsightly, unclean or unattractive it will quickly put off customers and will have a negative impact on the store’s profitability.

This three-part flooring specification meant that IKEA could rest assured that the finish underfoot would maintain an attractive and effective surface for an extended period of time despite heavy foot traffic, impacts from dropped items, frequent cleaning, wheeled equipment, point loading from displays, spillages of Swedish meatballs as well as the unavoidable scratches and scrapes from moving furniture.

EXTENSIVE RANGE, PRE-FINISHED DECORS, HERRINGBONE & CHEVRON

Ask about our exciting new range www.preferencefloors.com.au

Project image courtesy of Surface Floors Mornington.

ENGINEERED PARQUETRY

Overseas News The House of Joshua launches their Chevron Collection The House of Joshua (THJ), recently launched their exciting new Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) Chevron Collection. The 20-piece collection features extraordinary wood, colour, and studio artwork designed in our Orange County, California based studio.

“We should celebrate LVT for its unlimited possibility. There are so many innovations and Installation methods to explore with this flooring material,” says Founder Michelle Lee “Our unique LVT Chevron Collection emphasizes realism, artistic visuals, high definition printing technology and precision manufacturing processes.”

Created exclusively for interior designers and architects, the collection is an answer to the client demand for chevron installations. THJ’s precision cut manufacturing allows designers to put their trust in our products rather than solely in the hands of the installer. The chevron cut flooring is ready to install right out of the box, creating a consistent and beautiful pattern that stands out as truly unique.

The House of Joshua’s Chevron Collection comes in 4.53” wide x 27.17” long format and features a 3 mm thickness with 0.7 mm wear layer—all FloorScore® - Low-VOC certified.

The Chevron Collection features the following designs: STUDIO - Features an extraordinary colour palette over a hard-wearing cementitious texturing for a more soulful design. Each tile is considered a work of art with its own unique character to enhance any environment.

WOOD - With an embossed-in-register design, our WOOD floors joins the look and warmth of hardwood visuals with matching texturing for incredible realism.

COLOR - Features a cementitious texturing, COLOR floors bring durability, beauty and a modern colour pallete to any design space. COLOR also offers designers the option of colour matching customization based on project needs to create fully immersive branded environments.

About the house of Joshua Located in Orange County, California, The House of Joshua is a designer-first design studio created exclusively for interior designers in need of compelling architectural products. The House of Joshua, led by Founder Michelle Lee, designs and manufactures high performance luxury vinyl tile flooring with exceptional visuals and durable quality in a chevron pattern.

THJ is currently looking for interested partners and sales representatives in Australia.

44 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

Paul De Cock (Photo: EPLF/Unilin)

Paul De Cock resigns as EPLF president Paul De Cock (Unilin), President of the European Producers of Laminate Flooring (EPLF) since last May and member of its executive board since 2014, resigns from his office with immediate effect. De Cock has been promoted within Mohawk Industries, Inc., Calhoun (Georgia, USA), to which the Unilin-group (Wielsbeke/Belgium) has belonged since the 2005 acquisition, to become President of the company’s Flooring North America segment. Mohawk Industries call themselves the world’s largest manufacturer of floorcoverings.

The group’s products cover all common floorcovering materials ranging from ceramics and hard flooring to resilient flooring and carpets.

Paul De Cock knows the business in North America quite well. From 2005 to 2009 he successfully managed Mohawk’s North American hard surface business as President and contributed to the American holding’s global expansion after he returned to Europe. Recently he supervised the acquisition of Godfrey Hirst, the largest carpet manufacturer in Australia and New Zealand, and the subsequent consolidation with the Mohawk-owned distributors in those markets.

EPLF-Vice-President Max von Tippelskirch (Swiss Krono Group), Eberhard Hermann (Classen-Group), member of the executive board and convenor of the technical committee, and the association’s managing director Peter H. Meyer congratulate their leaving colleague.

“This is a fascinating challenge for Paul De Cock. There are only very few comparable key positions in the global flooring industry.

We are thankful for his co-operation and are wishing him the best of luck”, says Tippelskirch. Meyer adds: “Our plans for 2019 were still agreed upon together with Paul De Cock. His resignation doesn’t influence our objectives. In coming June we will celebrate the EPLF’s 25th anniversary. Then the General Assembly will elect a new President and complete the executive board.”

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Wood flooring demand is stronger than ever This year DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR adds an entire hall to the wood sector, making four out of fifteen halls in total to be dedicated to wood, bamboo and other hard floors. The constant economy growth in China, acceleration of rural and urban construction, the fast growth of the real estate industry, improvements to people’s living standards, as well as the constant heat-up of household decoration and the support of national industry policies, all provide sound market environment for wood flooring and create huge market demands.

French Timber states that currently the demand for wood flooring in China is twice the supply. Notably, China's solid wood flooring industry enters the growth stage. Taking it into consideration, in 2019 DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR will make E3 a floor heating pavilion with the theme of “new standard of solid wood floor heating”, with a scale of 6,000 square meters. Along with leading international brands, like Camsan, one of the pioneering companies of MDF sector, and Triangulo, the leading manufacturer of hardwood flooring in South America,

E3 will house the most influential domestic brands, like Jinyi Floor, which is a 30 year old brand with a substantial brand history and cultural precipitation.

It is noteworthy, that Jinyi Floor deeply cultivates South America. It transports South American woods to China and has established a modern high-tech South American wood flooring production base in Shaoxing city. At DOMOTEX asia/ CHINAFLOOR 2019 Jinyi floor will present their last innovation in geothermal flooring that is believed to become a turning point of the industry development. With the raw materials, obtained from highaltitude Amazon forest, Jinyi Floor is the first company in China to manufacture floor locking systems. Jinyi has built eight factories in South America (Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru). The strong raw material advantage ensures that Jinyi Floor can use the highest quality wood to produce high quality products.

As E1 will house international brands, this year Välinge will bring to DOMOTEX

asia/CHINAFLOOR their innovations in flooring industry. Traditionally, the company invests a lot in the development of new innovative products and cost efficient production technologies, having one of the most comprehensive in the flooring industry patent portfolio. All R&D activities take place at their facility in Viken which is considered to be the world's most advanced R&D center related to laminate; wood and woodpowder based flooring technology. In the 2019 edition of DOMOTEX asia/ CHINAFLOOR they expect to meet up with their existing licensees and find new potential one´s.

Beaulieu celebrate 60 years Beaulieu Flooring Solutions is heading to the regions for an exciting year of customer- and employee-focused celebrations to mark 60 years since the founding of the Beaulieu Company.

To kick off festivities, Beaulieu Flooring Solutions will exhibit at tradeshows spread across Europe, USA and Asia during the first quarter of 2019. Starting already in January at BAU 2019 in Germany, the marketing & technical experts will go straight on to Las Vegas for Surfaces, followed by Domotex USA and Domotex Asia in February/March respectively. Sales teams will be onthe-ground at additional industry events throughout the year for face-to-face meetings with customers.

Further plans include new product introductions to support the flooring industry in embracing segment and consumer trends. There will also be a big emphasis on enhancing personal contact with customers.

46 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

James Neuling, Vice President, Beaulieu Flooring Solutions, explains: “Building strong relationships has always been at the heart of B.I.G. and our division, and to reflect this we’ve deliberately chosen events and activities that are more intimate for the diamond anniversary year. We’ve set a goal of achieving at least 60

extraordinary moments to get closer to customers. This includes tradeshows, personalized events, roadshows, hosting product workshops, supporting dealer events, and plenty of social media interaction. We’re looking forward to being true to the name of our founding company and making a BIG impression.”

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BLASTRAC CONCRETE SURFACE PREPARATION PROFILES FOR OVERLAY OR RESTORING EXISTING CONCRETE

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THE INNOVATORS IN SURFACE PREPARATION

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PROPER SURFACE PREPARATION OF EXISTING CONCRETE IS ESSENTIAL FOR ACHIEVING A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT INCLUDING RESURFACERS, POLYMER-MODIFIED OR SELF-LEVELING OVERLAYS, SEALERS, COATINGS, OR STAINS. SINCE THERE ARE MANY PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FOR OVERLAYS AND RESTORATION, IT IS IMPORTANT YOU KNOW THE SURFACE CONDITION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SPECIFIC PRODUCT YOU PLAN TO USE. TAKING STEPS TO CORRECTLY PREPARE THE EXISTING CONCRETE SURFACE WILL SAVE YOU TIME AND MONEY, AND CAN SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE THE POSSIBILITY OF COATING FAILURE. THE INTERNATIONAL CONCRETE REPAIR INSTITUTE (ICRI) HAS DEFINED TEN DIFFERENT GUIDELINES FOR PROPER SURFACE PREPARATION AND HAS DEVELOPED PROFILE REPLICA BLOCKS TO GIVE A VISUAL POINT OF REFERENCE FOR THE USER. EACH PROFILE CARRIES A CSP NUMBER RANGING FROM A BASE LINE OF 1 (NEARLY FLAT) THROUGH 10 (VERY ROUGH).

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FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.BLASTRAC.COM.AU

Software

How much does IT cost your business?

The costs associated with running business management and computer systems are relative newcomers to our Profit and Loss statements. Thirty years ago, most flooring businesses would not have had a computer in the business, much less an expense line for technology.

That situation has changed dramatically.

What does IT cost you?

There are two ways to look at the question; What is the sum of all your IT expenses annually? What does insufficient or inadequate IT cost your business?

There are two ways to look at the question; What is the sum of all your IT expenses annually?

What does insufficient or inadequate IT cost your business?

The first is easy to answer, a quick look at your financials will give you the number, and then if you divide that number by your revenue, you will have the percentage of revenue you spend on IT. As a comparison, a Deloitte survey from 2017 shows the average business spend on IT is 3.28%, ranging from 7.16% for banks, down to 1.51% for construction. Retail shows up at 2.04%. To put this into perspective, if you are running a $3m flooring business, a spend of 2% is $60,000 annually.

I would hasten to add this is not a recommendation; it would be very difficult for a flooring retailer to justify that level of annual expenditure on IT. In my experience, the average $3m flooring business is likely spending between $3,000 and $20,000 on IT annually; 0.1% of revenue at the lower end up to .8% at the upper end. These numbers will spike from time to time when hardware is purchased or updated, or when an investment is made in new software.

The reality is our industry doesn’t spend significantly on IT. In some cases, because the need is not recognised, and, more generally, because the flooring

48 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

industry is not driven by the need for data on a day to day basis. Flooring is not an IT-intensive industry. None of which is to say most flooring businesses would not benefit from improved IT. So, what might be the indicators that we are not investing sufficiently in IT, or perhaps that we don’t have the right IT for our business? In other words, do we have an IT cost that doesn’t appear on our P & L? These are some of the things you might look out for: • Double-handling and triple-handling paper, frequently re-keying the same data • Errors and oversights frequently arising because of double-handling • Processes being overlooked, creating performance issues • Staff frustrated by process • Heavy reliance on paper-based information, with corresponding difficulty in finding information when needed • Very little automation of processes • Black spots in our business into which we have little or no visibility; sales pipeline, conversion rates, supplier claims, retentions, individual staff performance, and more • Current systems hampering growth and preventing innovation • Financial performance information inaccessible for quick and timely insights into business performance

What might be the indicators that we are not investing sufficiently in IT, or perhaps that we don’t have the right IT for our business? In other words, do we have an IT cost that doesn’t appear on our P & L? From this list, you might recognise the need to improve your IT but are reluctant to incur the upfront cost, along with any ongoing costs associated with modern software solutions. It’s not an unreasonable concern; we should invest nothing in our business that does not give us a return.

RFMS is a fully integrated solution designed for a flooring business. They can show you how RFMS will streamline your business and increase profitability.

Story by Chris Ogden (Consultant and Director of RFMS Australasia)

www.flooringmagazine.com.au

TRYING TO PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER? Layers Diary Financials Debtors Quotes Stock

Mobile Sales Measuring Reporting Projects Sales

The Flooring Software leader for more than 30 years Clients in Australia and NZ since 1999 Over 8,000 ooring businesses already using RFMS worldwide Cloud hosted options available Flexible and ready for Retail, Commercial and Distributor Fully integrated solution, including tablets and laser measure

Australia: 1800 229 427 New Zealand: 0800 643 012

www.rfms.com

salesau@rfms.com

Are your salespeople focused on what matters?

We would all hope that our salespeople understand their most important role is to generate sales. Given this is our expectation, we would further expect that they would focus primarily on activities that contribute to making sales. The role of a salesperson varies slightly from business to business, but perhaps we could agree that some of the key sales activities; work with walk-in customers, handle phone enquiries, issue samples, and book in measure appointments.

Some salespeople will do the measures themselves, so drawing up plans is a key

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…spending time with customers, generating quotes, and following up are the three that will lead most directly to sales. role, as is quantifying those plans along with other plans customers might have given them. We expect that they will convert the quantities into quotes, and of course, we expect they will follow up on samples and quotes.

If these are the key roles of salespeople, which are the most important? I would suggest spending time with customers, generating quotes, and following up are the three that will lead most directly to sales. If this is the case how do we create more time for these key activities?

Measuring and quantifying are also sales activities, but the less time we spend doing them the more time we have for the key activities. The average customer has no idea and doesn’t care that your salesperson spent an hour or two (paid by you) working on quantifying their project. That time doesn’t add value to the customer experience, or their opinion of us as retailers. Our goal, therefore, should be to spend as little time on quantifying as possible.

Most salespeople spend 2-3 hours a day quantifying plans; if this could be reduced by 50%, our salespeople would have 1-1 ½ hours more in their day to focus on what matters. 50% is a conservative estimate of the time saving that be achieved by using electronic quantifying (EQ) tools. EQ enables your salespeople to save time in quantifying, be more accurate, be more confident, generate more quotes, and close more sales. EQ is the best way your salespeople can create time to focus on their most important and productive activities.

RFMS’s Measure and Measure Mobile is a quantifying solution for work on large commercial projects or in residential flooring. Measure and Measure Mobile are tools that open the quoting bottleneck that is seen in most flooring businesses.

Story by Chris Ogden (Consultant and Director of RFMS Australasia)

MEASUREMOBILE 3 the best mobile estimating software in the industry FREE DOWNLOAD AT:

• EASY TO USE • STORE IN THE CLOUD • ACCESS ANYWHERE

Australia: 1800 229 427 New Zealand: 0800 643 012 www.measuremobile3.com

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salesau@rfms.com

Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019 | 51

Safety

Holidays or Not… Public Spaces Should Be Safe for Everyone, All Year Long

Anyone responsible for building and maintaining public infrastructure needs to think about how to pre-empt hazardous situations before they arise. Infrastructure encompasses roads, commercial buildings, entertainment and shopping centres, parking lots, transit systems, and recreational areas, to name just a few examples. Obviously, safety is a year-round concern at these facilities, but seasonal impacts are an essential, if occasionally overlooked, component of infrastructure construction and maintenance planning.

Here are a few facts that may surprise you: • Canberra Hospital’s emergency department saw its busiest week on record from Dec. 24 to Jan 2, 2016.

Admissions that week rose 26 percent over the same period in 2015.

• New South Wales public hospitals saw almost 20,000 more patients in OctDec 2016 over the same period in the prior year.

• In Australia, 40 percent of injuries requiring hospitalisation are due to falls.

Even with the continuing growth of digitisation, any holiday period remains a time of peak pedestrian traffic – the 10 busiest shopping and entertainment days of the year still typically found between Black Friday and Boxing Day, with school holiday programs, major sports events,

52 | Flooring Dec 2018/Jan 2019

movie releases, sales clearances etc.

Many people find their daily routines disrupted, and they are often more stressed out and distracted than normal as they rush to finish last-minute shopping and holiday preparations. The combination of increased foot traffic with all the holiday distractions is a perfect recipe for slip and fall accidents.

Builders, Architects, Project Managers and Property owners should always ensure that the products used or installed at any project – particularly in public space areas, are fully compliant with the quality and functional standards established by their relevant regional body. For example, in Australia, project teams would look to the Australian Building Codes Board, which lays out its provisions for designing and building structures through the Building Code of Australia. When in doubt, always consult with an expert to be certain the chosen product will meet national Code requirements.

Unfortunately, highly important items designed to prevent tripping and slipping, such as entrance matting, tactiles, stair nosings, and other related products, are often treated as an ‘insignificant detail’ during the construction of buildings and public access areas. Typically, these products are among the last elements of the project to be chosen, procured and installed.

Builders should plan for such floor safety products earlier in the design and build process, especially before floor substrates have been laid. This will ensure the best professional advice is secured, and proper solutions are thought through and included to meet all Compliance requirements of the Code well in advance.

The typical last-minute-mad-rush to get everything done on time and budget can also put pressure on the project decision makers to compromise on quality and compliant outcomes.

Cutting corners to shave a little bit off the budget can end up as a costly decision, particularly when it comes to products intended to prevent accidents. One or more lives can be terribly and irreversibly harmed in the split-second it takes for a simple slip or fall accident to occur.

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These safety concerns can be even more significant for people already dealing with mobility limitations.

Approximately one in five Australians live with a disability, and the increased foot traffic of the holiday season often adds to the accessibility challenges they already face when using public infrastructure.

In addition, other segments of the population, such as pregnant women, the elderly, and children, all face their own distinctive mobility challenges.

Planners should consider the make-up of each project’s user base when working with experts to choose the best safety products for the job.

Taking these steps during the construction process can help minimise potential slips and fall accidents: • Incorporate safety products early in the project planning; • Plan for the possible seasonal increase in pedestrian traffic in public areas; • Talk to the product experts to learn

about Standards, product application guidelines, and the needs of all user groups; • Purchase the necessary products early (and remember that cost, while critical, should not be the only criteria when choosing a product); • Hire experts to install products properly and to compliant standards.

Focusing more closely on end-user behaviour and paying attention to the importance of safety products early in the construction process can make all the difference in how each person spends their daily lives – will it be enjoying a normal life with friends and family …or living with the aftermath of an unfortunate accident?

It needs to be one of the resolutions for 2019 – let’s all work together to make public infrastructure safe and accessible for everyone, at all times.

Article supplied by Classic Architectural Group

FLOORING

Exhibitions

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

2019 Exhibitions

JANUARY 2019 11- 14 Domotex 2019

World trade fair for carpets and floor coverings.

Hannover, Germany https://www.domotex.de/home

11- 14 MIDEX Modern House 2019

Modern house building technology, architecture, interior decoration and lighting exhibition.

Tehran, Iran http://modernexpo.ir/en/

24- 27 4D Design Days 2019

Event for the property, architecture, interiors and design market.

Katowice, Poland http://www.4dd.pl/en/ 25-27

Economic Times Acetech 2019 Architecture, construction, building materials, engineering, innovation, interiors and design trade event.

Hyderabad, India https://www.etacetech.com/ FEBRUARY 2019

14 - 20 Living Interiors 2019

Event for bathrooms, flooring, wallcoverings and lighting.

Cologne, Germany http://www.imm-cologne.com/

3 – 5 Heimtexsuisse 2019

Interior design exhibition.

Bern, Switzerland https://www.heimtexsuisse.ch/hts-de. aspx

16 - 18 Magna Expo Mobiliario e Interiores 2019

Interior decoration and furnishings including; home and office furnishings, floor coverings, cabinetry, appliances and all types of decorating products and accessories.

Mexico City, Mexico http://hfmexico.mx/MEMInteriores/en/ about-us/

5–7

17-20 IDS 2019

Interior Design Show

Toronto, Canada www.toronto.interiordesignshow.com 22-25

The International Surface Event (TISE) 2019

Comprised of three trade shows in one TISE is the industry marketplace for floorcovering, stone and tile industry professionals.

Las Vegas, USA www.intlsurfaceevent.com

Surface Design 2019 Event for architects, interior designers and specifiers looking for innovative surface solutions for the built environment.

London, United Kingdom https://www.surfacedesignshow.com/ 11 – 13 IDF Oman 2019

Interior design, décor and furniture exhibition.

Muscat, Oman http://www.idfoman.com/

20 – 24 Korea Build 2019

Building materials, construction, furniture and interior design housing fair.

Seoul, South Korea http://eng.koreabuild.co.kr/ *** For more information on the fairs or to confirm dates, please check the individual event websites.

Ad Index Airstep Australia

28-29

Andersens

Back Cover

Australian Flooring Supplies

13,21

Australian Select Timbers Blastrac Australia Choices Flooring

5 47

Front Cover, 15, 27

FloorInsure 53 GMK Logistics

31

Godfrey Hirst Australia Kenbrock Flooring

9,11 Inside Back Cover

Laser Measure Australia

35

Mapei Australia

23 41

Classic Architectural Group

25

MJS Floorcoverings

Domotex asia/CHINAFLOOR

45

Preference Floors

38, 43

Inside Front Cover, 17

RFMS Australasia

49, 51

Dunlop Flooring

Floorcovering Institute of Australia

33

Sebo Australia

Floorcovering Association of Victoria

14

Signature Floorcoverings

ELITE PUBLISHING CO PTY LTD ABN: 27 006 876 419 PO BOX 800, Templestowe Victoria, Australia 3106 Ph: + 61 3 9890 0815 Fax: + 61 3 9890 0087 Email: info@elitepublishing.com.au Website: www.elitepublishing.com.au PUBLISHER Vicky Cammiade Email: vicky.cammiade@elitepublishing.com.au EDITORIAL For editorial enquiries please email: info@elitepublishing.com.au TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Philip Ashley philipneilashley6@bigpond.com ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Sandie Velkovska Email: sandie@elitepublishing.com.au CIRCULATION For circulation enquiries please email: info@elitepublishing.com.au PRODUCTION For artwork and production enquiries please email: production@elitepublishing.com.au GRAPHIC DESIGN Uber Creative Phone: (03) 8513 0208 Email: connect@ubercreative.com.au www.ubercreative.com.au PRE-PRESS Prominent Digital PRINTED BY Prominent Group Pty Ltd ELITE PUBLISHING CO PTY LTD (established 1985) All rights reserved – No part of this publication maybe reproduced, transmitted or copied in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without the express prior written consent of Elite Publishing Co Pty Ltd. Viewpoints, opinions, claims, etc expressed in articles appearing in this publication are those of the authors. The Publishers accept no responsibility for the information supplied or for claims made by companies or their representatives regarding product performance, etc or for any errors, omissions, misplacement, alterations, or any subsequent changes, or for any consequences of reliance on this information or this publication.

ELITE PUBLISHING CO PTY LTD PUBLISHERS OF: Supplier Woodworking Magazine, Tile Today Magazine, Discovering Stone Magazine, FB Magazine, Flooring Magazine, Finishes & Surfaces Magazine

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Enhanced Hybrid Flooring

Introducing Coreflex Flexible Enhanced Hybrid Flooring Waterproof Hybrid Flooring has proven itself to be the superior solution in countless applications throughout Australia. With the Coreflex range, we have taken this successful product type to the next level by introducing an advanced multi-layered system.

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Two additional LVT layers give Coreflex its superior flexibility, to better hug the subfloor and minimize footfall noise. The first LVT layers delivers a more authentic timber feel whilst the second LVT layer, located underneath the core, provides additional stability and comfort.

Join the brand with a plan.

Proven Business Model

Top Tier Training & Support

Prime Site Selection

Respected Brand

Mobile franchises available from only $50k drive away.

For a confidential discussion on how owning an Andersens franchise can put you a step ahead of the rest, call Liam Brown on 0448 946 373 or email lbrown@andersens.com.au

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