We caught up with Chris Hooper, our Area Sales Manager for the South West, for a chat about his background in flooring, his current role, and one thing most of his colleagues don’t know about him…
View the full video below or scroll down for the transcription:
Name a positive aspect of the flooring industry
It’s a close-knit community where everybody knows everybody and tries to work together. The rivalry between companies isn’t quite that… it’s more ‘banter’, for want of a better word.
And a negative aspect?
Floor layers are an ageing workforce, there’s not a high enough number of trainees taking on this skill set, creating a gap and shortage of floor layers.
How can the trainee shortage be tackled?
It helps when companies aid with training. Bostik, for example, are happy to help with training. Still, it comes down to the older generation of qualified floor layers taking on apprentices. Companies and contractors within the flooring industry are taking on trainees, which is great to see, but there are not enough of them.
What do you think the future holds for the industry?
It’s still a growing industry, there are so many new builds as the housing market is growing, along with office blocks and refurb work… it’s a continual growth area. At Bostik, we’re seeing an increase in the sales of our flooring adhesives and smoothing compounds because the type of flooring products that are being sold, like carpets, are not as popular compared to the growing LVT market, which requires more preparation work.
What has been your proudest moment?
Getting fit during lockdown and, when we came out of lockdown, signing up for the Dartmoor classic cycling event. Getting fit, keeping fit and winning a gold medal were all major achievements for me!
