Heckmondwike FB, one of the UK’s leading commercial fibre bonded carpet manufacturers, has strengthened its market presence with two significant new appointments.
Lincoln Chillman has been appointed to the role of Area Manager for West London, Tunbridge Wells, Hampshire, Berkshire and Dorset and Jason McKelvey has been promoted to the role of Works Manager, following 12 years as Quality Control Inspector.
Lincoln has been in the flooring industry for over 20 years which includes working in flooring wholesale, retail, contracting and manufacturing. His objective is to raise awareness of Heckmondwike FB floor finishes within the region in which he operates, building on the company’s reputation for excellence in fibre bonded carpet.
Jason aims to enhance quality and production efficiency, to further improve customer satisfaction. His role involves running the production and despatch on site for both Heckmondwike FB and Playrite, the company’s sports surfaces business.
Commercial Manager Jeremy Broadhead explains: “Lincoln and Jason have almost 35 years’ experience in the carpet industry between them. Their extensive experience and understanding of the flooring industry will help us to reinforce our offer to the market, backed up by industry leading quality, production and delivery.”
Heckmondwike FB has recently revealed its new company branding, a new brochure and a re-designed website. The company’s powerful new strapline – ‘Heckmondwike – Makers of Fibre Bonded Carpets’ – demonstrates its unique heritage, celebrating 50 years of fibre bonded carpet manufacture for the education, commercial and health sectors.
The company’s refreshed contemporary image reflects a new design-led approach, which is reflected in its new shade card suite and corporate marketing literature and collateral.
Why carpets are a good option – now and forever!
You may have noticed that we’ve recently rebranded our company, with a new logo and strapline – ‘Makers of Fibre Bonded Carpets’. The reason we did this was to reinforce messages around our history, longevity and commitment to manufacturing fibre bonded carpet, here in the UK.
The branding exercise has also given us the opportunity to review our marketing messages and to ensure that we are clearly communicating to flooring contractors the benefits of fibre bonded carpet.With so many different flooring options out there, we think there’s a great opportunity to look at why carpet has stood the test of time and why it continues to be one of the UK’s most popular flooring choices.
History of floor coverings
As far back as 6000 BC there is evidence of goats and sheep being sheared for wool and hair and it being spun and woven into a material that was used for a number of purposes, including as clothing and as a floor covering. Dating from around 1480 BC the ancient Egyptians used handlooms to make rugs. In 1000 AD Marco Polo confirmed rug making was taking place in the Middle Eastern countries that he passed through.
In the Industrial Revolution in England, textile inventions were introduced by Hargreaves, Arkwright, Crompton which included weaving wool for many purposes, including soft flooring.
Over the years, there have been many developments in man-made fibres, loom widths and machine efficiencies bringing carpet within reach of the mass market.
Fast forward to the modern era and carpet is still as popular as ever in the UK for use in many different applications. Carpet design continues to be influenced by social and economic factors and fashion. Some of the most important reasons that contractors and specifiers choose carpet are for its thermal and acoustic performance. This has led to fibre bonded carpet being specified widely in public buildings, student accommodation, retail outlets, sheltered housing and offices. People like the soft, comfortable feel underfoot, which cannot be rivalled by any other floor covering. Carpet also has benefits in terms of reducing slips, trips and falls. Many of our entrance carpets enable grit and moisture to be removed from footwear, so it doesn’t cause damage to internal floor coverings and lowers the risk of accidents to visitors or occupants.
Design trends
There will always be popular trends in floor coverings and carpet is extremely versatile in being able to ‘move with the times’. For example, the planked look is being widely specified for both public and private sector buildings, including offices and student accommodation. Also, there is a trend for plain carpet that is intermingled with subtle elements of colour, as seen in our Array range.
Even though carpet manufacture has been around for thousands of years, it keeps on evolving. Recent innovations include, for example, the introduction of machines that enable bespoke logos and designs to be integrated within a carpet. Many schools, as well as private and public buildings are specifying this type of carpet to enhance and reinforce their branding in their entrance areas.
It’s worth considering why carpet is still one of the most popular floor coverings for so many different applications. Whilst more competitively-priced materials may deliver short term gains, there are few that can match a carpet’s aesthetics, comfort, acoustics and thermal performance.