Recently, our fantastic team of Area Sales Managers from up and down the country donned their work uniforms, grabbed their litter pickers, and headed out to help clean up their local areas!
As a UK manufacturer, it is important to us here at Heckmondwike that the land we live on is clean, tidy, and remains a wonderful place to live for everyone. It’s essential to us to do our bit for both the environment, and for the people who live in it. So, we arranged a day where our eager Area Sales Managers could make an impact on their own communities, by cleaning up discarded and unwanted litter.
As well as looking unsightly, litter is bad for the environment in several different ways. Firstly, as it degrades, it releases chemicals which are harmful to the earth and air. It is also known to harm and kill animals who may encounter it. Discarded rubbish can also be a breeding ground for harmful bacteria and diseases which can spread amongst humans and animals, as well as encouraging the spread of pest species. All these reasons make it clear just why it’s important to clear up as much litter as possible, in order to protect the world we live in.
Bob Mortimer, our UK Sales Manager, said: “Bringing together our area sales managers from around the country on this initiative was something both myself and the company were very passionate about. Whilst we can’t clear the entire country of litter, doing our bit to help clean up our local areas, whether that’s in Scotland or South London, feels like a great way of making a small but firm difference.”
“As a company, going forwards we’ve pledged to give our eco-conscious sales managers a day of work-time each year to take part in a local litter pick, contributing to the clean-up of their communities!”.
Here at Heckmondwike FB, we believe that where we are based says a lot about who we are as a company.
As the name suggests, our factory is located near Heckmondwike, a small town in West Yorkshire. Since the company was founded in the 1960s, our values have always been very straight-talking, honest and true to our Yorkshire roots.
Our emphasis on transparency and access to the highest quality materials have been key factors in creating the legacy that we now hold in the UK education sector and beyond.
So with that spirit in mind, here is a guided tour around the key processes we use to manufacture our fibre bonded carpets.
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Arrival of the fibre
The first step in creating our carpets is receiving the shipments of fibres at our Goods Inwards department. Fibre is the basic material that a carpet is made up of, with over ninety percent of all carpets now crafted from synthetic fibres.
The fibres we receive are predominately polypropylene and nylon fibres which are then colour matched to make sure they are up to the highest standard.
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Blend, blend, blend!
The fibres are blended together to create different bespoke mixtures of colours and textures for each range we offer. We don’t just mix colours, we also combine types of fibres in order to create material blends that have different textures and durabilities. The blending also opens up the fibres, preparing them for the next process; to be made into carpet.
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It’s needle time
The fibres are further mixed ready to be carded; a process of separating the individual fibres using a course of dividing and redividing steps, which ultimately causes the fibres to lie parallel to one another, eliminating any remaining impurities.
In their carded form the fibres are presented to the first pre-needling process, where they are needled into a sheet with multiple layers. After this, they are further needled, which compresses those layers, forming a blank canvas for the designs.
Last in this stage, the needled carpet is structured by unique structuring needles, meaning it is essentially ‘imprinted’ with its pattern and texture.
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Finishing touches
To ensure the highest quality end product, we apply a latex coating in our backing plant which further bonds the fibres. The carpet can be backed with a variety of different backing materials, depending on the final product required. We use a number of other different types of backing including foam, crumb and acoustic. For our carpet tiles, a bitumen back is added at our sister factory Paragon Carpet Tiles.
Finally, the finished carpet product heads to despatch, ready to be delivered across the UK to a variety of destinations including schools, offices, universities and apartment complexes – to name just a few!
All in all, we’re really proud of how we manufacture our fibre-bonded carpets in our Yorkshire factory. Especially as all of our products are quality tested to industry and environmental standards before being approved.
Why not order a free sample today to experience our high-quality carpets for yourself, or get in touch on 01924410544.