Each month, we ask a flooring industry professional 10 Questions. This month, we chatted to Bob Mortimer, UK & Ireland Sales Manager, Heckmondwike FB.
10 QUESTIONS WITH... Q5 Q6
Q7
Q1 Q2
Q3
What was your first job? At 17, I started work in the sales office at Steels
Carpets in Oxfordshire.
How did you get into the industry? I have only ever worked within the flooring industry.
My first job at Steels led to various other ventures and I’m still here today.
What do you think are the positives and negatives of the flooring trade?
The people are tremendously friendly and are very committed to the trade and on the plus side, tend to stay where they are. People don’t tend to jump ship often, which makes business much more pleasurable and somewhat more reliable. It’s great seeing old faces.
As for negatives, I’d have to say the continuous driving down of the quality of the product. Quality is being compromised in search of a small cost-saving, which is a shame as it is only the client and/or end user that is impacted in the end. Price is overriding everything and therefore, the client sometimes doesn’t receive the specification required for the environment or end-use.
Q4
If you could hire any one person to be part of your team, who would it be and why?
I genuinely feel that we have the perfect team at Heckmondwike at the moment. We’re all committed and hardworking and know our products and the industry inside out. I’m proud to say it’s a very happy workplace!
54 | 10 QUESTIONS
John Bishop, mostly for comedy value but I would also be keen to share some stories with him as he was a pharmaceutical rep before going into comedy.
David Thompson, my favourite athlete - he is a very driven individual and committed to his sport. These are attributes I really respect and admire.
Q8
What do you think the future holds for flooring design?
People are definitely getting more adventurous and are now seeing the floor as a bigger part of the wider interior design project, rather than just letting it fall into the background or be forgotten all together. Designers want to create their own unique floorcoverings and spaces and flexible products, such as carpet, allows for this.
Q9
What would you like to see in a future issue of Tomorrow’s Contract Floors?
A designer’s perspective on carpet and carpet design. Q10
Chris Frost, Sales Director, Aspect Commercial Flooring Ltd asked: Which
of this year’s flooring trends are here to stay, and
which are on the way out? For Education, durability and cost-effectiveness are always going to be paramount, but design and colour are becoming more and more important; floorcoverings are an investment and need to look the part nowadays. This is why Heckmondwike is committed to ensuring we have large and varied colour banks for each of our ranges, as well manufacturing sheet, tile and plank products to ensure that there are no design limitations.
www.heckmondwike-fb.co.uk
Check out next month’s issue to see what Bob asked our next industry professional…
www.tomorrowscontractfloors.com
What’s the best advice you could give to someone new coming into the industry?
Just be down to earth, honest and hardworking. This will enable you to have a long career in the industry. People will remember you and learn to respect you. Your reputation is everything!
If you could invent any product what would it be and why?
A device that stops some drivers hogging the middle-lane of the motorway – it’s my biggest bugbear.
If you could have a dinner party with any three people, dead or alive, who would
they be and why? Michael Stipe – REM is my favourite band so hopefully he won’t mind providing some musical entertainment.
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