10 QUESTIONS WITH…
Each month, we ask a flooring industry professional 10 Questions. This month, we chatted to Matt Farmer, Flooring Sales Director CCF.
Q1
What was your first job? My first real position was
working in a call centre for a large bank. I took the job when I moved to Leeds after completing my business studies degree. It was a great stop-gap and got me on the employment ladder.
Q2 Q3
How did you get into the industry?
By chance really. A friend of mine knew a recruitment consultant and I mentioned I was working in a call centre but didn’t see it as my future. He suggested I’d be perfect for a sales administration role at an independent merchant specialising in screeding and underfloor heating. I’ve never looked back since.
What do you think are the positives and
negatives of the flooring trade? You meet some really interesting people in this business who are experienced, great to work with and will challenge you. It’s a small industry and you tend to bump into the same people throughout your career. From a negative point of view, there is still a huge emphasis on just price. Service and quality of product can get forgotten about sometimes. I doubt this will change, though, and it’s not helped by the current economic climate.
Q4
If you could hire any one person to be part of your
team, who would it be and why? That would have to be my dad. He is one of the most rational, wise and insightful men I know - plus it means I could tell him what to do.
Q5
What’s the best advice you could give
to someone new coming into
the industry? Don’t take things too seriously and try to enjoy what you do on a day-to- day basis. We’re all here to work hard and do the best for the companies we represent but if you don’t enjoy it, why bother doing it in the first place?
48 | 10 QUESTIONS Q7
If you could have a dinner party with any
three people, dead or alive, who
would they be and why? My first choice would be Liverpudlian actor, Stephen Graham. He’s been in shows like Boardwalk Empire
and This is England. He seems like an interesting character and he’d have some fascinating tales about Hollywood. My second choice would be Phil Knight - the co-founder of Nike. There is a great story behind how he grew and developed that business Finally, I’d choose Kanye West. If you were sat around a table with Kanye, how could it not be interesting?
Q8 Q6
If you could invent any product what would it
be and why? I’d like to develop a really intelligent email filter. We all get too many emails, especially on holiday or when we’re away from the office. Emails are one of my pet hates!
What do you think the future holds for
flooring design? In terms of the products we supply, dry screed panels and systems will continue to be the future. With a lot of main contractors wishing to eliminate wet trades on site, these systems are going to become more and more popular. They are compatible with underfloor heating too and that market is still growing.
Q9
What would you like to see in a future issue of
Tomorrow’s Contract Floors? It would be great if the magazine could highlight specific contractors, who they are and what they do. It would be good to understand more about, not only the intricacies of these businesses and what they do, but the people working within them as well.
Q10
Kris Robertson, National Business
Development for TASKI, Tools & Robotics, Diversey Care asked: If you could change anything in your industry at the flick of
a switch, what would it be? It would probably be to remove any contra-charge culture there is out there in the industry - changing the relationships between manufacturer, distributor and the installer to make the sector a lot more harmonious.
www.ccfltd.co.uk/Products/Flooring
Check out next month’s issue to see what Matt asked our next industry professional…
www.tomorrowscontractfloors.com
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