Each issue, we ask a flooring industry professional 10 Questions. This month, we chatted to Paul Hambidge, MD of Factory Direct Flooring, a flooring supplier based in the Midlands.
10 QUESTIONS WITH… Q7
family. They fully support the business and everything that is in front of us, and I’m very grateful for them being a part of Factory Direct Flooring.
Q5
What’s the best advice you could give to
someone new coming into
the industry? People coming into this trade need to know it from the ground up and work hard. People want the correct advice when they are buying new flooring as your reputation is key, so it’s important that you know what you are talking about, and the products to support this.
Q6 Q1
What was your first job? I started by sweeping floors
ready for when my uncle was installing flooring. This was great grounding as it showed me a good work ethic and also allowed me to earn money over weekends and school holidays.
Q2 Q3 Q4
How did you get into the industry?
When I left school, I was offered a job as a fitter for a commercial flooring company based in Birmingham. This really got me started on the ladder and into the career that I have been involved in ever since.
What has been your proudest moment?
One of my proudest moments within my career was when I took on my first solo project, completing it on time and in turn gaining my first satisfied customer. It showed me how a project should be plotted and completed correctly.
If you could hire any one person to be part of your
team, who would it be and why? I honestly already have an incredible team, and many of them have been with me for many years, so we are like a
36 | 10 QUESTIONS
If you could be any character from film or
TV who would you be? I recently watched the film Limitless with Bradley Cooper. It follows a writer who takes an experimental drug allowing him to use 100% of his mind. All of the terrible consequences (that follow in the movie) aside, I’d love to be able to look at my business and the industry for just one day in the same way Bradley Cooper does in that film.
Q8
What do you think the future holds for
flooring design? The popularity of click vinyl flooring is growing hugely and given that the reproduction of colour and design has improved significantly, there are less restrictions and more designs out there than ever before.
Q9
If you weren’t in flooring, what career
would you choose? I would love to be a professional golfer – but we can all dream.
Q10
Jake Hodder, Area Sales Manager for
north-east England, Bostik asked: The flooring industry is renowned for its funny characters. What’s the funniest thing that’s ever
happened to you at work? One of our very first customers to visit our showroom was a local lady very keen to learn all she could about flooring. Part way through her visit, she decided to visit our washroom and when she came out to spend more time looking at products, I realised her very nice dress wasn’t untucked properly, so it was all a little embarrassing but we were very polite about it all.
Check out next month’s issue to see what Paul asked our next industry professional…
www.factory-direct-flooring.co.uk
What do you think are the positive and negative
aspects of the flooring trade? It is a lot of hard work, and also keeping on top of the latest designs, products and needs of the market at the time. I work hard with our manufacturers around the world to react to what we are hearing from customers and ensuring that we are ahead of the game with what is needed. The positive, of course, is having satisfied customers.
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