shares with the team and they’re great, so we tend to implement them quite quickly. That’s one thing that we offer within the team, the opportunity to share your ideas and we’ll always listen.” Knowsley Business
Awards
recognised Walton Flooring Centre as Retailer of the Year at their annual awards ceremony on November 23 last year, just six weeks after the business received the same accolade from Merseyside Independent Business Awards. Both are exciting and promising achievements, revealing that the flooring company is heading in the right direction. James expressed his shock and happiness at winning the awards: “We’ve only been going for just over five years when we got shortlisted for the awards last year, and to be dead honest with you, we didn’t expect to win. The shortlisting was great for us and, at both occasions, we were up against some solid businesses, real strong companies. “If you see our Twitter post on the day, you’ll see my reaction and you’ll hear all of the team screaming, so it meant a lot to us. It meant more for me that the team was getting some recognition, and it was all coming together for us. I was happier than anyone but I was happier for them than I was for myself, and that’s just the type of company that we are.”
Looking back and looking forward Thinking ahead, James is particularly interested in an integrated and more technology-focused future for Walton Flooring Centre, even possibly looking into the Snapchat market. “There’s going to be a lot going on with technology in the next
five years or so, and we’re always looking at new markets to be able to entice customers to buy from us. We have a new idea that we’re bringing out soon that I can’t talk too much about, but we think it will be market changing, and that will be released in the next four to six weeks,” he says animatedly. “We will be making our website
Alexa-friendly, soon you might be able to order your carpet through Alexa or your Google Home, and that means you need to have your website voice-recognition friendly.” Looking back, James recalls the initial struggles of the company – mainly the disagreements he had working in such close proximity to his father – although he looks back fondly on the memories now. “My dad comes from the building trade and building trade mannerisms are not exactly the same as face-to-face customer service mannerisms. My dad and I had some bust-ups definitely. I was 23-years-old when we started and I was actually speaking to my dad
about how to speak to a customer, and teaching him how to order a carpet, and how to close a deal. I think it’s difficult for a 50-something year old fella to take advice from his 23-year-old son, when all my life he’s been telling me what I should be doing.”
James continues: “In the end he grasped it and he listened and he’s a part of a great team up in Burscough and he’s a key member up there. I’d say he listened, as much as he’d probably say he never did, and he definitely listened because he does a good job now.” A huge part of ‘The Walton Way’ is its dynamic customer service, and the personable approach the com- pany takes to both its customers and its staff. And, when the norm in the flooring and carpet industry is generally seen to be a lot of faffing around with late deliveries, work going on for longer than planned, or even extra unseen costs, it’s no wonder people would welcome a bouquet and a bottle of red from the gregarious James Harper.
Walton Flooring Centre at the Merseyside Independent Business Awards with another Retailer of the Year accolade
www.diyweek.net 19 JANUARY 2018 DIY WEEK 17
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