DAVID Priest, key account manager and head of marketing, tells CFJ Kemtile was started back in 1979 by Terry Hardman, who has since sadly passed away.

‘Steven Westley and Jamie Cook took it over in the late ‘80s and ran it until 2018 when they sold it to US company RPM. Kemtile is now amalgamated with RPM’s UK flooring division, which is called Stonhard UK. It’s become in essence a single-source service company in that it manufactures and installs.

‘With Terry’s passing, it’s unclear why the name Kemtile was chosen, but I suspect it’s because the predominant part of the business when Terry set it up was the installation of ceramic tiles. Today, about 90% of the business is resin flooring and the other 10%, depending on what time of year it is, is ceramic tile.

‘We can do the drainage that goes hand-in-hand with the resin flooring that we do in the food industry. We do the wall coatings. We can even do a little bit of civil work as well, allied to our work that we do with the drainage etc.

‘The biggest diversification at the moment is the amalgamation of all the Stonhard materials that we’re now using. We’ve got products that are applied in a different way. Many Stonhard products are installed using power trowels. So, we can put enormous flows down very quickly and the guys don’t have to be on their hands and knees.

‘Much of the company’s work takes place in the UK. And the little bit of idiosyncrasy of it all is that there’s a Stonehard division in Southern Ireland. So, we don’t venture there very much. This year we’ve done work in Germany and Belgium.

‘The company currently runs with about 50 staff who work in the offices, supervision and management etc with an additional 10 subcontractors.’

Kemtile has installed floors for some of Britain’s biggest companies including Cargill, Pepsico, AstraZeneca, Reckitt and BAE, as well as working for its newest brands, breaking new ground in battery recycling, pharmaceutical manufacturing and plant-based food manufacture.
01925 763045
info@kemtile.co.uk
www.kemtile.co.uk