F Ball and Co managing director Darren Kenyon discusses heritage-led manufacturing, challenges, product differentiation and Causeway Carpets’ growth ambitions
When and why did you join the company?
I joined the company as business development manager over two decades ago. I held national sales manager and sales director roles before my current position.
Tell me a little about the history of your company.
F Ball and Co was founded in 1886, in London, when Francis Ball entered into a partnership with an ink manufacturer called William Henry Cowburn.
The company’s initial focus was on producing adhesives for shoe repair. A major turning point came in 1936 when we successfully branched out into the flooring trade with the launch of Stycco Latex, a product used to join carpet widths.
The company relocated to Leek, Staffordshire, during the Second World War. From that point on, we significantly increased our involvement in developing specialised products for the commercial flooring sector. F Ball pioneered cement-based ‘floor levelling’ products in the early ‘60s followed by the launch of Stycco F3, which would later become Styccobond F3.
In 1989, we settled at our current site in Cheddleton. Importantly, F Ball remains a privately owned, independent family business to this day. This year marks the company’s 140th anniversary, and we’ve got plans to celebrate the milestone throughout the year.
Why are your company’s products different from your competitors’ products and what’s the secret to creating a successful flooring product?
F Ball has a long track record of investing in research and development to create exceptionally high quality products, many of which have advanced performance benefits to make contractors’ jobs easier and quicker.
This research and commitment to quality underpins our unique F Ball Guarantee, which states that F Ball products will work as intended, no ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’.
What is your major selling point with contractors? What do your products offer them that others don’t?
Product quality and innovation is backed up by industry-leading customer and technical support to help get the most out of F Ball products. The technical service department is on hand Monday to Friday to answer questions about subfloor preparation and floorcovering installation over the phone or by email and online chat. Our regional technical representatives conduct site visits, in person, to provide bespoke, on-the-ground advice for complex projects. We have more coverage on the ground than anyone else.
We also support contractors through our Ball Rewards customer loyalty initiative, which is free to join and rewards members with cashback each time they purchase F Ball products, alongside other benefits, as a thank you for their continued loyalty.
Other ways we aim to support flooring professionals include providing free training courses at the F. Ball Centre of Excellence at our Staffordshire headquarters with the aim of equipping them with the skills needed to deliver first-class flooring installations and learn about the latest products that may offer solutions they aren’t aware of.
Similarly, we recently partnered with the Flooring Industry Training Association (FITA) and WEBS training to launch the ‘Floorsight’ apprenticeship programme to provide career pathways in flooring and help tackle the flooring industry skills gap. Training for this is delivered at the F Ball Centre of Excellence.
What’s the secret to a successful flooring installation?
Following best practice and choosing the best products for the job. A large part of this is subfloor preparation. Simple things, but sometimes overlooked, like checking for subfloor moisture and installing a moisture management solution if it’s needed. Also, making sure that the subfloor is in a good condition and any surface contaminants are removed. And, of course, applying a floor smoothing compound to create a perfectly smooth surface for the installation of the final floorcoverings. This really does optimise the appearance of the finished installation.
Finally, using the right adhesive for the specific application and floorcovering is crucial. Checking the compatibility of adhesives and chosen floorcoverings is particularly important. F Ball produces a comprehensive Recommended Adhesives Guide (RAG), which lists adhesives recommended for use with over 6,000 branded floorcoverings from over 200 leading international floorcovering manufacturers.
Can you give an outline of your most popular product ranges and explain a bit about them?
Many of our most popular products are ones with advanced features that stand out for their quality or extra benefits or flooring contractors like them simply because of their ease of use. For example, Stopgap 1200, which can be applied directly over old adhesive residues, is the ‘go-to’ smoothing compound of many flooring contractors for its reliability and versatility, in addition to being fast-drying, For similar reasons, Styccobond F48 PLUS is a favourite adhesive for many flooring contractors. While it’s a temperature-tolerant adhesive, they use it simply for its application characteristics.
Is sustainability and ethical manufacturing a key commitment to your business, and if so, why?
Absolutely, and increasingly so. It’s incumbent on us to make sure our business activities don’t adversely affect the environment, in order to preserve it for present and future generations.
Ensuring the company behaves responsibly and protects the ecosystem in which it functions helps to safeguard the long-term sustainability of the business. Many sustainability initiatives, such as striving to be more energy-efficient and generating electricity from renewable sources, save resources in the long run. People are increasingly looking to buy from companies who take their environmental responsibilities seriously.
Initiatives include the F Ball Recycling Scheme, which provides locations where contractors can deposit empty recyclable F Ball buckets and bottles for recycling, for free. This has been rolled out in response to a positive reception from flooring contractors. It follows the introduction of recyclable packaging for several products, with much of the new packaging itself manufactured from recycled materials.
We’ve also installed over 1,700 solar panels at our Staffordshire headquarters, which, along with state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment to minimise energy consumption and low-energy lighting, has gone a long way towards making F. Ball self-sufficient in terms of energy supply.
What flooring trends are you seeing at the moment, and how do these influence your product development?
Contractors face continuous pressure to complete projects faster, frequently while working around other trades. For this reason, we are continually developing fast-track formulations of products and ones with combinations of features that help with working quickly and efficiently.
We’re also seeing underfloor heating systems increasingly installed as part of refurbishments in both domestic and commercial environments. This led us to develop Stopgap 1600, which is formulated especially for use directly over retrofitted electrical and water-fed underfloor heating systems. F Ball smoothing compounds are suitable for application over underfloor heating systems already incorporated into the subfloor.
The popularity of LVTs also continues to grow with the rise in quality and variety. This is why we promote our System LVT range, comprising subfloor preparation products and adhesives that used together and correctly will guarantee optimal results when installing this type of floorcovering.
www.f-ball.co.uk