By BRIAN KING | HARROGATE
I’M just back from The Flooring Show at Harrogate 2021 and am still fuelled with adrenaline and excitement at how successful the first post-pandemic show was.
For me, representing the NICF and FITA, I couldn’t have wished for it to go better. This year we’ve made changes to the FITA demo zone and the NICF fitter of the year competition.
FITA training manager Shaun Wadsworth has revamped the demos and updated them. They’d been the same for many years so this year – instead of repeating the same things every day – he split them all up over the Sunday and Monday and left the last day as an open forum where people can ask to be shown anything they want from subfloor prep to a handsewn bullnose. For me, that freshened everything up a bit.
The instructors involved in the demos have also changed. Steve Ramsden, usually involved in the demos, is now a judge on the fitter of the year competition, so Scott Carter Dowding and Shane Moore did the demos between them with Rob Fitzgerald and I preparing the materials.
The show always starts early for us on the Saturday morning. First, the cupboard is built, then we have a time slot reserved for the van to unload our goods. Usually, they‘re dumped anywhere in the cupboard so the next van waiting can unload its cargo.
Ian James and Steve then unload the platforms and materials for the competition and they then have the arduous task of assembling the platforms for the competition which officially starts on Sunday.
Scott and Shane have a few stands to put flooring down as well as the FITA stage to erect so Rob and I get busy organising the materials in the store cupboard. We have to organise everything in groups and rows with labels on everything so we know exactly where everything is.
The thing you don’t want to happen mid-demo is for Scott or Shane to ask for something which you can’t find. That, let me tell you, can cause a minor flap and it’s an absolute nightmare as all eyes are fixed firmly on you. I know from experience as it’s happened to me a couple of times and there’s nothing worse than an impatient Steve poking fun at you in front of a crowd while he waits for what he needs. My face tends to go very red during such occasions!
Former carpet fitter of the year winner Dan Jones and Paddy McNicholas from McNicholas Flooring had a stand doing carpet and LVT art. They didn’t tell anyone what they were concocting but they did give me a preview. The talent of these two fitters is second-to-none and they make it look so easy.
I walked over to the fitter of the year stand where Steve and Ian were erecting the stands while all around them the organisers were still building stands and carpeting the walkways. U
nless you see this with your own eyes you wouldn’t believe it. Every year I say ‘There’s no way this will be ready for tomorrow’ – and every year it’s ready by the next day!
After a long hard day everything just seems to pull together before the cleaners blitz through the halls giving it the finishing touches. We then go across the road for a well-earned beer and a meeting to prepare for what’s in store over the next couple of days.
After an early night we were up early and fresh for the opening of the first day. I wasn’t sure what to expect to be honest as Covid-19 has completely changed everything over the past couple of years. Was it going to be quiet? Were people going to think: ‘Stuff it, I’m getting back to some sort of reality and after missing the show last year I’m not going to miss it this year’. I was gobsmacked how busy it was.’
Sunday kicked off with an enormous buzz of anticipation. There were smiles on everyone’s faces and the crowds gathering on the demo stand were amazing. Day one dealt with moisture solutions, smoothing compounds, fabricated underlays, and feather finish LVT installations, commercial sheet vinyl installations including welding and finished off with linoleum installations including welding. Every demo was packed out. Shane and Scott both mic’d up and really worked well together – especially their banter which had the crowds chuckling.
We had the virtual demos rolling on the screen also that looked really good. I looked over at Shaun who was watching in the background and the smile on his face said it all.
Also on the demo stand we had NICF vice president Matthew Yerrell and council member James Wilkinson running the NICF stand, answering questions about FITA and the NICF.
This year’s giveaway was a Makita DAB radio with battery and charger. All you had to do was put a business card into the box. Steve Rasal from RWS Carpet Fitters online shop donated knives to giveaway.
Over on the fitter of the year stand, Matt Bowles, Luke Johnson, Dean Dickinson, Matt Parkinson, and Dan Jones all battled it out for the crown of UK LVT fitter of the year. I was commuting from the demo stand and the competition stand as I was doing a live feed for UK Flooring TV.
Another thing that amazed me is that on that first day we got 4,500 views from people logging on to watch.
For me, that first day flew. We had an exhibitors’ party afterwards and I got to have a catch up with people I hadn’t seen in a few years. We then decamped across the road for another well-earned beer. The best thing is I got to meet people I’ve chatted to online but never met in person, so I was able to put a lot of faces to names.
Day two was really busy, to my surprise. The demos were carpet underlay installation; stretch-fit carpet installations with power stretchers; carpet seaming; handsewn bullnose and stairs; floating floor system installations; engineered wood installations; and domestic sheet vinyl installation including cold weld. They were packed out once again. Many people booked courses as there was a 15% discount on FITA courses and an amazing 25% discount for NICF members.
It was the final day of the fitter of the year competition and all the finalists did an absolute amazing job, but the one who stood out a little more was the winner Matthew Bowles. He looked calm throughout the competition, even when I shoved the live feed on him for quite a while. I did apologise to him and Dan Jones as they were on the ends where my camera was positioned but they reassured me it was fine.
The homework freestyle competition was special. The fitters were given some black and white tiles and told to produce LVT art with a London theme. Matt Parkinson thoroughly deserved to win with the intricate detail of his Big Ben art.
The competition went down an absolute storm. It was constantly busy and everyone seemed happy with plenty of positive feedback. Judges Richard Renouf, Steve Ramsden and Ian James did an outstanding job, and agreed when I pointed out that it’s getting bigger and bigger by the year.
Day three was always going to be quieter than the first two. At the demo stand there was an open demo where anyone could ask for anything. It went down quite well; a couple asked to see joints and sewn bullnoses which was something different and good to see.
The competition bays were left out for the public to observe, as was the LVT art. Across the way, Paddy and Dan on the LVT and carpet art were constantly busy.
Next year’s competition will revert to carpet and people are already trying to enter. I didn’t pick up any negativity about anything over the duration of the show.
On the NICF stand there were plenty of application forms filled in; another massive manufacturer confirmed it was joining as a NICF patron member.
Meanwhile, courses at FITA were fully booked. I had a catch up with old friends and met new ones. I’m gutted it’s over as over the past couple of years this is exactly what we’ve needed to boost our morale as an industry and as a country.
Next year can’t come soon enough.
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