Joe Tyrrell
The commercial director of Tyrrell Flooring tells David Strydom that an ageing workforce and too few young installers entering the trade are exacerbating the industry’s skills gap
How do you make sure installation quality stays consistent across different projects and sites?
We have a fully committed management and operations team who know and love the industry. They have years of experience and understand the technical standards required to operate at the high level we aim for.
On a day-to-day basis, we use our own QA check system and apps like Site Audit Pro to monitor quality as we go. Our supervisors and management teams carry out regular checks before the project reaches handover, so we catch issues early and minimise client snags. Training and experience are also high priorities. Everyone on the team buys into maintaining these standards.
That combination of planning, oversight, and continual learning is essential to sustaining the level of quality we’re known for and to maintain our reputation.
How do you plan labour to balance reliability, skills and workload?
We have a large pool of labour that we’ve used for many years. Certain teams specialise in specific areas, while others are capable of all kinds of installations but excel in particular areas. We assign teams based on the project requirements. New subcontractors are vetted carefully
We discuss their experience, review previous work, and request references where possible. We rarely take anyone on without knowing their capabilities because the level of work we deliver requires high reliability.
We use programme forecasts to know upcoming jobs and allocate labour in advance. Job sheets and scheduling ensure the right people are booked for the right dates. Planning ahead is key to balancing skills, reliability, and workload.
How do you keep up to date with standard specifications and manufacturer guidance?
We participate in refresher training and learning days with manufacturers and always refer to their guidelines as standard practice. Being specification-compliant is critical in commercial contracting. We also stay informed through industry publications, including CFJ, and by maintaining contacts with other contractors. Exchanging experiences and insights with peers helps us understand best practices and stay current on evolving standards.
What do you look for at the tender stage to avoid problems onsite?
We have a strong estimating team that ensures the specification, prep and build-ups are compliant and the costs are fully detailed. This allows clients to know exactly what they’re paying for and why. We also include our own terms and conditions as line items to avoid being caught out later. At that stage, it’s generally too early to carry out surveys, so thorough specification review and upfront planning are our main tools to prevent problems.
How do you ensure subfloor preparation is done properly on every project?
Once we can fully survey a job, we use our experience and technical knowledge, but we also involve manufacturers when needed. If required, we request a written specification from them. For example, on a current project in Surrey, Idex came onsite, conducted a survey and provided a subfloor specification.
Our supervisors and managers ensure fitting teams adhere strictly to the specification, and we conduct step-by-step sign-offs and reporting throughout the project. This approach guarantees quality and protects us contractually, proving all necessary steps have been followed.
How do you respond when programmes are shortened or changed at short notice?
It’s frustrating, but we take the changes onboard and try to push back as much as we can to buy ourselves some time. Short-notice changes are really common in commercial contracting, especially in fit-out projects. We look at the time efficiencies of the products we use and adjust where we can, like increasing labour to meet the programme. We try to stay on the front foot, forecasting what’s coming up and planning resources accordingly. At the same time, we manage the client and keep the main contractor aligned, ensuring they deliver what they promise, which doesn’t always happen. Essentially, we’re driving both our teams and the client teams so we can complete the work in the time available.
What’s your process for dealing with defects or issues after completion?
It’s pretty straightforward. With ongoing snagging and QA checks onsite, we first assess whether it’s our responsibility or the client’s. Often, we’re asked to fix defects that are actually caused by someone else. In those cases, we survey, price it, agree commercially with the client, then schedule the work.
If it’s our responsibility, we gather the necessary information quickly and book the work. Sometimes this has to be done out of hours if the client’s already moved in, so we plan evening or weekend work to get it done efficiently.
Are there any manufacturers and suppliers you’d like to give a shout out to?
This is going to be a diplomatic answer, but we’ve got fantastic relationships with all our suppliers. The company relationships, and my one-to-one relationships personally, are all long-term, built on trust, familiarity and good personal connections over the years.
Our office is based in Clerkenwell, so we can get around quite a lot of manufacturers since their showrooms are close by. Predominantly, we use SASGO, Planners, and TradeChoice for sundries, ancillaries and sheet vinyl. We’ve got a fantastic relationship with them. The expectations for the service we need are clear, and the trust for them to support us is solid. Without that support, in servicing and pricing, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
As for manufacturers, we’ve got excellent relationships across the board. To single out one or two would be unfair. We do a lot of work with Shaw Contract, Milliken, Interface, Havwoods, Tarkett and Forbo. They’re all the main players, and they all support us really well in the industry, so fair play to them.
