By Nick Megson, md
Abacus Flooring Solutions Ltd
Working in the resin flooring industry since the early nineties has allowed me to view the possibilities and see the many changes. I have spent time with major manufacturers and contractors which is where I have gained invaluable experience.
I have been the Industry Ambassador for Sustainability and Recycling since 2005, a role I enjoy as I have always believed we all have a part to play in looking after the world we live in. I started Abacus Flooring Solutions to allow myself the flexibility in decisions, beliefs, and my future. I suppose whilst Abacus Flooring Solutions is a new business, I have simply continued as I have for the last 34 years. Although now I can support many charities each month, giving back thousands per annum to local cases.
It has also allowed me to focus on recycling, sustainability, and life cycle costs. I really do enjoy planning a specification which can provide life cycle costs for a customer. Whilst making flooring systems, I could see we were using a lot of mined aggregates, possibly around 75-100 tonnes per annum. This is where I could see we could change the way we worked and implement the most environmental change that the industry has seen. I researched items that were currently sent to landfill and if we could prevent this by having them processed sufficiently that they would work in flooring.
We carried out so many tests it seemed as if it would never happen. We carried out testing using numerous grades and types prior to finally receiving a fantastic result. The test samples had provided all the results we needed and the flooring looked fantastic. We continued to test prior to finally completing our first live project. The results were exactly what we expected. The installation guys said it was the best self-smoothing resin system they had used. We finally had a recycling flooring system that we could use daily.
We researched further to find other uses for our recycled white plastic, this was into primer coats and into our repair compounds. This was amazing as we could now use our 100% recycled white plastic materials in our primer coats, scratch coats, self-smoothing screeds, and repair compounds.
Quickly our recycled white plastics requirements were increasing daily. We can see that the recycled white plastic can now be used in other flooring systems such as tile adhesive for example. We had researched, designed and made a world first recycled flooring system.
Abacus Flooring Solutions had researched, designed, and launched what I believe to be the most sustainable flooring system that the resin flooring industry has ever seen. We are always reaching new ways to handle our waste and currently have five different skips at our facility in Leicestershire. We recycle our plastic buckets, tins, cardboard, and general waste.
Abacus Flooring Solutions have been awarded two industry awards in their first two years: environmental impact and the most improved company in its industry. We carry out a minimum of four different projects per week and have built up an impressive list of customers, and now have a customer base that companies who have traded for many more years may have.
Working out of offices and warehousing in the heart of the Midlands allows the company to hold large quantities of stock. This gives a greater service opportunity to our customers who may require last minute projects.
We have invested heavily into multi-headed diamond grinders, and we now have no less than six machines all supported by three-motor vacuums to ensure we work as clean as possible on every site and care for the workforce.
Abacus Flooring Solutions continue to grow and have an estimated turnover of £1m in year three. This of course is only made possible with the incredible support of staff, customers, and our suppliers.
We are proud members of FeRFA (The Federation of the Resin Flooring Association) and I also sit on the board of directors of FeRFA, allowing me to help set and maintain the standards. We are also active members of the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, which allows us to enjoy the business support they offer. Safe Contractors and Chas are also additional support we use as full members.
As a business that started its third year in July 2022, we are incredibly excited about the future.
Abacus Flooring Solutions now has another business to join the group. Abaplas Recycling Limited will handle all the plastic recycling and will start the sales of the recycled white plastics. Abaplas Recycling also have great plans with deals for recycling other plastic products on the cards.
We will be able to offer two solutions soon. Abacus Flooring Solutions will offer all flooring installations and Abaplas Recycling will be responsible for all recycled white plastic sales.
01530 432790
admin@abacusflooringsolutions.co.uk
www.abacusflooringsolutions.co.uk
