From its location at The Old Library in Carcroft, Floorserve is a family business run by Simon and Stefan Clarkson. Simon spoke exclusively to CFJ about the company’s history and the challenges it faces. As told to David Strydom in Doncaster.
We changed the name to Floorserve in 2008 because we wanted to project a more professional image and were being ribbed about a connection to Square Dealers from Coronation Street. It just had a wheeler-dealer type ring to it which we wanted to modernise. Unfortunately our dad wasn’t retired long before he passed away, but me, my brother, Stefan, and my sister, Haley, continued to run and grow the business. I’m now 53 but started floorlaying with my dad at 13. When The Old Library came up I thought it would be ideal for us so we went to auction and managed to acquire it in 2014. We had to do a lot of renovation works, including knocking down the walls because they contained 17t of asbestos – the grey kind found in fibreboards – and that cost us a fortune. Duane, my brother’s nephew, helped us tear it apart because he has a past in building and labouring trades. Then we replaced the external walls and future-proofed the building. Many people don’t realise just quite how big the building is; it encompasses about 1,000sq m with multiple parking spaces and easy access. Our turnover is just under £1m, and that has been stable through Covid-19.
ON COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS
We carry out commercial and domestic work. On the commercial side, we’ve worked with big names such as Skanska, completed a few prisons in the private and state sector including Doncaster Prison, and we’ve worked on hospitals in Derby and Mansfield, among other contract work. I, Simon, used to be an active floorlayer myself but I’ve been off my knees now for about 16 years as it caught up with my hands, knees and back. I began to feel knee pain in my late 20s and stopped when I was 38. I used to complete the installations so I know both sides of the coin – both technical and selling. But sometimes when we’re exceptionally busy, I still muck in. I was recently supposed to be at a good friend’s birthday party but a job ran over so I helped out. I sent a selfie to my friend saying: ‘This is where I am; I’m not coming, not because I don’t want to but rather because I’m stuck here.’ The job entailed completing Omega Kitchens in LVT click herringbone. A subbie couldn’t make it so me and the other lads worked until 8pm every night until the job was completed. The installations I’m most proud of include the mental health hospital in a Coventry Hospital with Tarkett and Marley throughout and it looked fantastic.
ON FLOORSERVE PERSONNEL
Stefan is financial director so he does the salaries and balances the books. He’s also very technically minded in computer technology, so takes care of our in-house IT requirements and maintenance requirements. Haley used to do health and safety, the method statements, and risk assessments but I’ve now picked that up as although she’s still a company director she’s no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the company. My wife Joanne helps out and Duane is responsible for the day-to-day running of the shop and warehouse, measuring and collections. We work from 8am-6pm but we have a flexible arrangement so everyone gets a chance to leave early.
We’ve stopped opening on Sundays as we all needed a rest. If a client asks us we’ll usually make an exception and open for them. Duane generally works the weekends but Joanne stands in when needed. One of our four full-time fitters is Lewis Hoe, actually Stefan’s stepson, who proudly won the CFJ’s Apprentice of the Year in 2015. At that time I said of him: ‘I can totally rely on this young man; he just gets on with his work with no complaint. You only have to show him something once and away he goes and does it exactly as you explained. He can handle LVT, cove, cap, linoleum, and carpets.’ We also have several subbies we call on when we’re snowed under.
ON APPRENTICESHIPS AND LABOUR SHORTAGES
We’ve trained up two lads in the last few years but one wasn’t too keen and ended up in the police force while the other lad chose to go on to be a subbie. Having said that, the industry in general is in real crisis. Youngsters seem to use floorlaying as some last resort after trying out as joiners or plumbers or even electricians. When we interview kids, most have already tried to be something else so they’re not coming to us saying: ‘Oh, I want to be a floorlayer.’ One lad’s mum phoned us to say he couldn’t lift more than 25kg which was unfortunate as this industry does require some heavy lifting. It’s hard work, yes, but if kids were taught about the money you could make doing it, they might think of it differently. These days we try to get two to three years out of them after training. I’m good-natured, not an ogre, so I don’t understand why lads leave. A while ago a lad worked here; he was a lovely bloke and the others loved him. He didn’t have a bad bone in his body and he enjoyed the job. But then he got talking in the pub and someone said they could double his rate – and so off he went. We’re in the fortunate position that, as we say, ‘if nobody else will do it, Lewis will’. Labour shortages are so bad at the moment that even the mediocre fitters are incredibly busy.
The key to being an excellent floorlayer is a willingness to do the job. Many people have lost that pride in their work, then you get those who do it again and again until it’s right. My one piece of advice to floorlayers is to take photos of the installations of which you’re most proud.
ON MATERIAL SUPPLIES
Yes, we’ve been affected by raw material delays and inflation. Even on the domestic side, the shortage of yarn, carpets etc is worrying. The cost of shipping is ridiculous; just recently our main LVT supplier didn’t have what we needed for the first time ever. None of our distributors had the product either. Shipping a container from China used to cost us between £2,000-3,000. Now it’s more like £20,000. What’s to blame? Covid-19, Brexit, Ukraine – a bit of everything. The principle is similar to school holidays – as in, holidays suddenly become much more expensive, doubling, or tripling in price. The Chinese and shipping companies know there’s an issue so they just put the price up and you’re left with no option but to pay if you want your business to thrive. Product supply from China is still reasonable but it’s getting them here that’s causing the issue. I read an article where a toy store was selling a Tonka truck for about £7-8 and it was 70p to deliver from China, now it’s £7, so that’s 100% just for delivery. I know that’s a different sector but it illustrates the issues across the board, not just for flooring. Inflation is extremely concerning and it’s devastating consequences to cost of living. We’ve had to put our prices up and up and up but the plus side is that that’s it’s not just us, it’s happening across the board.
ON SUSTAINABILITY
We’re having to go the extra mile. We’ve tried implementing recycling for underlays but that means pushing the price up by between 50p and £1. The result is that the public would rather take the cheaper option than the sustainable one and that puts pressure on the sustainability process. When we stock up our warehouse we try to order as many things per group as possible in order to reduce our carbon footprint.
ON MY BACKGROUND
Simon, was born in 1969 in Goole. My mum died when I was just seven; my eldest brother was eleven; my sister was three; and my youngest brother Stefan was a mere 18 months old. I’ve got five kids – we didn’t have Sky in those days! Scott my eldest works for Alvin Morris; Jodie my eldest daughter used to work for Alvin Morris but now works for Likewise. My middle son has just graduated with a 1st from university studying biochemistry. He is stopping on for a masters in cancer biology. My two youngest daughters are twins who are studying criminology at Hull University. At the office you may see or hear Pigsy the Pug, our chubby little mascot. She barks and makes a fuss but hasn’t got a nasty bone in her body. You’ll also frequently see Lewis’ Labrador Oscar who sometimes wanders around. We’re all animal people here.
