The acquisition of Arlo & Jacob by upholstery group TCM Living will see floorcoverings added to the retailer's product roster as it leverages wider group manufacturing assets and synergies.

A combination of selling price increases and supplier negotiations have helped flooring conglomerate Victoria shrug off the impact of rising input costs in a period of never-before seen growth.

Headlam Group, the flooring wholesale giant, said its residential business helped deliver strong growth on weak comparatives last year and keep revenue within a whisker on a two-year basis.

Carpetright, Britain's largest floorcoverings retailer, has launched a new format targeting design-led consumers with a store on Tottenham Court Road in Central London. More stores will follow.

Manufacturers in Belgium, the largest source of foreign-made carpet sold in the U.K., ended a barren run stretching back to September 2019 at the end of the first quarter.

Flooring wholesale conglomerate Headlam Group has appointed former Wickes CEO Simon King as a non-executive director.

Belgian carpet manufacturing conglomerate Balta has raised prices in response to input cost inflation and has warned flooring customers that more may follow.

Victoria, the acquisitive flooring conglomerate, has agreed to buy Dutch artificial grass supplier and carpet backing company Edel Group from its private equity owners.

Mohawk Industries, the world's largest flooring company with business units across the globe including Britain, says the first quarter of 2021 saw it achieve best-ever quarterly sales.

Victoria, the diversified flooring manufacturer and distributor, has picked up three Italian tile peers in deals worth a combined €35 million. They are the first, and smallest, of several deals in the pipeline, the company said.

Wood, laminate and vinyl floor retailer Factory Direct Flooring has increased capacity after taking a larger Midlands warehouse unit.

Designer Contracts, the floorcoverings and furnishings supplier to the house-builder market, has taken new hires since January to 25 with its latest appointments.

Profits more than trebled in the lead up to the pandemic for one of the U.K.'s largest privately-owned floorcoverings companies.

Carpet and rug imports from Turkey are up more than a quarter in 2021 so far according to new official figures, helping mitigate the continued fall in the value of goods coming in from historic trading partners.

The reopening of stores sees fast-growing retail chain Flooring Superstore pick up the expansion baton again as it looks to double in size through 2021.

The easing of travel restrictions around the world is helping grease the wheels of Victoria's acquisition strategy, with the flooring conglomerate soon to announce new takeovers.

A Midlands based flooring company that had traded under at least three different retail brand names has been placed into liquidation, owing millions to creditors.

Rochdale manufacturer Penthouse Carpets said trading was steady ahead of the arrival of the pandemic with the final three months of its financial year hit by the first lockdown.

Independent flooring retailer and contractor Mears Furnishers strengthened its financial position in the year leading up to the early weeks of the pandemic.

Nestware Holdings, part of the Meditor Group that took Carpetright private early last year, has agreed to buy major flooring distributor Carpet & Flooring from its private equity backer Endless. It is its third acquisition in six months.

Carpetright will begin a recruitment process to find a successor to chief executive Wilf Walsh, who has become chairman at the retail chain's parent company Nestware Holdings.

ScS enjoyed a record first half as it delivered orders taken last year but the sofa and carpets retailer has seen a sharp fall in written business through lockdown despite customers pivoting online.

The chief commercial officer at U.K. Flooring Direct has become chief digital officer in a move that reflects the major flooring retailer's upscaled plans for digital technology investment.

The slog for Belgium's carpet makers continued at the start of 2021 with Britain's biggest trading partner for the category sustaining another sharp fall in the value of product arriving here.

Adjusted profits fell high single digits on a near €110 million sales drop for flooring giant Balta last year, with it slipping to a net loss overall after finance costs and non-cash write-downs.

Headlam, Europe's largest flooring wholesaler, says it will add almost 40 new trade counters over the next four years in response to rising demand from retailers and fitters for click-and-collect.

A new nylon yarn aimed at residential carpet makers contains 75 percent recycled material and is itself "endlessly recyclable" according to its Belgian proponent.

Carpetright is testing two separate mattress and beds formats across 20 of its stores nationwide and online. It includes a revamped Sleepright proposition and a new retail brand concept called MattressStoreU.K.

The West Yorkshire wool supplier that owned heritage carpet maker Axminster until early last year has completed a restructuring process it initiated nearly two years ago to improve its finances.

Brockway Carpets slipped to a loss last year as a result one-off restructuring costs and the end of its financial year being hit by lockdown and customers such as John Lewis halting carpet operations.

Flooring manufacturer and wholesaler Victoria has issued £500 million of new bonds, more than 40 percent higher than originally planned after strong investor demand.

Carpet and vinyl flooring manufacturers and distributors are facing up to supply shortages and cost increases for yarn, PVC and other raw materials with a significant knock-on effect expected for retailers.

Carpet and flooring manufacturer and wholesaler Victoria is to refinance with a leverage-neutral bond issue for €350 million.

Carpet imports into the U.K. climbed for a second straight month in December but it was a miserable end to the year for Belgian manufacturers, who have suffered more than most through 2020.

Profits climbed sharply at carpet maker Cormar in 2019–20 on the back of wider margins, surging demand following the first lockdown and after annualising non-recurring expenses from the previous year.

Retail demand returned strongly after the first lockdown last year but the chairman of Ulster Carpets says the future is less certain for contract markets because of the effect of the pandemic on the hospitality sector.

Designer Contracts has expanded its presence in Scotland in response to exponential sales growth, the floorcoverings contractor and supplier says.

Flooring contractor Designer Contracts has appointed Simon Westley as logistics manager and promoted three managers to new roles.

Balta Group, the major Belgian carpet manufacturer and one of the largest suppliers to the U.K. floorcoverings market, plans to refinance its long-term borrowing.

Flooring and beds retailer United Carpets Group will delist from the Alternative Investors Market (AIM) on Friday as it returns to private ownership.

Headlam Group, Europe's largest collective of floorcoverings wholesalers, says strong demand for residential flooring products in the second half of last year helped negate weaker earlier trading.

The South Wales carpet manufacturing arm of flooring giant Victoria returned to profit in 2019–20 as it annualised millions of pounds of restructuring costs.

Major U.K. flooring contractor Designer Contracts has donated more than £100,000 to a local hospice that has been hit hard by the pandemic.

U.K. imports of carpets and rugs advanced high single-digits according to newly-released November data as China, India and Turkey made gains while traditional manufacturing powerhouses continued to toil.

Strong trading in the back half of last year enabled flooring retail chain Tapi Carpets & Floors to pay off short-term lending from key investors.

There will be no physical Domotex exhibition in Germany this year after organisers postponed the rescheduled floorcoverings event.

Company behind U.K.'s number two carpet franchise network slips to loss on narrower margins, higher costs.

Imports of carpets and rugs fell at their steepest rate since the summer on weaker growth figures from emerging partners. Arrivals from established source nations such as Belgium and the Netherlands remained feeble.

Revenue advanced in mid-single digits for Coventry based luxury vinyl tile (LVT) giant Amtico last year but margins were thinner as a result of higher costs.

The co-founders and majority shareholders of United Carpets and Beds have offered to buy out remaining stockholders in a deal that would see the flooring retail franchise delisted from the Alternative Investors Market (AIM) and return to private ownership.

Carpet producers, distributors and retailers as well as their customers could see extended lead times after the insolvency of a major specialist haulier put product out of sync.

North West carpet and flooring wholesaler Rolfe Carpets has agreed a multi-million deal for a new distribution centre in Accrington, a short distance from its current base.

Earnings grew on higher sales last year for the Yorkshire rugs and soft furnishings manufacturer behind the Howler & Scratch and Rug Guru brands.

Designer Contracts, the national floorcoverings contractor, has sponsored a day's services of Childline for a fourth time, and the second time this year.

Business model adjustments have helped drive major efficiency improvements for Abingdon Flooring, one of the U.K.'s largest carpet makers, parent company Victoria said yesterday.

The executive chairman of flooring conglomerate Victoria says he expects no let up in demand with the group to achieve meaningful organic growth into 2021 as consumers continue to invest in their homes.

ScS, Britain's number two upholstery retailer, has recruited a former Home Retail Group executive as the successor to David Knight, its longstanding CEO.

Sofa and carpets retailer ScS said like-for-like order intake was up nearly a third going into the second lockdown in England earlier this month.

Headlam, Europe's largest floorcoverings distributor, says it thinks a small amount of data has been extracted following what it called a cyber security incident.

U.K. Flooring Direct will open a new sourcing and development office in China and invest in an expanded product offer after agreeing an investment package with Business Growth Fund (BGF).

The retailer behind the Flooring Superstore retail chain redeployed its store staff to telesales roles as direct sales channels helped the expanding retailer grow revenue in 2019–20.

Demand for overseas-made carpet continued to recover as U.K. distributors and retailers brought in close to year-earlier levels for the first time this year.

Wholly-owned distributor offers brands such as Quick-Step, Elka, Balterio and Pergo to customers across the U.K. floorcoverings market.

Sales of residential products and rugs helped mitigate continued weakness in the commercial sector at flooring colossus Balta Group in the third quarter of 2020.

Britain's leading carpet and floorcoverings retailers are keeping stores in England open through the lockdown in a move that will attract bouquets and brickbats from rivals in equal measure.

Flooring conglomerate Victoria says the imminent lockdown in England will make little material difference to its business in the long run, adding that its factories will remain open and continue to accept and deliver orders.

Revenue growth in Europe and other international markets helped counter weaker domestic demand at flooring conglomerate Mohawk Industries in the third quarter.

Tapi Carpets & Floors has hired Emma Collett as chief operating officer as the expanding floorcoverings retailer continues to reshape its management team.

Flooring and beds retailer United Carpets says its franchised and corporate stores bounced back strongly in the four and a half months since its business reopened this spring.

Carpet and flooring conglomerate Victoria is to raise up to £175 million through a preferred equity investment to bolster its armoury to buy up more of its rivals.

Invesco, the international money manager whose multi-year strategic saw it build a major stake in Victoria, has lined up deals that will see it sell its remaining shares in the flooring designer, maker and distributor.

Verona Group, a distributor of smooth flooring ranging from LVT to stone and ceramic tiles, is to lease a newly-built warehouse in South Yorkshire.

Plans to reschedule The Flooring Show to early spring 2021 have been shelved with the event to return to its usual autumn timeline.

A multi-million pound investment from a co-owned property company has supported a turnaround plan at a diversified group whose business units include smooth floorcoverings brand Atkinson & Kirby.

Shipments of foreign-made carpet arriving on U.K. shores picked up in the late summer as spring lockdowns ended and factories whirred back into life.

Balta, the Belgian carpet and flooring conglomerate, said year-on-year third quarter profits will come in higher as a result of lower fixed costs and significantly improved margins.

Multi-depot wholesaler STS Flooring Distributors booked higher profits last year on wider gross margin and tight control over costs.

Flat product sales and a decline in service income hit profits at Blackburn carpet maker Cavalier last year but the business still doubled its year-end cash reserves.

Lord Kirkham and the private investment vehicle of Will Adderley were among major stockholders to pick up more shares in the flooring retailer Tapi Carpets in the past year.

Connection Flooring, the North East company behind the national Flooring Superstore retail chain, has appointed Stuart Phillips as chief financial officer.

Upholstery and flooring retailer ScS has signed a ten-year lease on a 32,000sqft warehouse in Liverpool.

National sofa and carpets retailer ScS says it hired 150 new employees last month and has a similar number of vacancies still available as it looks to scale up headcount to cope with demand.

The rate of decline in carpet imports narrowed in July as goods from far-off nations made their way into the U.K. in higher volumes while those closer to home still struggled.

Ulster Carpets, one of Europe's largest flooring manufacturers and a major supplier to the cruise ship sector, has entered a formal consultation process that could lead to up to 70 job losses.

Flooring conglomerate Victoria said demand has recovered in all its principal markets with trading resilient since it last updated the market in July.

Investment group Meditor Holdings has followed its takeover of Carpetright earlier this year with a second flooring deal, buying a predominantly online hard flooring specialist.

ScS, Britain's number two upholstery retailer, says its new financial year has started where the old one left off with orders up by more than half since the end of July.

The company that controls the Axminster Carpets manufacturing business has revised upwards the value of its investment properties after a series of successful planning applications.

Headlam Group says it will either sell or terminate the leases at four properties as Europe's largest flooring wholesaler consolidates more of its southeast England operations at its new Ipswich distribution centre.

Lancashire smooth floorcoverings supplier Havwoods says it has adjusted well to the Covid-19 situation but warns it could take a year and a half for revenue to be restored.

The mandated closure of its operations and customer base left Headlam Group, Europe's largest flooring wholesaler and owner of 67 autonomously-run business units, nursing a hefty deficit for the first half of the year.

Domotex, the international floorcoverings exhibition held annually every January, has postponed its next edition until May 2021.

Floorcoverings retail market leader Carpetright has expanded its network of concessions inside Furniture Village stores.

Local lockdowns impacted sales and eliminated profits for the carpet giant Balta in the first half of 2020 but the Belgian conglomerate still managed to generate cash.

United Carpets Group, the flooring and beds franchise retailer, says it has agreed a £2 million bank loan secured through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme (CBILS).

Designer Contracts, deVol Kitchens and the founder of a furniture comparison website are among those from the industry to be shortlisted for The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards U.K. 2020.

First half carpet imports into the U.K. are down by a third on the previous year after June saw an eighth consecutive year-on-year decline.

Flooring Superstore, the expanding retail fascia owned by Connection Flooring, will this weekend open its first store in the North West of England.

The growth of carpet imports into the U.K. has slowed after trade declined at the height of summer, new HMRC data shows.

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Tapi is now trading from nearly 130 stores.
Tapi Carpets & Floors, the expanding flooring chain run primarily by former Carpetright executives, posted a bigger loss in 2018 after costs increased and gross margin narrowed.

Biggest shareholder in Tapi now owns nearly a quarter of the company while others, such as DFS founder Lord Kirkham, have seen their stake diluted.

Brintons, the private equity backed Worcestershire carpet maker, is to scale down its yarn-spinning operation ahead of the facility's planned closure next spring.

ScS has refitted flooring departments across its estate as the sofas and carpets specialist looks to reverse sliding sales in the category amid intense competition from warring rivals.

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Karndean's Vale Park, Evesham showroom and headquarters.
Luxury vinyl tile floorcoverings supplier Karndean booked high, but narrower margins in 2018, a year when revenue continued to climb thanks to export orders.

Privately-owned carpet maker and distributor Cavalier Carpets continued to book high six-figure profits in 2018 after a slight uptick in output.

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Luxury vinyl tile (LVT) is one of the industry's big growth markets.
The U.K. was a big growth market as luxury vinyl tile giant Amtico bolstered sales and underlying profits in the year to December 31, 2018.

Heritage carpet maker Axminster Carpets will streamline operations at its Devon factory after announcing voluntary redundancies.

Antitrust regulators are examining the completed takeover of a £47 million carpet yarn spinner earlier this year to see if it contravenes U.K. competition rules.

Imports of carpets into the U.K. rose in July on the back of advancing trade between British buyers and markets such as China, Turkey and India.

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Tapi has well over 100 stores across the U.K.
Tapi Carpets and Floors, the circa 130-store retail chain built by a former executive of market leader Carpetright and backed by high-profile retail titans, has raised more funding from shareholders.

Associated Weavers, the Belgian carpet manufacturing giant, said it allocated significant funds to its entry into the luxury vinyl tile (LVT) sector in the U.K. market this year.

The largest U.K. distribution arm of Mohawk Industries, the world's biggest floorcoverings company, booked higher profits after sales growth outgunned the impact of narrower margins.

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Angie Cresswell has spent 20 years with Designer Contracts. She is pictured above receiving an engraved iPad Pro with md Peter Kelsey.
Designer Contracts, the 15-depot national floorcoverings contractor, has marked the long service of dozens of employees with special recognition awards.

Half-year sales advanced for Headlam Group but interim profits were broadly flat after the floorcoverings giant, the biggest company of its type in Europe, faced up to cost headwinds.

Croydon 01
Carpetright is the U.K.'s biggest floorcoverings retailer.
Carpetright shareholder Meditor Capital Management has agreed to acquire the retailer's revolving credit facility (RCF) direct from its current lending banks, NatWest and AIB.

One of the U.K.'s biggest rug and floormat suppliers said the downsizing of home improvement chain Homebase had a negative impact on sales last year.

Melrose Interiors, one of the country's largest independent rug suppliers, closed out a seven-figure property sale this summer after earlier completing a "landmark relocation."

Revenue and profit growth returned for Westex last year, as the West Yorkshire carpet maker — part of the flooring conglomerate Victoria for nearly six years — delivered a best-in-class performance.

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The Lebus Dakota range, which includes Springbond.
The manufacturer behind Springbond, an eco-engineered material used as carpet underlay, has diversified into the upholstery sector after agreeing a supply partnership with Lebus.

A lack of confidence in the marketplace led to sales below expectations for one of the country's largest hardwood floorcoverings suppliers last year, but it said competitors were also struggling.

Distributor and manufacturer Victoria has bolstered its roster of ceramic floorcoverings businesses with the acquisition of Spanish tile company Ibero in a deal worth up to an estimated £14 million.

The privately-owned company that owns regional carpets, floorcoverings and beds retailer Wilsons has posted double-digit sales growth for at least the fifth straight year.

onlineCarpetsFW
OnlineCarpets.co.uk is one of several websites run by the company.
The company behind the OnlineCarpets.co.uk ecommerce store has publicly-disclosed revenue for the first time in accounts that underscore the flooring category's potential on the Internet.

Headlam, Europe's largest floorcoverings distributor, is this week hosting a sod-cutting ceremony at its long-planned 190,000sqft distribution centre in Suffolk.

Higher costs and impairment charges meant flooring and beds retailer United Carpets Group booked lower profits in 2018–19, despite recording higher revenue.

Designer Contracts, the multi-depot national floorcoverings supplier, has promoted five executives across the business including naming Lee Hassett as divisional director.

Acquisitive floorcoverings manufacturer and distributor Victoria successfully placed £330 million of senior secured notes with bond investors Friday, revealing the pricing for the first time.

Flooring manufacturer and distributor Victoria is dusting off previously-jettisoned plans to launch a corporate bond, following through on comments made last week when it released its full year results.

An aborted financing exercise that left Victoria's chairman angered by onlookers with "less than pure" motives cost the acquisitive floorcoverings group a high seven-figure sum in wasted fees.

Balta, the Belgian floorcoverings manufacturing group whose U.K. and Ireland sales number well over £100 million, has named the new head of its carpet production business.

The Archwood home improvement group, owner of flooring business Atkinson & Kirby and other timber products businesses, incurred a further loss in 2017–18 after revenue fell and costs increased.

Danzer, the €202 million turnover decorative hardwood supplier that lists manufacturers of floorcoverings and furniture among its clientele, is to close one of its European factories.

Floorcoverings wholesaler Valley Carpets built cash and sales in the year to September 30, 2018 as it capitalised on its enlarged warehousing capability. Profits declined.

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Cormar's new Hemel Hempstead distribution centre spans 130,000sqft.
Sales jumped in high single-digits for Bury carpet maker Cormar in 2017–18 with the company controlling costs to return to bottom line growth.

Sales pass £13m for Northern Ireland headquartered carpet and floorcoverings distributor.

The West Yorkshire company behind the Burmatex carpets business has warned half-year profits will be lower than last year after a weak second quarter.

CarpetrightGuildford
Carpetright sells beds in nearly 200 stores, making it one of the biggest sellers of mattresses in the U.K.
Bed sales dropped more than a quarter as the category proved troublesome for the recovering Carpetright retail chain in 2018–19.

The downsizing at floorcoverings chain Carpetright hasn't diminished its market leadership says the retailer's CEO as the company disclosed full year 2018–19 results.

Lawton Yarns, the £37 million turnover carpet yarn spinner whose products are used by a range of U.K. floorcoverings manufacturers, has been sold in a prepack deal.



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