Inspiring Business by Sharing Success

Second Covid-19 lockdown means flooring supplier braced for record sales

Second Covid-19 lockdown means flooring supplier braced for record sales

Factory Direct Flooring’s sales show strength in market as households go back into pre-Christmas lockdown

The head of one of the UK’s biggest online flooring retailers, Factory Direct Flooring, has said they are braced for one of their busiest months in business ever as households once again return to lockdown.

Paul Hambidge, founder and managing director of the East Midlands based company, has predicted that November will show a 70% increase in business to last year, based on the last quarter of trading in 2020.

MD Paul Hambidge said they were bracing themselves for the busiest month on record

This has followed a 50% increase in October and September trading, with profits looking to exceed half a year's business from 2019 in just three months alone.

“From September to now is historically the busiest months for us anyway, but this is almost off the scale in terms of sales, which is just incredible for us all. And most importantly, it has meant I’ve been able to keep our entire workforce working for the last four months, when I know a lot of other businesses are unfortunately struggling due to the Covid-19 crisis,” he said.

Mr Hambidge has added to cope with demand, they have doubled their stock levels from around the globe to their Nuneaton warehouse due to the unprecedented demand in flooring products within the UK.

Demand is mainly from householders wanting to ‘do it themselves’ when it comes to home renovations, and has been highest for laminate flooring and their new herringbone click vinyl flooring that launched just six weeks ago, which Mr Hambidge said was ‘flying’ off the shelves.

“To put it in perspective, we used to have two trucks a week coming into the UK with laminate flooring, but currently that now stands at around seven a week. And with our new herringbone flooring, we have nearly sold out and have thousands of metres on order from customers across the UK. It really is incredible and people are looking to transform their whole homes, literally from the floor up on the run up to Christmas, and while some people have a bit more unscheduled time on their hands,” he said.

Mr Hambidge said his team were working ‘flat out’ to keep up with demand alongside his suppliers, to make sure materials got to customers on time and before the festive season begins.

Factory Direct Flooring, which has been running alongside its sister company Carpet World, for 32 years, has a retail store in Hinckley (which is currently closed in line with government guidelines) and warehouses in Nuneaton. As a result of such growth over the past year-and-a-half, increased its warehouse storage size to 20,000 square foot to keep up with orders.

Factory Direct Flooring supplies wood, vinyl and laminate flooring to retailers, commercial sites and residential customers throughout the UK.

For more details, visit www.factory-direct-flooring.co.uk


< Back