Floorsight™ apprentice profile: Josh Pearson

Earlier this year, F. Ball launched the Floorsight™ apprenticeship programme, in partnership with the Flooring Industry Training Association (FITA) and WEBS training. Established to create career pathways in flooring, the initiative involves training at the F. Ball Centre of Excellence, with the first cohort enrolling in September. In this new series for F-Talk, we get to know some of the young people set to be the future of flooring.

In this issue, we speak to Josh Pearson (20) of Midas Floors in Birmingham.

Editor: The apprentices enrolled on Floorsight™ have varying levels of experience, with some completely new to the industry and others having worked in the trade for a year or more. Can you tell us how long you’ve been in flooring and what you’ve been doing so far?

Josh: I’ve been [at Midas Floors] for two years now, learning the business, including carpet, tiling and different ways of doing things. It’s mostly commercial, in universities and NHS buildings, schools and offices, for example.

Editor: What attracted you to a career in flooring?

Josh: I began doing one day a week while playing rugby at an academy. My sister knew one of the owners of the business, and I saw the position advertised on Facebook.

Editor: What do you see as the benefits of a flooring apprenticeship?

Josh: I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn the right way of using products. I suggested it to my boss because we use F. Ball products, and he was supportive.

Editor: What aspects of the apprenticeship and your day-to-day work do you enjoy the most?

Josh: It’s busy, and I would get bored working at a desk. It’s nice to see the finished result – it’s very satisfying. I’m enjoying the training being really hands-on and demonstrations explaining why we do things a certain way.

Editor: What do you find challenging?

Josh: There’s lots of skills to learn and perfect. I’m new to applying smoothing compounds, so that’s a learning curve.

Editor: Finally, what do you get up to when you’re not installing carpet tiles or at the F. Ball Centre of Excellence?

Josh: I enjoy playing golf. I’ve not been doing it for very long, but I’m slowly getting better.