Name: Richard Forbes
Age: 48
Company: Forbes Flooring
Job Title: Owner
How did you get into the flooring industry?
Straight out of school at just 15 years old (my birthday is in August) I joined one of the government’s youth training schemes in floor laying. I’ve been using the yellow buckets ever since.
Personally, I believe we need to bring the youth training schemes back; flooring as a trade young people can get into wasn’t well known back then and that’s still the case today. I think the government could do more to help with apprenticeships to help encourage new blood into the trade; big companies get help with wage schemes, but smaller businesses don’t really get the support.
What’s been the biggest change in the industry over the years?
Years ago, there was a lot of respect for products as people paid for quality. Now, it’s more a case of getting the floor down as cheaply as possible. And you know what they say: pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
It’s nice to see the training standards that are about now; we send our team on F. Ball’s courses – we do still have to explain to them when they return there can be a bit more to it in terms of the size of jobs.
Looking forward, what do you think will be the biggest change in the next five years?
There’s definitely more demand for sustainable products and ways of working. For example, we recently completed a job in a Scout’s hall with a zero-carbon brief. It’s great that businesses are committing to budgets for projects with these specifications.
As such, we like working with Interface products as they’re carbon neutral certified. We also reuse F. Ball’s yellow buckets where we can, or recycle them using the buckets and bottles recycling scheme.
Also, it’s sad to say I think we’ll lose our smaller retail stores. People visit for their expertise, then walk outside and go on their phone to buy the products at a cheaper price online. It’s always worth paying a bit more to support the independents and smaller businesses.
What’s the best job you’ve been on?
We did a warehouse for Porsche recently. Every Porsche that comes into the country leaves the warehouse for a showroom by driving over a floor we’ve installed.
And what’s the worst?
I’d say some of the care sector jobs we’ve done, particularly working in dementia units late at night whilst other areas of the building are open.
Do you have a go-to product for certain jobs?
I’ve been picking Styccobond F3 adhesive off the shelves since I was 15. I know that F. Ball spends millions on research and development to produce quality products, so even though wholesalers push something different every week, it’s always F. Ball product that leaves in the van.
What do you like best about the job?
I’m fortunate to have a great team around me who understand the importance of putting in a good day’s work.
What is your least favourite thing about the job?
As things have tightened up, the high-end market is slipping away – people don’t want to pay £4-5,000 on a floor. They literally have their mouth open when they’re told how much a herringbone floor costs!