When Kevin joined F. Ball almost three years ago, he spoke very highly of the company’s reputation in Ireland. We’re keen to find out if his experience, so far, has lived up to his perception of the company throughout the Emerald Isle.
“It certainly makes your job a lot easier when you’re working with good quality products that work,” Kevin laughs. “F. Ball is a strong brand, and we keep the customers happy. And when the customers are happy, that makes me happy. And that’s really what I’m here for.”
A resounding testimony is always welcome. Tell us, Kevin, what’s it like having a place like Ireland as your office?
“There’s a lot of driving involved. It’s such a big area, covering both Northern Ireland and the Republic. It is beautiful, though. It’s a support and technical role, so I can also be on the laptop one day, on a site visit the next, writing a technical specification, or answering difficult questions posed by architects.
“As the technical rep here in Ireland, I’m liaising with wholesalers, doing site visits for contractors, and doing underlayment and adhesive specifications for architects. I am very fortunate to have Alan Gormley in the Ireland F. Ball team; he leads training courses for contractors, wholesalers and retailers on site or at the Irish Flooring Academy in Athy. Alan also looks after all the technical support needed by our flooring contractors on site.”
Sounds like it’s all ticking along nicely. How do things differ from England, Scotland and Wales?
“I find that there are just as many jobs in rural areas as there are in the cities and much like Great Britain, the market is very competitive, and so contractors demand the best products – and service – to help them get the jobs done. I’ve had previous experience working in similar roles in the sector, so I know it very well.
“The market is very good at the moment – the construction industry appears to be weathering the economic turmoil quite well and that bodes well for us; there are lots of sizeable projects that need flooring. As they say, if your clients are doing well, then you’ll be doing well, too.”
What sort of priorities and ambitions do you have for the Irish markets?
“Naturally, we want to keep supporting business, build relationships and look after both the contractors and wholesalers. Quite often, we provide a lot of advice to wholesalers and then they pass this on to their fitters.
“On the retail side of the business, we’re also keen to look after them and get the F. Ball name out there, too. There’s a lot of large retailers with substantial commercial projects and, of course, we can’t forget about the smaller businesses. We can’t go knocking on every single one of their doors, so we support the wholesalers’ reps and go in via that way.”
That sounds fair enough – you’re only human! What would you say is the best part of your job? What do you enjoy most about it?
“I’ve been doing this role for over 15 years, and I can genuinely say that every day really is different. You get to know contractors and fitters and they become your friends.
“Everyone knows that F. Ball is a great company to work with, and they’re very supportive. I’m also enjoying having more of a focus on soft flooring, it’s great to concentrate on one part of the flooring industry. My professional background is in soft flooring, ceramics, adhesives, silicones, coatings, those types of products.”
We always ask what our colleagues favourite F. Ball products are – go for it.
“Styccobond F58 PLUS is doing really well over here; I really like it, and it’s taking market share.
“For the powders, Stopgap 1200 Pro is very popular and it’s still growing in popularity; the new Stopgap 1500 AquaPro smoothing underlayment is enjoying some good initial feedback from contractors as people are trying it for the first time.
“Also, Stopgap P141 acrylic primer drying from 15 minutes is something the contractors find to be very helpful.”