Member Article

Midlands-based online retailer scoops major national award

A fast-growing online flooring retailer, which is based in the Midlands, has scooped a major national award recognising outstanding business growth.

UK Flooring Direct, which is based in Hinkley and Coventry, picked up the Business Expansion Award at the DIY Week Awards, a major recognition in the home improvement sector.

Founder and CEO Jason Ashby, who established the firm 2005 with a £299 investment in the website, said the success reflected the drive and dedication of their staff team. He said: “The last year, from a work point of view, has been very testing for everyone, but the fact that we were able to continue to drive the business and invest, really is a testament to the team we have.

“Like all businesses we had to flex very quickly and, while we had to keep some staff on site to keep the orders rolling out to customers, the majority of staff worked from home with no disruption to our operations.

“That was no small achievement but everyone pulled together and we kept our focus on maintaining our high-levels of customer service and the quality of our products. “This award reflects the efforts of everyone in the business that no only helped us to survive the past year but to continue with our rapid growth.”

Lockdown also affected customer choices and UK Flooring Direct shifted emphasis towards products that were more suited DIY because of the issues of tradespeople going into people’s homes.

UK Flooring Direct took 1,400 orders on Black Friday alone, up 87 per cent on the same time last year, with orders up across the week by 81 per cent on the same period in 2019. The company sold a square metre of flooring every two-and-a-half seconds on Black Friday as it reached 38,400 square metres sold by midnight.

Across the past 12 months overall, 138,280 orders were taken in every corner of the country, resulting in 2,792,327 square metres sold – which is almost double the figure for 2018.

That meant the company achieved its best ever financial performance of £54.39 million turnover and is set to grow that again in 2021.

The company’s growth also meant it needed to expand its footprint and, in October 2020, it took on a 54,000 sq ft unit on Prologis Park in the north of Coventry, West Midlands, to complement its headquarters in Hinckley, creating around 50 new jobs.

Ashby added: “We have never been a company which rests on our laurels and there are some very exciting developments down the line which will see us expand further, creating more jobs and boosting the regional economy.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .