Around 20% of the exhibitors at this year’s National Floor Show in Harrogate were from the timber or laminate flooring industry.
Show organiser David Wildman said visitors to the show numbered just over 4,500 for the three days – around the same as last year, adding: ‘There is a saturation point.’
He said laminate flooring has ‘gone meteoric’ compared to what it was and added: ‘But we would still like to see more wood which we feel is the next expansion area for us. We had a few wood floor manufacturers this time, but we would like to see some of the key ones.’
Mr Wildman said that laminate flooring had become so ‘cheap and cheerful’ that it sometimes costs more to get someone in to fit it than it does to buy it.
This year 24 timber floor manufacturers exhibited compared with only eight or nine last year. Mr Wildman said: ‘They also represented a better cross-section.’
The laminate flooring sector saw around 40 companies exhibiting and Mr Wildman said: ‘I don’t know whether that sector will continue to grow – but I am certain the wood sector will.’
The National Floor Show has been sold to CMP Information Ltd, a move which Mr Wildman said would enable the event to continue its growth within the floorcovering industry. He will stay with the shows and said: ‘We always knew that at a certain stage of its growth the company would need the help and support of a larger company.
‘We are very proud of what we have achieved with our limited resources but are excited for the future growth of the trade shows that we run.’
