Kidderminster, UK, Aug. 25--The UK carpet industry--centered on the West Midlands--has launched a £1 million advertising campaign to attempt to stem a massive fall in demand for its products, according to the Birmingham Post.
The move came after Carpets International, one of the industry’s leaders whose carpets have found their way into Buckingham Palace, crashed into administration putting the jobs of 1,200 employees at seven factories throughout the UK at risk.
Britain’s obsession with home improvements has led to a massive fall in demand for carpet as owners switch to “trendy” fake wood flooring, industry leaders claim.
Sales of laminate flooring have soared as people try to recreate the minimalist look often featured in magazines and on DIY television shows.
The trend has hit carpet manufacturers, particularly in the UK which is already having to compete with cheap imports.
The Kidderminster-based Carpet Foundation, which represents the country’s leading carpet manufacturers, says that demand has been falling for at least a decade.
In 2001, 197 million square meters of carpet was sold in the UK compared with 212 million square meters in 1990.
At the same time there has been a big increase in demand for “smooth” flooring, of which around 70 percent is laminate.
In 1990, 22.8 million square metres of smooth flooring worth £98.8 million was sold in the UK. By 2001, this had risen to
59.9 million square meters with a retail value of £393.3 million.
About 65 percent of carpet now sold in the UK is imported compared with virtually none in 1970.
As result, the number of people employed in carpet making in the UK has gone from 45,000 to 7,500 over the same period.
“The irony is that British carpet is the best in the world,” said Mike Hardiman, chief executive of The Carpet Foundation. “If you arrive at Hong Kong airport or when you go on the QEII you will be walking on British-made carpets.”
While exports have risen, manufacturers are keen to use the new campaign to target British householders.
Hardiman said, “There is no question that over the last ten years there has been a move towards more smooth flooring.
“This has been driven by a lot of imported, cheaper laminated products which is sold through DIY chains and is seen as trendy.”
The new advertising campaign, which starts on September 16, uses the “come back to carpet” slogan.
“Carpets are not thought of as a contemporary product but from a practical point of view it cannot be beaten for luxury, comfort, warmth and noise,” said Hardiman.
Meanwhile, the Foundation believes that there is a good chance that the £120 million-a-year Carpets International business, based at Bradford, can be saved.
Potential buyers have already been identified for the company’s two factories in County Down, Northern Ireland, according to administrator Garth Calow of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Belfast.
“We will be advertising the Carpets International business for sale--collectively or as individual plants--and are hopeful of generating interest in some or all of the manufacturing operations,” Calow said.
“We have had preliminary approaches from several interested parties but have yet to establish where these might lead.”
