Flooring Industry News November 2020

HOME INSTALLATIONS OK IN NEW LOCKDOWN

It appears that flooring installers can continue to work in consumers’ homes according to the implications of the latest comment by Government minister George Eustice.

Speaking on BBC News today, November 2, Mr Eustice was asked if tradespeople could work in a private home and replied: “In the  case of people going into other people’s homes and who can’t work from home, which is the case with plumbers and electricians, then yes they can go into people’s homes provided that person is not self-isolating.”

This is an extract of an article that appears on The Stocklists website. The article also has links to a guide to regarding Covid secure installations produced by the National Institute of Carpet and Floorlayers

FURNISHING SALES STILL DRIVING AHEAD

Furniture and flooring continue to be among the brightest sectors in retailing with 20% growth in pre-lockdown October.

The last data from Barclaycard showed spending growth of 19.4% for the sector – a strong performance given that overall spending on all non-essential spending fell from growth of 0.6% in September to a decline of 1.7% in October.

This is an extract of an article that appears on The Stocklists website.

SELF-EMPLOYED COMMUNITY SHRINKS BY 500,000 AS SMALL FIRMS CALL FOR ACTION

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) issued a press release on 10/11/20 responding to the latest figures on self-employment across the UK. The full press release can be found on the FSB website but we have included a small extract:

FSB RESPONDS TO LATEST FIGURES ON SELF-EMPLOYMENT ACROSS THE UK.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the number of self-employed people in the UK has fallen to 4.5 million, down from 5.0 million at this time last year. The number of people who changed from reporting themselves as self-employed to an employee was 277,000 in Q3 of this year, the highest level since records began.

Responding to the new figures, FSB National Chairman Mike Cherry, said: “Our self-employed community was fundamental to our recovery from the last recession. If we want it to play that same role again, policymakers must do more to support it.”

ENTRIES OPEN FOR FLOORING AWARDS 2021

Entries are open for the CFJ/CFA Awards.  With installations affected by Covid-19, CFJ has extended the timescale for entries. Anyone who has completed an installation between January 2019-December 2020 will be eligible to enter for the 2021 awards.

The Rev Richard Coles has been announced as the presenter of the 2021 awards which will be held at Coombe Abbey on Friday 3 September 2021.

Our October news round-up has more details and the entry form can be found on the Contract Flooring Journal website.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 18/11/20

The Contract Flooring Association posted a blog summarising the latest Government guidance for the contract flooring sector as it stood on 18/11/20

GUIDE TO SUSTAINABILITY BY THE CONTRACT FLOORING ASSOCIATION

The CFA’s report runs to almost 100 pages and details the flooring industry’s definitive source for the latest information about sustainability.

Richard Catt, chief executive of the CFA: “The theme of this year’s CFA Guide is sustainability through the supply chain. CFJ has spoken to a range of companies and individual representatives of the sector, to understand how they work with the rest of the supply chain to develop and deliver sustainable flooring solutions.”

The report has been published as a PDF on the CTA’s website and can be found on this link.

FURTHER READING

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