Page 28 - History-of-flooringLR

B&Y Timeline Lightbox PRINT.pdf 1 07/09/2021 11:49
B&Y Timeline Lightbox PRINT.pdf 1 07/09/2021 11:49
A history iN flOorinG The innovators
By 1995 Ball & Young were ready to launch their industry
a game changer for the sector. The underlay is made from foam
by Ball and Young pioneering product, Cloud 9 – the revolutionary underlay that was
trim offcuts, shredded and rebonded into new foam underlay and
Founded in 1983 by Martin Ball and Jim Young, Ball and Young, is was the start of Ball & Youngs long history of working sustainably.
based at Corby Enterprise Zone, located here after the Unveiled at the NEC Birmingham, Cloud 9 went on to win the
redevelopment of the area.
award Best New Product in the Marketplace!
Ball & Young, part of The Vita Group, has now been at the
vanguard of innovation within the flooring market for almost 40 The start of the circular economy
years. The company originally launched with The Royal Leaders Cloud 9 underlay by Ball & Young truly is sustainability in action.
Collection; a High-Quality Rubber Sponge Collection of underlays. The concept of preventing unwanted trim and offcuts from
The success of The Royal Leaders Collection saw the company’s Furniture, Mattress Manufacturing and Automotive industries,
which would ordinarily have been sent to Landfill, being recycled
reputation for excellence grow, and the Ball & Young name and repurposed into carpet underlay.
became synonymous in the marketplace for quality products and
reliable service.
100% of the trim generated within The Vita Group, is re-used and
From its inception the company continued to grow both in sales re-purposed, including the trim from Vita Group customers –
and reputation, which brought it to the attention of British Vita, which we call the ‘take-back off-cut initiative’. This means that
who saw the opportunity to diversify their product portfolio. In Vita is a net consumer of trim and stops 20Kt of trim foam going
1989 Ball & Young was purchased by the worldwide foam and to landfill each year. Over 250Kt of foam trim has been diverted
fibre giant. from landfill to date.

28 The History of Flooring