Page 41 - CFJ_Jul26
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MANUFACTURERS Q&A


                                                                                     factory. This was done in a large housing
             Junckers flooring in West Hub, University of Cambridge
                                                                                     complex that was refurbished last
                                                                                     year. Instead of ripping the floors out
                                                                                     and treating them as waste, they were
                                                                                     refinished and reinstalled.

                                                                                     Q  How robust is your supply chain in
                                                                                     the face of global issues such as war?
                                                                                     A  As a company, we work with large,
                                                                                     global companies and contractors as
                                                                                     well as smaller projects. Even though the
                                                                                     square meterage can vary enormously,
                                                                                     all our customers have to be able to
                                                                                     put their trust in us. Due diligence and
                                                                                     financial checks alone aren’t enough. We
                                                                                     have robust practices in place to mitigate
                                                                                     against business disruption due to
                                                                                     geopolitical factors, over-reliance on raw
                                                                                     material sources, cyber security threats
                                                                                     and many other risks to avoid disruption
                                                                                     to our clients’ construction timelines.
                                                                                     Q  What flooring trends are you seeing
                                                                                     at the moment, and how do these
                                                                                     influence your product development?
             more they have to demonstrate using   all have to come together to counteract   A  More and more, we are asked about
             responsibly sourced and manufactured   the climate emergency we’re facing.  the sustainability and longevity of our
             products and materials and for schools                                  product. The two go hand-in-hand
             and public buildings new measurements   Q  What innovation can your clients   for specifiers and are intrinsically
             on embodied carbon are imminent.    expect from you in the future?      linked to securing funding for any
                                                 A  We think the ability to reuse,   public buildings. Another area that is
             Q  How important do you feel offering a
             bespoke and unique flooring solution is   repurpose and refurbish is more and   increasingly important to our customers
             to a business?                      more important. In the last few years,   is maintenance. You might not think of
             Clients, architects and designers invest   the architectural community and industry   maintaining floors as a trend but the
             their time and energies into creating   stakeholders have highlighted the   ability to refurbish to keep floors looking
             inspiring spaces for work, play and   importance of using our existing building   beautiful and performing well makes a
             rest. We are fortunate to be given the   stock – refurbishing and updating,   massive difference to the lifetime cost of
             opportunity to help them bring their   rather than demolishing and building   a floor.
             visions to reality. With solid hardwood   new as a major way to reduce carbon   Herringbone and patterned parquet floors
             floors, each floor is unique with the   emissions. This train of thought also   continue to be very popular and we’re
             natural look and feel inherent in timber,   relates to building materials. A product   seeing a growing preference for warmer
             including oak, ash, maple and beech.   and material that can be recycled, reused   colours – browns and warm natural
                                                 or repurposed contributes to a more   colours rather than greys. We’re launching
             Q  Is sustainability and ethical    circular economy and I believe, a more   a new unfinished Single Steve floor and
             manufacturing a key commitment to   responsible way of working.         several new colours in our Eco 2K Floor
             your business, and if so, why?       In the past few years, we’ve introduced   Oil this year. This is one of our most
              It is, and this is in fact nothing new   a Reuse Scheme which is proving very   popular finishing products. It can be used
             at Junckers. It’s the way the company   successful. We work with specialist   with or without a hardener and it can be
             has always worked. We’re absolutely   partners in the flooring industry to lift   over-coated with one of our water-based
             committed to providing a wholly     Junckers floors that need to be replaced   lacquers.
             sustainable product and work  hard to   that can be used as flooring in another   Q
             establish proven evidence that our floors   location or repurposed as a building    Where do you see the company in five
             are sourced and made in a sustainable,   material. You will have seen reclaimed   years?
             ethical way. On the world stage, we’ve   floors with old line marking paint   A  Approaching a century in business,
             signed up to the UN Global Compact   randomly placed across the floorboards   Junckers will continue to innovate.
             and Science Based Target initiatives and   – a very popular look in retail and   The continuing pressure on our world’s
             we have environmental management    hospitality settings, but a solid hardwood   natural resources will likely see greater
             systems covering the working        floor can be sanded back to bare wood   demand for sustainably produced, natural
             environment in place.               and refinished. This makes the floor look   building materials that reliably perform
              This is an area where we all have to   new again, it’s quite extraordinary.  throughout a buildings 60-year design
             take responsibility. It’s not enough to   In Denmark, our parent company has   life. I feel confident Junckers is well
             show a picture of a forest or branches of   even launched a service whereby floors   positioned to fulfil this need. 
             a tree on brochures or on a website – we   can be lifted and then refinished in the   www.junckers.co.uk


            www.contractflooringjournal.co.uk                                                                          41
            @CFJMagazine                                                                                    CFJ July 2026
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