Pioneering Underlay Manufacturer | John Cooper

says John. “We are focused on providing our customers with better products, better brands and better service.  We are reliable, focused on product quality, and offer a wide range of instore support.”

According to John, Interfloors extensive range of high-quality underlays enhances the performance of the flooring in any home. With a carpet, it’s the underlay not the carpet that gives the comfort and warmth underfoot, and it’s the underlay that extends the life of the carpet by absorbing a lot of the shocks and pressure and so protects the carpet. The underlay also helps to absorb both in-room and between-room sound, and by acting as a barrier to embedded dirt it helps preserve the carpet pile making it easier to clean and more hygienic. High tog ratings are of course excellent for helping to keep heating c

down, but for underfloor heating a low tog rating is required so as the heat can easily migrate through the carpet and into the room. “We make specific underlays that have a low tag rating but a good comfort level, so the room can be warm but also feel great underfoot,” explains John.

With hard flooring (laminate, Luxury Vinyl Tile, solid wood) it’s obviously less about comfort and all about acoustics, moisture control, and ease of installation. Also, with more and more houses and apartments across Europe having underfloor heating and some form of hard flooring installed, John and his team have developed specific underlays to meet that need. Acoustic performance is becoming increasingly important due to tougher and tougher regulations covering building construction and managing sound transfer within rooms, and more importantly between rooms and between floors. “To help here we have partnered with an outstanding acoustics company in Sweden called Aprobo to develop products that are not for laying down post-construction but are actually specially designed for installing within the construction itself,” says John.

But with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a major shift in the market as domestic retail stores closed and construction faltered, and John had to think fast to best safeguard his people and the cash flow whilst managing an ever-changing global picture. With early signs of lockdown easing in the UK, the company restarted production way ahead of their main competitors and quickly got up to full speed, to the point where at the end of July they were at maximum capacity and with a full order book through to Xmas! “A lot of work went in to ensuring we had a safe working environment for our people who responded magnificently with over 98% returning to work within 24-48hrs of being asked, and we also ensured to maintain regular positive communication,” adds John.

For the days to come, John’s immediate focus is on increasing investment in order to grow manufacturing capacity to improve service across the year, as well as increasing warehousing space so as to increase raw material stocks in order to cope with likely supply chain disruption as we head towards Brexit. “Interfloor has won ‘Best Underlay Manufacturer’ for the second year in a row which reflects on how the team has worked  diligently to ensure customers receive the high quality of products and high standard of service they have come to expect from us, regardless of what the world throws at us,” says John proudly..