Europe’s foremost stamped concrete floor company has strengthened its position with the takeover of important production facilities in England

Within the span of a single decade the young Veneto-based company Ideal Work has firmly established itself on the Italian building materials market by offering innovative solutions for concrete floors and practically inventing a market niche that is seeing constant growth both in terms of turnover and supply of products. Product quality and in particular service customization lie behind the success of Ideal Work, which considers each job unique and to be completed in the best way possible. An impressive portfolio of prestige works in Italy and abroad is clear proof of this.
Back in 2006, when the Englishman John Anderson - a true talent in the stamped concrete sector - came to Treviso to take charge of foreign technical-sales relations, it was already obvious that the company was not limiting its activity to just the home market. It already had to its credit many works in France, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Ireland, Sweden, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Rumania, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria and Cuba (residential and hotel complexes, shopping centres and public parks, urban pedestrian areas, holiday and university centres, zoos and spa resorts). The numbers must have grown since then in view of the recent decision to take over an English company that has been producing stamped floors for over twenty years and is well-known by local floor layers.
With an annual turnover of approx. 1.5 million euro - which Ideal Work intends doubling in the first three-year period – the English company should act as a springboard for the entire north European market, which was hitherto out of the question for the Treviso company because of the high costs connected in particular with transportation of the material.
The investment plan envisages a step-by-step takeover with the acquisition of 75% of the shareholding by 2011. From a logistics point of view the English product range will be integrated with the Ideal Work products (acid-etched floors, SassoItalia, stamped walls…) and the size of the English facilities will be doubled: the existing buildings will house the offices and the warehouses plus a Permanent Floor Laying School and a showroom, while the entire production will be moved into new buildings.
“We had been seeking a foreign partner who could help us expand on the international market for some time” explains Luca Seminati, Managing Director of Ideal Work “and this opportunity in England seemed to us truly too good to miss. Apart from the fact that at the moment the English market is particularly eager for new technologies and solutions, the terrain is exceptionally fertile for our type of supply: exclusive services where the quality and customization of the product are must-haves. Proof of this can be seen in the enthusiastic response to our proposal to set up a Permanent Floor Laying School, with Italian and American teachers who will not only have to convey the basics of the technique, but also build up a truly new specialization. Our investment is not just economic; we intend achieving as quickly as possible a close working relationship with our new English colleagues that will allow us to work synergically on two fronts as if it were one, applying the same philosophy and the same enthusiasm that has “brought us success” in Italy. That is why we have already prepared an intense exchange programme with courses in Treviso for the British technicians”.
For Ideal Work the acquisition of the English branch does not mean just setting a well-clad foot in English territory, but represents a springboard for the whole North European market, mainly Sweden, Norway and Ireland, with a potential market estimate of 25 million euro. “We already had various contacts in Nordic countries, but the high transport costs made them unmanageable. It’s a completely different story with a place of business in England, also with regard to our established American suppliers who, through us, can now access both the South and the North European markets.”
The person in charge of the British branch will be John Anderson. This Englishman was very young when he started working with stamped floor gurus, taking part in carrying out prestigious works worldwide. He also worked for Scofield, the world’s foremost company in the sector, as project manager and instructor at installer courses and also for Brickform, the leading Californian company in the production of tools/stencils for stamped floors. He has been working since 2006 with Ideal Work as technical-sales manager for foreign countries.