P Plunkett Tiling Contractors was established in 1975 in the North East and, in the intervening years, has grown and now has a nationwide commitment undertaking contracts throughout Great Britain for all the major contractors and numerous
prestigious clients.
Mark Forster, commercial director says, “The company was started by Mr Plunkett as a local tiling contractor but, over the years, we have widened our fields of expertise and now we receive enquiries for many of the prestigious and quality led projects throughout the UK. Today, we are one of the leading specialist tiling contractors in the industry with an outstanding reputation for quality of work and dependability, governed by our ISO 9001-2008 Certification for Quality Assurance, which we first achieved in February 1992.”
“As an example of the quality of work we now undertake, we recently completed both the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, with 3000M² of limestone and basalt and 1000M² of ceramic tiling between them, in two of the most prestigious and historically important tourist attractions in the city. We have also completed other award winning projects such as Alnwick Garden Pavilion, Rockliffe Hall and nPower’s UK Headquarters as well as the more recent North Tyneside Police Command HQ and the Cathedral Church of St Mary’s, Newcastle.”
“Our early field of expertise was always retail, but now not only are we known for supermarkets such as Safeway and ASDA, but more challenging and prestigious clients such as Marks & Spencer, Fenwick of Newcastle, and Debenhams. 2010 saw us complete the final phase of the re-tiling of Europe’s largest indoor shopping centre, the Metro Centre in Gateshead, where over 30,000M² of limestone has been laid by us. We have also completed other major retail projects such as the redevelopment of Eldon Square Shopping Centre, Newcastle and Washington Galleries, as well as tiling to the new M&S store at Stratford, the largest tiling package that they have ever let.”
“One of our strongest areas of expertise is now the leisure market, particularly swimming pool developments. Over the last two years alone we have completed 13 swimming pool developments between Tyneside and Nottingham. We are currently on-site in Matlock, Derbyshire and recently completed projects in Gateshead and on Teesside. Arguably our most prestigious pool development would be Sunderland Aquatic Centre, which houses the only 50M pool between Edinburgh and Leeds”
Possibly the most unusual project that the company has undertaken in recent years is the floor tiling that is part of the refurbishment of the Cathedral Church of St Mary in Newcastle. The work, carried out over four phases, required over 700m² of encaustic floor tiles. This is the largest encaustic tiled floor carried out in the UK for many years, with neither of the two remaining UK encaustic tile manufacturers having done such a size project in living memory. The tile manufacturer has been producing these hand-made tiles for 130 years and the designs for some date back 1300 years. Each encaustic tile is individually hand pressed, the variation in tone and colour reflecting the traditional methods used in their production. There are over 70 different detailed tiles and many of the moulds for the tiles were produced specifically for this project.
Plunkett’s employ 50 Tyneside based craftsmen, the largest directly employed tiling squad in the UK, and have a proud fifteen year history of taking apprentices from the local area as part of their Investor in People training programme. The scheme has been such a success that over 33% of the skilled workforce have come through the training programme. A number of apprentices over the years have won national awards, benefiting from the training and investment in them by Plunkett’s. Adding to that heritage, this year one apprentice picked up The Tile Association award for national “Trainee of the Year”, having previously made the final of the National Skillbuild competition two years running, and only narrowly missed out on representing Great Britain in the World Skills competition.
Always seeking to develop long term relationships with clients, Plunketts have thrived on the trust and loyalty that comes from producing quality work and exceptional service to their clients. They have grown strong on a backbone of repeat business from clients keen to re-engage them for their expertise and reliable performance. Modern practices have seen them become formerly engaged in partnership agreements with major contractors and they have also sought and achieved compliance with such new prequalification bodies as Constructionline and Chas, which give potential and existing clients confidence in the quality and integrity of their Health & Safety declarations and other important client parameters. Mark further commented “This proactive approach to the importance of the client has helped us during the recent construction industry crisis when, against all industry trends, we have maintained our directly employed workforce in tact and secured enough work to increase our turnover, even with much tighter pricing and lower margins. Confidence from clients in our ability to perform, despite the financial limitations, and in our financial security to manage and complete their works, has put as at the top of many tender lists and allowed us to negotiate the securing of our clients’ most important and strategic projects.”
In April this year the company achieved national recognition for its outstanding work in commercial ceramic tiling, picking up three awards, including the prestigious “Excellence in Tile Contracting”, at the annual Tile Association Awards dinner, the industry’s premier honours scheme. Following on from those triple National Awards from the Tile Association, Plunkett Tiling also secured a win in the Constructing Excellence in the North East Awards 2011, held in May. These awards, Plunketts believe, demonstrate their commitment to maintaining their position as the top specialist tiling contractor in the UK.
For further information please telephone 01661 836960 or visit http://www.plunketttiling.co.uk
