Patchwork Flooring, a family-run business, has been named Tiling & Flooring Business of the Year at the local business awards. Established in 2017, it has grown from a small flooring business into a company with four retail locations across the Midlands, as well as a mobile showroom service and nationwide commercial flooring projects. Its original showroom is in Stourbridge, and it has recently expanded into Cousins Furniture stores in Dudley, Birmingham and Shrewsbury. Behind that growth are years of hard work, family commitment and a knowledge of the flooring trade that began long before Patchwork opened its doors.
For the owners, including Charlotte, the award is an emotional moment and a chance to look back on how far the business has come. It began with the aim of creating a trusted, independent flooring company and has grown into something much larger while keeping the family values it started with. However many places it now trades from, Patchwork still treats every customer and every project with the same care and attention that built its reputation.
From carpet fitter at 17 to a family flooring business
The story began years before 2017. One of the owners first entered the flooring industry as a carpet fitter at just 17, learning the trade from the ground up. Working directly with flooring products, customers and installations taught him what makes a job a success, and the importance of proper fitting, attention to detail and results customers can enjoy for years. From those early days he wanted to build an independent business, and after many years in the industry that happened when Patchwork was founded in 2017.
The vision was a family-run company offering quality flooring products, professional installation and honest advice. The personal side mattered to the owners: they wanted customers to feel they were dealing with people who understood flooring and cared about the finished result, not simply being steered towards a purchase. That hands-on experience still shapes how Patchwork works. Having been a fitter, the owner understands the practical considerations in choosing and installing different types of flooring, which helps customers make informed decisions about products and finishes. The business has since added new services and a wider customer base, but its aim is the same: dependable workmanship, competitive prices and a welcoming, personal service. For the family, seeing a long-held ambition become a recognised business has been incredibly rewarding.
Quality flooring and personal service
Patchwork combines practical industry knowledge with a focus on its customers. It supplies and professionally installs carpets and flooring for domestic and commercial customers, and with experienced installation teams and a broad range of products it aims to make choosing new flooring as straightforward as possible. For homeowners it can be a big decision. Different rooms have different needs, and customers often have to weigh appearance, durability, practicality and budget. Rather than giving everyone the same recommendation, the team takes time to understand what each customer is looking for and advises on that basis, drawing on its background in fitting and its knowledge of how products perform once they are down.
The business puts as much weight on the fitting as on the product. Supplying the right flooring is only part of the job, and professional installation is what makes the finished space look and feel the way the customer intended. That applies from single rooms in family homes to larger commercial installations, and consistent standards are central to the reputation the owners have worked to build. As the business expands, they are determined that customers should still get the same personal attention, honest advice and quality service that helped Patchwork grow in the first place.
From one showroom to four across the Midlands
One of the biggest milestones has been the recent expansion into three Cousins Furniture stores. Having started from its showroom in Stourbridge, Patchwork now also trades in Dudley, Birmingham and Shrewsbury, bringing it to four retail locations. For a family business established in 2017 that is a considerable achievement, and it brings the company's products and services to customers across a wider area. It is also the result of years spent developing the business, building its reputation and assembling a team able to support its growth.
For the owners, seeing the Patchwork name in three more stores means a great deal. They remember the early days and the uncertainty of setting something up independently, and running four showrooms is a milestone they had not necessarily imagined happening in quite this way. It is especially rewarding for Charlotte and her fellow owner, who have put considerable time and effort into the company, because it shows that something they built from scratch has become a recognised and trusted name in flooring. That brings pride and responsibility in equal measure. More locations mean more customers, more staff and more operational challenges, all of which have to be managed without weakening the service the business is known for. The team is now concentrating on developing the new locations, introducing flooring ranges and making sure customers have a consistently good experience in all four stores.
A mobile showroom
Alongside its shops, Patchwork has developed a mobile showroom service, and the introduction of its mobile showroom vans was an important milestone. Rather than asking every customer to visit a store, the service brings flooring samples and professional advice to their homes. Colours, textures and finishes can look different depending on a room's lighting and décor, so seeing samples in the space where the flooring will go helps people judge how a product will sit with their existing furniture and interior style. Customers get advice from people with practical flooring knowledge while looking at products in their own surroundings.
Choosing flooring is often part of a wider home improvement project, and finding time to visit showrooms can add one more job to a busy schedule. By taking the showroom to customers, Patchwork offers a convenient alternative without any drop in the quality of advice. The service has become an important part of what the company offers, alongside its four retail locations and experienced installation teams, and developing it further is one of the owners' ambitions. For them, it shows the business can adapt to what customers need while keeping the personal service it has always been built on.
The Patchwork Giorgio LVT range
Another milestone has been the company's own flooring collection, the Patchwork Giorgio LVT range. For a business that began by supplying and fitting flooring, a product range under its own name is a significant step. Luxury vinyl tile, commonly known as LVT, is one of the flooring types customers consider for their homes and properties, and the Giorgio range adds a new side to the business beyond its established retail and installation services. The owners find it especially rewarding because it shows how much the company has developed since 2017: from its first showroom to a wider retail presence, mobile services and now its own products, with each stage bringing different opportunities and challenges and requiring the team to keep learning and adapting.
Developing a range also depends on understanding customers and the wider flooring market, and years of practical experience have given the owners a good knowledge of the products people consider when choosing flooring. The Giorgio range is part of a wider plan to strengthen Patchwork's identity and broaden what it offers, and the business is keen to develop more Patchwork ranges and bring new products into its stores. For a family-run company that has grown considerably in a fairly short time, these are exciting opportunities, and a sign that it is still looking for ways to develop rather than relying only on the services that first made it successful.
A nationwide commercial flooring business
Patchwork's work extends well beyond domestic customers and local showrooms. It also carries out commercial flooring projects nationwide, supplying and installing flooring for businesses and organisations, and the growth of this side of the business has been another milestone for the owners. Commercial work brings different requirements from many domestic jobs: businesses may have particular operational needs, larger spaces or practical considerations that shape the products and installation approach. Experienced fitting teams and a strong understanding of the industry give Patchwork a basis for these projects, and its commercial work now includes projects for well-known businesses and brands across the country.
For the owners, being trusted with work beyond its home region is another sign of how far the business has come, and a chance to apply its knowledge and workmanship in a wider range of settings. It also adds responsibility. Coordinating projects, managing teams and keeping standards up across different locations takes organisation and a reliable workforce, and meeting those demands has been part of the company's development. The commercial side now runs alongside the four retail locations and the mobile showroom, giving the company a broad offering for different types of customer. The owners want to keep developing it while maintaining the professionalism and customer service behind its reputation, whether a job is a family home or a commercial property.
Managing rapid growth
The expansion has not been without its challenges. Growing from a small family-run flooring company into a business with four retail locations and nationwide commercial projects has required big changes, and managing that growth has been one of the hardest things the owners have faced. Expansion brings opportunities, but also extra financial responsibilities, staffing needs and operational pressure, and decisions that were once straightforward can become more complicated. In a family-run company those responsibilities feel personal. The owners have spent years building Patchwork, so its success is closely tied to their family and the people who work alongside them.
There have been difficult decisions and lessons learned through experience, and the owners do not pretend everything has always gone smoothly. They see challenges as a normal part of running and growing a business. The flooring industry is competitive, and a trusted reputation takes consistent work over time. Getting through difficult periods has taken determination, adaptability and a willingness to learn from mistakes, and a supportive family and reliable team have made an important difference. As the business has grown, the owners have increasingly seen the value of surrounding themselves with people who share their commitment to quality and customer service. Those experiences have shaped the company and reminded them why they started it, and whatever opportunities come along, the family values, personal service and pride in workmanship it began with remain a priority.
Supporting Stourbridge through difficult times
One of the most meaningful experiences for the business has been helping members of its local community after fires in Stourbridge, where Patchwork began and where the owners have built strong connections over the years. When properties were damaged, the business helped restore affected spaces by replacing and reinstalling damaged flooring. For the team, this was more than the usual job of supplying and fitting products. People whose property has been damaged can face serious disruption, and restoring their homes or workplaces is an important part of helping them move on. Patchwork was proud to contribute its specialist skills.
For the owners, seeing the effect of the fires on the community was particularly emotional, because having built the business in Stourbridge they felt a strong connection to the people and organisations affected. Helping with flooring replacement and installation gave them a practical way to contribute to the recovery. The experience confirmed their belief that running a local business involves more than providing a service in exchange for payment, and that it also means supporting people when they are going through hard times. For the family, being able to give something back to the community that has supported the business is an achievement worth celebrating.
Family values in the West Midlands
Despite its growing presence across the country, Patchwork remains closely tied to Stourbridge and the wider West Midlands. It is where the business began, where important customer relationships were formed and where it developed its identity as a family-run company. The owners are proud to be part of the region's strong history of independent businesses, practical skills and entrepreneurship, and they recognise what local customers, suppliers and tradespeople have contributed to the company's development. Supporting local employment and working with nearby businesses wherever possible are important parts of how Patchwork works.
The expansion into Dudley, Birmingham and Shrewsbury has brought the chance to get involved in more communities, build relationships with new customers and contribute to local employment and business activity. As a family-run company, Patchwork values the personal connections that grow out of everyday business, and sees customers as people whose trust has brought it to where it is rather than as transactions. The owners want to keep that outlook as the business grows, and hope to expand their community involvement in future. For the family, keeping their roots in Stourbridge while developing the business across the Midlands lets them celebrate growth without losing sight of where it began.
A proud moment
Being named Tiling & Flooring Business of the Year has been an emotional and rewarding moment for the owners, after years of hard work, personal commitment and the challenges of growing a family business. The news was greeted with real excitement. As the owners put it, “We were absolutely over the moon!”
For Charlotte and her fellow owner, the award was a chance to reflect on everything since 2017. Running a growing business usually means concentrating on what has to happen next, with customers to support, teams to manage, projects to deliver and new opportunities to pursue, and it is easy to overlook how much has already been achieved. The award gave them a rare moment to take stock, from the early days of setting up Patchwork to running four retail locations and building nationwide commercial work, all of it the result of years of effort from everyone involved. It has also come at an exciting time, just after the expansion into three Cousins Furniture stores, and gives them extra encouragement to keep developing the business while holding on to the standards that have supported its growth. They do not see the award as theirs alone, though, and are keen to recognise the whole Patchwork team, whose dedication and hard work have been essential throughout.
The team behind Patchwork's success
As the company has grown, so have the demands on its workforce. Opening new retail locations, managing more projects and adapting to the changing needs of the business have required a lot of flexibility from everyone. The owners are clear that expansion does not only create challenges for directors: it also affects employees, who have had to take on new responsibilities, learn different processes and keep service standards up through periods of change. Throughout the recent expansion, staff have shown commitment, patience and a willingness to work together.
For Charlotte and her fellow owner, having people prepared to support the business through busy and difficult periods means an enormous amount, and they know Patchwork could not have grown without the dedication of the people working alongside them. That gratitude extends across the retail, mobile showroom, installation and commercial teams, since every part of the business shapes what customers experience and the reputation the company is building. The award is a celebration of that collective effort and a chance to thank employees for embracing the changes growth has brought. The business is proud of the team it has built, wants to keep developing a place where people can contribute to its future, and sees strong relationships inside the company as just as important as lasting relationships with customers.
New flooring ranges and further growth
With four retail locations, a growing mobile showroom service and an expanding commercial division, Patchwork is looking ahead with considerable enthusiasm. The owners have ambitious plans, but their immediate focus is making the most of the recent expansion. Developing the three new Cousins Furniture locations in Dudley, Birmingham and Shrewsbury is a priority, with the aim of establishing strong operations across all four stores, introducing new flooring ranges and continuing to give customers the personal service they expect. Building and developing the workforce will be central to that, because experienced, reliable people are what keep standards consistent as a company expands.
Patchwork also plans to keep developing its mobile showroom, which has become an important part of the business, and to expand its own flooring ranges, building on the Patchwork Giorgio LVT collection and strengthening the company's identity. Nationwide commercial work is another part of its plans, and having built relationships with commercial customers across the country, the business is keen to grow that side further. The long-term ambition is to become one of the leading flooring names across the Midlands and beyond. The owners are clear, though, that growth must never come at the expense of the personal approach that built the business, and that Patchwork will remain a family-run company that values every customer and takes pride in every project.
A thank you to customers, family and supporters
The owners are keen to thank the many people who have contributed to the company's growth. First is the team, whose hard work, dedication and willingness to embrace change have brought the business to where it is, from managing new retail locations to supporting customers and carrying out installations. The owners are particularly grateful for the patience and commitment employees showed during the recent expansion. They also thank the customers who have supported Patchwork since it began. Everyone who has chosen the business, recommended it to someone else or trusted the team with work in their home or commercial property has played a part in its success, and the owners never take that loyalty for granted.
Their thanks go to their family, suppliers and the many people who have offered encouragement along the way too, because building a family business takes considerable commitment and having supportive people around them has made a real difference. For Charlotte and her fellow owner, the award celebrates the combined effort of everyone who has helped Patchwork grow from its beginnings in Stourbridge into a business with four retail locations and customers across the UK. They want customers to know that the personal values behind the company will not change as it develops, and their message is one of thanks:
“Thank you for choosing us, trusting us in your homes and businesses, recommending us to friends and family, and supporting us as we've grown.”
“As a family-run business, every customer genuinely means something to us, and we never take that support for granted.”
The award recognises a business built on practical experience, determination and strong family values. From the owner's early days as a carpet fitter at 17 to four retail locations, a mobile showroom service and nationwide commercial projects, Patchwork has kept growing without losing its focus on quality and customer care. As it expands across the Midlands and beyond, with its team and loyal customers behind it, the owners are determined never to forget the people and the community that helped make it possible.