This episode of The UK Flooring Podcast is a special National Flooring Awards 2026 edition, with Tom and Sarah pulling back the curtain on what is coming this year, why last year hit so hard, and why this one looks set to raise the bar again.

From the atmosphere and emotion of the 2025 event to the plans already in place for 2026, this episode is all about momentum. Bigger entertainment, a stronger VIP experience, a packed room full of the best in the industry, and an awards night built to celebrate flooring properly. If you were there last year, this will get you buzzing for what is next. If you were not, this is the episode that will make you want to be in the room.

Tom and Sarah also break down how nominations work, why entering properly matters, what the judges are really looking at, and why writing yourself off before you have even entered is a mistake. One of the strongest themes in the episode is simple: this is not just another industry event. It is a genuine celebration of the people, companies and work that make flooring what it is.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

Why the National Flooring Awards 2025 created such a strong reaction, and what made the atmosphere so memorable.

What is changing for 2026, including more entertainment, a larger dance floor, a stronger VIP offering, and more time to make the event even better.

How nominations and ticketing work, including why shortlisted businesses will need to be in the room.

Why your entry needs proper effort, and how judges use your submission to make decisions.

How the judging process works, including the role of public voting and why the panel takes the process so seriously.

Why businesses across the industry should not talk themselves out of entering before they have even had a go.

A full run through of the award categories for 2026, and why there is real opportunity for businesses of all sizes to get involved.

Memorable Quote:

“You can’t package that up and sell that to somebody. You’ve literally got to experience it.”

Speaker Information

Tom Cockerill and Sarah Cockerill

Hosts, The UK Flooring Podcast / Founders of the National Flooring Awards

Where to Find The UK Flooring Podcast

Watch on YouTube

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of The UK Flooring Podcast sits down with Gary Hosey, leadership coach and EQ-i Master Trainer, for a straight, practical chat about emotional intelligence, and why it matters more in flooring than most people realise.

Because whether you’re a one-person band or running a team of 20, the job is still people. Customers with expectations. Staff with personalities. Pressure, stress, and those awkward conversations you keep putting off until they blow up. Gary breaks emotional intelligence down into the real-world stuff that actually helps: how you communicate, how you handle stress, how you make decisions, and how you build trust without turning into a pushover.

One of the biggest takeaways is simple but brutal: if you want better outcomes, you need better conversations. Gary explains why “being interested, not interesting” changes sales chats, customer trust, and how your team responds to you.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

What emotional intelligence actually means, and the five key areas that sit underneath it (self-awareness, self-expression, interpersonal skills, decision-making, and stress management).

Why trust is the real foundation of repeat work, and how to build it without giving everything away for free.

A simple shift that improves customer conversations fast: ask better questions, find out what matters, then deliver that experience.

The difference between leading 5 people and leading 20, and why “doing it all yourself” stops scaling being possible.

Why feedback gets avoided, how it piles up, and how to make it normal before it turns into conflict.

How to develop supervisors and key people around you so leadership is shared, not chaotic.

Memorable Quote:

“Be interested, not interesting.”

Speaker Information

Gary Hosey

Leadership Coach and EQ-i Master Trainer

https://www.garyhosey.com/

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/garyhosey

Where to Find The UK Flooring Podcast:

Website: https://theukflooringpodcast.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theukflooringpodcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theukflooringpodcast/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/59DLhGPVKNtVoS656EYtxq

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-uk-flooring-podcast/id1606720642

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded in the Cockerill & Co Darlington HQ, this episode of The UK Flooring Podcast sits down with Ben Wain, business consultant, property investor, husband and dad, for a straight conversation about what it takes to run a flooring business when the bar keeps rising.

Ben shares his route from leaving school and working behind bars, into sales, then an 18 year career in retail leadership, before stepping into consultancy. That background gives him a rare mix of frontline reality and big picture thinking, and it shows in how he talks about people, performance, and the gap between “busy” and “well run”.

The thread through the episode is simple: customers now expect a joined up experience, and if your systems, showroom, website and team are not aligned, you will feel it. Ben breaks down what “Amazon level” expectations look like in flooring, why new businesses can leapfrog older ones, and how to approach tech and AI in a way that helps you sell, deliver, and keep standards high, without turning your brand into generic noise.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

Why customer expectations are higher than ever, and how that changes the way flooring businesses need to operate

What “omnichannel” actually means for flooring, and why your website and showroom have to match

How newer businesses can move faster, and what established businesses must fix to avoid falling behind

Why “race to the bottom” pricing is a trap, and how it quietly kills profitability

How to think about speed, service and communication as part of what customers pay for

What Ben sees as the biggest challenge in the industry, finding, keeping and developing fitting teams

How to build structure and accountability without micromanaging everything

Practical ways to use AI tools like ChatGPT for planning, training, systems, and management support

The biggest mistake people make with AI, and how to stay authentic while still moving quickly

Memorable Quote:

“Customer expectation is so high, you can very quickly get left behind.”

Speaker Information

Ben Wain

Business Consultant and Property Investor

https://www.linkedin.com/company/wain-consultancy-coaching/

Where to Find The UK Flooring Podcast:

Website: https://theukflooringpodcast.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theukflooringpodcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theukflooringpodcast/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.