OUR HISTORY
Since 2014, Abingdon Flooring has been a division of the Victoria Group but the Abingdon name, and its associated brands, such as Kosset and Wilton Royal, enjoy a rich heritage in the British carpet industry.
The Royal Wilton Carpet Company received its Royal Charter all the way back in 1699. The towns of Wilton, Axminster and then later Kidderminster have proven to be at the heart of the British carpet making history. Carpets have developed from being merely tapestries and hand-knotted rugs into Wilton cut piles and then subsequently woven Wiltons and Axminsters. Patterns and designs have become ever more intricate and luxurious whilst quality and innovation continues to drive products forward.
One of the basic raw materials that has always been used for making all British carpets was wool. Wool is still a hugely important part of the carpet industry today and all our carpets from the Wilton Royal brand remain wool products. Now as huge supporters of The Campaign for Wool it’s a brand were especially proud of and one that we feel helps to keep part of the British carpets industry’s tradition alive.
1900's
During the 1950’s the introduction of a new hard-wearing, relatively inexpensive and easy to dye raw material came to market, “Nylon”. Kosset was the first brand to market in Britain made in a new factory in Brighouse, West Yorkshire that combined this new material with a cheaper, tufted manufacturing methods and sold using “American-style” marketing techniques. Now, famous for its branding, which included the white “Kosset” cat, the products were revolutionary for their time and enjoyed great success throughout the 60’s and 70’s.
But Wilton Royal and Kosset are not the only brands in our portfolio with equity in their name. Abingdon has a legacy all of its own with stories dating back to the 1950’s…
1957
Founder of Abingdon carpets, John Viney, makes the decision to expand the family’s interests into wholesale floorcovering distribution. Alongside the development of man-made tufted carpet production and in agreement with Shaw Carpets of Darton in Barnsley he becomes responsible for the sales of their carpets in the South. His strategy was to create his own brand in the market establishing a reputation for service, quality and reliability.
1964
Shaw Carpets becomes a public company and despite an end to the agreement between the two, John Viney’s reputation allows him to produce his own carpet via Ribble Carpets whilst the installation of the Viney families own single tufting machine commenced.
1967
The first iteration of Abingdon Carpets is born with the production of their own products in their factory on Barton Lane in Abingdon. Originally a family business, Richard Viney was the Managing Director and Paddy Viney the Sales Director. Sales increased rapidly from less than £1 million to £10 million per year within 10 years!
1970's
Land was purchased in South Wales and it was decided to construct their own backing plant. At this time, production from Abingdon was trunked during the night to South Wales for backing, and the finished products returned back to Abingdon for warehousing and distribution. Eventually Abingdon Carpets outgrew the Barton Lane factory and they found new premises on Nuffield Way.
1978
Abingdon makes £1 million a month for the first time. To celebrate, all employees were gifted with 2 bottles of wine and a box of chocolates.
1982
The company buys a 38-acre site in South Wales to house everything under one roof including a state-of-the-art dyeing and print line. All the properties in Abingdon, Oxfordshire are sold.
1987
A major industry breakthrough is made with a £1 million investment on the first of many polypropylene extrusion lines. The original, and still the best, bleach cleanable brand, “Stainfree” is born. Established as a clear market leader, Stainfree products will take the company to new heights at a time where Abingdon now fully controls the operation from yarn extrusion, to backing, and then distribution, sales and service.
Abingdon, together with the Kosset Carpets from Brighouse, West Yorkshire becomes part of Carpets International, the European Division of the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, Shaw Industries. At this time, Shaw Industries also acquires CV Carpets and Wilton Royal from the Coates Viyella group.
2000's
2003
Carpets International goes into administration in August but, fortunately, a management buyout ensues where Abingdon Flooring is re-born as Abingdon Flooring Ltd.
2005
Alliance Flooring Distribution Ltd, a transport company in Kidderminster, is purchased to warehouse, cut and deliver carpet to consumers across the UK.
2006
We continue to invest in our capabilities with a new finishing line, the installation of two additional high-speed tufting machines and the purchase and installation of a sorting system for the segregation of cuts.
2011
There are further factory developments with the installation of two more tufting machines and the investment in recycling equipment to eliminate our waste to land fill and reducing it by a massive 95%.
2012
We purchase our carpet tile factory which is situated 7 miles from the existing South Wales plant.
2014
Abingdon Flooring is sold in October to the Victoria Carpet Group (VCP) and is positioned to be their volume carpet producer in the UK
2015
We introduce The Love Story Collection brand of polyester carpets and purchase our first tube making machine to produce our tubes on site in Wales.
2018
A new state of the art development studio, The Centre of Development and Excellence, is opened on-site at the South Wales factory including ground-breaking equipment to drive innovation in product development and quality. The Victoria Group opens our brand-new distribution centre in Hemel Hempstead to improve service Nationwide.
2019
There is extensive refurbishment to our offices; in Newport and Bradford to modernise the plant and the customer experience. We further invest with the installation of a ground-breaking high-speed backing plant.
2020
Our new website is launched alongside our first B2B portal offering trade customers online access to information and service.
