Karndean Designflooring has appointed Dean Dickinson as Training Academy Manager, reinforcing the brand’s ongoing investment in education, skills development and the future of the flooring industry.
With almost three decades of hands-on flooring experience, Dean brings a wealth of practical knowledge to the role. Over the course of his career, he has learned almost everything there is to know about LVT, proving as much in 2023 when he was recognised as NICF LVT Fitter of the Year. Dean now hopes to use this knowledge to help both younger fitters just getting into the trade and more established fitters who may not know just how much LVT fitting has evolved in recent years.
This month, we took the opportunity to sit down with Dean, we took the opportunity to sit down with Dean for a wide-ranging conversation covering the company’s philosophy towards training, the role of retailers in promoting training, as well as Dean’s personal journey in the flooring industry.
Self-taught to training evangelist
Dean first picked up the tools at age 17, having made the common decision that university education wasn’t the right path for him. A friend helped him get a job with a local flooring company and – by pure chance – that company was specifically looking for a hard flooring fitter. This was the beginning of a long journey across decades and multiple firms that would see Dean cultivate deep expertise in LVT floor fitting – at first driven purely by his own appetite for new challenges.
Dean says: “I never left any company for any particular reason, I’ve just always wanted to challenge myself. I don’t like to get too settled in. I went to several different firms and they taught me new ideas as I went.”
Despite learning a lot on the job, however, it wasn’t until around 15 years, nearly half of Dean’s career, before he attended a real training course. It was there that he first saw “the possibilities of how good you can be with the right training,” Dean explains. “It showed me that some of the techniques that I had used in the past has been a bit questionable. Training centres give you the best use of materials, of tools, of skills, and ultimately all of that led me to want to do training.”
After discovering professional training, Dean’s development sped up exponentially. Following the launch of his own flooring business in 2020, he continued to invest in training through industry-recognised organisations, and in the last few years Dean has demonstrated the value of that hard work at the UK’s most prestigious floor fitting competition. After reaching the final of the NICF LVT Fitter of the Year competition in 2021, he returned in 2023 to claim the title.
Recently, Dean began to consider the next stage of his career. Between starting a shop of his own, becoming an estimator for another retailer, or passing on his expertise to the next generation, the choice was obvious. “I feel like running a shop is not where my abilities are,” he explains. “But I love doing training. I’ve supported the NICF on its open days in the past and we always get really good feedback from it. You get a good buzz seeing a person come in and then leave a better fitter.
“I’ve got a vast knowledge of different fitting methods in my head, and I’d rather get it out there and teach the next generation. That’s what I want to do at the Karndean Training Academy, in essence.”
More vital than ever
The appointment comes as Karndean continues to expand its training offering following the recent refurbishment of its dedicated Karndean Training Academy, alongside the introduction of an enhanced training programme. For Dean, training is of crucial importance to the industry right now, for several reasons.
Product development, particularly in LVT, continues apace, and keeping up with new methods of fitting new products is a challenge not only for the trade’s new blood but for its experienced members too.
“Manufacturers are pushing the boundaries as to what you can do with LVT flooring,” says Dean. “The fitters need to keep up to date with methods of how to fit it and the standards at which they’re expected to fit it.”
At a time when competition is so fierce and household budgets are so tight, getting installations right the first time is essential for fitters’ bottom line and their reputation. In Dean’s experience, it is typically a lack of in-depth product knowledge that leads to failures. “Our biggest issue at the moment is adhesive selection. It’s one thing we really bolster on the course – we try to get them to use all of the adhesives and explain what they’re for.”
Although Karndean manufactures its own range of adhesives, Dean says fitters often have their own preferences. “We’d always recommend using Karndean adhesives, as these are the products we use on our installation courses. It also means we know exactly what has been used alongside our flooring, allowing both fitters and our technical team to provide the most appropriate guidance and support whenever required.”
The next generation
Of course, probably the most important reason why training is so invaluable right now is the crisis-level skill shortage in the UK.
“We’re very aware of the skill shortage,” says Richard Allen, VP of Sales for Karndean, “and for us these skills are so important, especially with the products we offer and the demand from consumers for LVT flooring. So, we do invest and that’s why we’ve updated our Training Academy recently and obviously why Dean has come on board, which is really exciting for the business.”
For Dean himself, helping youngsters who are more practical than academic get into the flooring trade is a gratifying experience. “I did well enough in school, but it wasn’t for me,” he recalls. “I’m more hands-on. I needed to be doing something, rather than just reading from a book – so naturally I got into a trade. And there’s plenty of young people out there that are going to be in that same situation.”
Karndean already has a big presence at career days around the country, as well as on social media and even in the general public’s consciousness. Dean is keen to take advantage of this large platform to promote the company’s training to as many young people as possible.
“I will certainly want to get involved, because I see the young generation and newcomers to the trade are the ones that need the most support and the most guidance. They really need the information to be put in their hands to decide if it’s something they want to do. Unless we go out there and promote not just Karndean but the industry as a whole, young people won’t even know it’s an option to them.”
For more information about Karndean Training Academy courses and to book online, visit the website below.