New future for retail flooring’s top title

January 16, 2025

The leading trade press title in the residential flooring market is turning over a new page. On the retirement of the business owners, The Stocklists magazine has been acquired by Kick-Start Publishing Ltd, publishers of the Contract Flooring Journal.

 

“We’re leaving the magazine in very capable hands for the future,” says The Stocklists editor David Spragg. “The team at CFJ know the flooring industry inside out and we’ve had some great discussions about how the publication can be developed going forward – and they have the professionalism, energy and enthusiasm to make it happen.”

 

The Stocklists was started by Roy Spragg in 1973 as a listing of stock positions for carpet manufacturers. Roy’s son and daughter, David and Diane, took it over in 1993 and developed it into the sector’s primary source of flooring news, data and information – updated online every day and in print every month.

 

360 issues, some 30,000 pages and a zillion clicks later, they’re ready to retire.


  • “It has been great to be such a central part of the super-friendly community that is flooring,” says sales director Diane Martin. “People like doing business with people they like and that’s how it’s been for us for thirty years. We’re so grateful for all the support and immense loyalty shown by our lovely advertisers and readers.”

Contract Flooring Journal is the market leader on the commercial side of the sector. It was launched in 1989 and purchased by Kick-Start in 1999 and is the official magazine of the Contract Flooring Association. A sister publication, Tile & Stone Journal, was launched in 2004.

 

“We’re really excited to have this opportunity to build on the strength of The Stocklists and serve the residential side of the flooring industry,” says CFJ publisher Stuart Bourne.

 

“We have lots of plans and ideas for new things to add to the service offered by The Stocklists but our main job is to sustain what they do so well already and keep faith with the huge and loyal readership,” said Stuart.

 

Ownership of The Stocklists will be transferred at the end of January with Kick-Start producing the magazine from the March issue onwards under the editorship of Lauren McCarthy.

About The Stocklists

 

The Stocklists & Flooring News is published by Mayville Publishing Company and distributed in print to 7,000 readers each month and online to 4,000 digital readers. The magazine’s news website is updated daily and receives nearly 100,000 visits annually.

The magazine focuses on residential flooring retailers, installers and suppliers in the UK and Ireland and provides in-depth product information, trade show reviews, feature articles and factsheets on key topics around carpets and rugs, vinyl, wood and laminate flooring, design trends and installation, as well as a corporate, business and market performance news service.

 

About Kick-Start publishing

 

Kick-Start Publishing is an East Sussex-based publisher which produces several printed journals, newsletters, websites and other associated content pertinent to the flooring and tiling industries. Best known for its two principal publications – Contract Flooring Journal (CFJ), the official journal of the Contract Flooring Association (CFA), and Tile & Stone Journal (TSJ), the official journal of The Tile Association (TTA), Kick-Start also produces a prestigious annual catalogue aimed at architects, installers and specifiers, The Specifiers Guide to Surfaces.

 

Along with several annual publications produced in concert with the CFA, including the CFA Guide to Sustainability, the CFA Training Guide, the CFA Members’ Handbook and the CFA Guide to Contract Flooring, CFJ boasts supplements which cover LVT, wood and laminate and digital aspects of commercial flooring. In terms of events, the jewel in their crown is undoubtedly The CFJ Awards, held once annually in September and showcasing the best the industry has to offer.

 

Contact information:

 

Kick-Start Publishing

Stuart Bourne - stuart.bourne@kick-startpublishing.co.uk
T 01892 752 400

 

The Stocklists

David Spragg - davidspragg@thestocklists.com

T 01845 576101

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