Company Announcement - Kevin Bates Albert Carpets recently shipped luxury vinyl flooring tiles to Ghana for installation in a new ultra-modern store of global Information and Communication Technology supplier, Surfline. Surfline opened the flagship store in Accra last year to coincide with its introduction of Ghana’s first 4G LTE broadband service. KBAC supplied 159 boxes of Tempo vinyl planks to cover over 530sq m of floor surface in the Surfline store, in accordance with the design specifications of leading Ghanaian interior designer, Natalie Anderson, of Design Express Ghana.

Neil Duncan, Chief Financial Officer of KBAC, says the execution of the export contract involved the provision of samples; supplying installation instructions to the installers selected by Design Express; email and telephonic consultation with Design Express; and ultimately the shipment of the vinyl flooring tiles and adhesive by KBAC’s Cape Town operation. “We’d like to believe that it was a most successful, mutually beneficial contract for both KBAC and Design Express, and the order clearly illustrates KBAC’s capability of supplying flooring to Sub-Saharan Africa.  Nurbanu Osman-Rahim, KBAC’s Cape Town-based Import/Export Coordinator, handled the export shipment most efficiently, and KBAC can also provide installation teams or a supervisor if required.” Natalie Anderson, owner and founder of Design Express, says she felt more comfortable dealing with KBAC than with vendors in the USA and Europe. “Availability and variety of furniture and flooring materials is always a problem in Ghana so where specific products and quantities are vital to the design, interior designers and architects have to import. In the case of the Surfline store, we had a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve, and fortunately the time and scope of the project made it possible to import to meet our desired aesthetic and deadline.”

Natalie describes her dealings with KBAC as “very transparent and straightforward”. She adds: “The KBAC team were responsive and friendly and the physical samples KBAC sent by courier greatly assisted us to conclude our selection and obtain client approval. Shipping took only about a fortnight and the shipping costs, too, were reasonable. The products supplied were premium quality and played a huge role in the successful outcome of the project.”

She selected luxury vinyl floor tiles because it provided a “hard wood floor look” without the need for excessive maintenance. “The vinyl tiles also have better wear-and-tear properties than laminate flooring which we regarded as important for the harsh Ghanaian environment. The tiles were used for the high traffic, general floor space and Interface carpeting in the customer care and office areas to provide a warm, welcoming feel and introduce brand colours into these spaces. KBAC distributes Interface carpet tiles in South Africa and - through a KBAC referral - Design Express imported directly from Interface in Europe. The company’s Polichrome range was selected. Polichrome combines a broad colour palette and yarn effects, and is a high performing carpet tile that gave us full design flexibility.”

She adds that because Surfline prides itself on top quality service, the new ‘experiential store’ had to convey prestige business operations in both functionality and appearance. “KBAC cooperation and patience, as well as the quality of the products it supplied, fully met these requirements and were of such a high standard that Design Express is likely to again turn to KBAC for future projects that require floor finishes in large enough quantities to justify importing,” Natalie adds.