A man after my own heart, Up the Arsenal !! worked at the Beeb for 31 years so it was sad when they closed TVC and lots of floors that we did are going to get ripped up. but they have closed TVC but they are revamping BBC Elstree, so more work so shouldn't complain,just feel we were part of the iconic building. some of the products we used were very special ( the grass job was the end of Marley X floor) and the circular corridors did cause a few challenges. if you want more info just ask,
Great story. How did you get 31 years of flooring work for the BBC? I bet you've seen some sights there over the years.. I would have loved to see Alan Partridge running out of the BBC restaurant...Ive got cheese!
Your pictures are really interesting mate, never seen or heard of uv curing on site! Some nice customers there
Yes, been very lucky, long story cut short is we were just done by a guy we set up in Buisness with, he was getting the work,we were doing it, he turned the company ltd in his name only, when we left he went bust ! , we quoted for an old builder called Cubitts to put carpet on the walls ( for acoustic reasons) in a studio and control room , it was in a 27in Wilton that the BBC used to buy I think from Alan Meyers ? Thought we were doing the job and then the BBC took it off the builder and gave it to the Then BBC carpet contractor, they then did it and used F3 with standard serrations and let it go dry before placement, they also cut every solid brass light and plug socket, we went in and replaced it all, We used F60 or could have been the killer F61 NF , they asked about the repair contract and would we be interested , we jumped at it but never heard from them for 6 months , We got it and I was a young enthusiastic Yossa Hughes, "give us a job" with a cockney accent, the operation team were my age, we became friends and as they moved up the management ladders they took me with them, The other firm was a bit of a dinosaur and it didn't help him that he was a **** with attitude!! Used to tell the clients he couldn't measure for two months. Over the years we took over and built up the company, they gradually changed to other products and I was there to help and advise. This then helped with other jobs outside for getting good prices, We lost it for a while or it got reduced when Trillium took over the facilities contract but my nephew took it over and has built it up again with a younger generation of managers, we have always been conscious of the fact your only as good as your last job, managers just want an easy life with no aggro on a Monday morning. Yes wish I had kept a diary, have so many great stories for a book, used to get the young trainees to see the Darleks and have one of the fitters in a monsters outfit to scare the life out of them!! Got a phone call from the duty manager when we working nights at the costume department, guys got caught dressed up as a fox and a rabbit chasing each other on all fours down the corridors on the cc cameras lol , I couldn't keep a straight face when i was telling them off. Used to see all the great shows , young ones, fools and horses, faulty towers being made,in the bar afterwards with the casts, Worked at the opening of Eastenders with the cast, Dirty den got my girlfriend a walk on extra part. So made a lot of friends over the years and its strange its going full circle with a younger generation. Sorry for the war and peace , didn't mean to bore you all Gary
Thanks for that, have done some weird and interesting stuff over the years, and we still are, with the right clients budgets don't come in to it for commercial customers compared to domestic. Uv It's something we have just got into, it's very big in the states and across Europe. Had a 300m2 in three sections of engineered plank that was stained dark brown, the client hadn't maintained it and it was very worn , it was used by thousands of people every day, I had the job and it was planned for doing it over 3 weeks during the night with plywood protection being used during the day, heard about UV, spoke to the client and he was interested in getting done quicker, re priced it and he said yes so I had to have a crash course and laid out £10,000 10 days later I have got a white suit on walking up and down. Hard work but did the work over 4 nights with the seals dry and fully cured for heavy use a couple of hours later! Worked really well, done another 5 jobs since and hopefully it won't take me long to get my costs back, its given me something else to be excited about, Gary
With great difficulty lol. Had to make stairs square with ardrapid step repair, then make all the cove former and fill corners with plastic padding,( like the car repair stuff) , rub down smooth, cut your safety flooring into the strips and place and warm over the nosing with contact adhesive using hot air blower, then do it in sections as pictures, then just take your time doing the welding, this is the work. this was done in 2005 so it's now getting on for 8 years old , see these pictures and one when it was first done which I will add later , Not a lot of fitters could do it, my brother in law who we trained as a boy did this and he is very skilled and a great asset to the firm. But he was under no time pressure which always helps.
UV, have you signed this?... http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitio...on-centre-studios-they-are-a-national-asset-2
Thanks, have now, They won't stop it, way too much money involved. I am a little torn as they plan to revamp 4 studios and move the BBC world service back in to the front section of TVC in around 4 years time after they have built all the flats, we could well end up doing the work going forward.
