10 Years on for TTA

Chairman Ashley Heath’s speech to the industry at the 2010 awards.

In his speech at the awards ceremony TTA Chair Ashley Heath said "I would like to ask you all to think, for a few moments, about what our working life would have been without The Tile Association"

Carpet, vinyl and laminate dominating kitchen floors in the home.
Over the last 10 years The Tile Association publicity has been seen by millions in both commercial and domestic markets. This publicity promotes tiling in general and TTA members in particular.

Difficult if not impossible to get tile specified in many construction contracts.
In September 2009 a complaint made by The Tile Association, to the Advertising Standard Authority about a series of advertisements from Altro, was upheld. These advertisements were very detrimental to the perception of tile in the contract sector. This is just one of a number of such cases

Floor tiles being banned by Building Regulations in multi storey buildings. The British Standard for tiling being replaced by a very basic guidance note.
Intense lobbying by The Tile Association prevented both of these and the industry position is further strengthened by technical advice notes and technical publications.

Wallpaper or paint on the walls in bathrooms across the land.
TTA publicity in home interest magazines in the form of advertisements and articles keeps tile in the forefront of consumers' minds.

Bad fixing techniques bringing down the industry's reputation.
The Tile Association has strict membership criteria which excludes the "cowboys" and backs this up with publicity about only employing TTA member fixers. This position is strengthened further by training programs; work on British, European and international standards, TTA technical publications and inspections.

Untrained and unqualified fixers with less than a handful of colleges offering any kind of training in the UK. No encouragement for new entrants into the tile industry.
The TTA fixer training plan was launched in 2001and there are now 26 associated training centres across the UK.

No technically accurate DIY information for consumers planning tiling in their home.
The publication Tile it right is downloaded more than 100 times each month from TTA website and is reproduced in DIY and home interest magazines two or three times a year.

Dutch auctioning and bid pedalling of contracts in the commercial sector. Tiling contractors on pay when paid.
Intense lobbying by TTA on these issues is beginning to redress the situation and TTA area credit meetings help members to maintain some control.

No cooperation with tile manufacturers and contractors outside the UK.
The Tile Association has overseas members and retains a close co-operation with fellow associations in Europe and America.

A fragmented industry with each sector seeing the other as a competitor.
The Tile Association brings the individual sectors of the industry together allowing them to work towards a common cause strengthened by its numbers.

Now let us think where the industry could be in 10 years time.