PRESS RELEASE
10/11/2022
Waregem, Belgium – 10 November 2022 – At a works council held today, Beaulieu International Group’s (B.I.G.) Beaulieu Flooring Solutions Business Unit announced its intention to discontinue its Belgian tufted carpet operations. If the intention is confirmed, a total of 174 employees would be involved.
The Tuft market has been struggling with overcapacity for several years now, mainly caused by a shift in consumer preference towards alternative flooring systems such as laminate, LVT and vinyl, in which B.I.G. has also been experiencing strong growth.The tuft segment today represents a small percentage of the group's total flooring business. Despite a transformation plan and growth investments in this business, current market conditions are making it impossible for the Tuft Division to be profitable in its current form.
The Beaulieu Flooring Solutions Business Unit is therefore today announcing its intention to discontinue its Belgian operations for tufted carpet.
If this intention is confirmed, 174 jobs would disappear whereupon maximum efforts would be made to re-employ people within the group.
The flooring market is changing rapidly and customer preference has been shifting towards harder floor surfaces for some time now. At the same time, both ongoing competition and overcapacity in a shrinking and diversified market have been creating constant pressure on the traditional carpet business for several years now. Various management initiatives, including investments in product differentiation, new machinery, entering new markets and efficiency improvements, have not been able to restore profitability sufficiently. The intention to discontinue would allow the group to focus on developing its profitable floor covering segments further in order to help consolidate the Group's sustainable growth and the employment of more than 4,900 members of staff worldwide that this would create.
The statutory information and consultation process was launched following this announcement. The company will present all the facts to employee representatives in a spirit of openness and transparency.
The Group also emphasises that it is committed to maximising its efforts to re-employ the employees involved.