Fitter of the Year - LVT - 2023 – The Finals
We are pleased to announce that the winner of this year's competition is Dean Dickinson.
Fitter of the Year - LVT - 2023 Final
The grand final of the Fitter of the Year LVT 2023 took place at The Flooring Show in Harrogate on the 17th and 18th of September. This year the Fitter of the Year final was without a doubt the closest we have ever had, only 30 points separated first and fifth place. Judging this year had to be brutal and precise as the standard was so high.
The five finalists amazed the spectators with their skills in completing the challenge. One family had even travelled over from the USA to watch in person and were in awe with the standard they witnessed.
The competition was won by Dean Dickinson who was supported the whole time by his wife Lisa who isn't sure yet what she will spend the £2000 prize money on. Dean also walked away with over £1000 in various vouchers plus a selection of tools and equipment kindly donated by our sponsors. The task this year was to fit herringbone LVT directly to a rough ceramic wall at one side and to a curved wall and a heart shape as well as a border with a concave wall and step. Dean said of the experience: "To reach any stage of the competition is an amazing achievement for anybody in the flooring industry. I was delighted to reach the finals for the second time and thrilled to be the winner. I have met some amazing people along the way and really enjoyed the experience which I would recommend anyone to take part in. Well done to everyone who took part and thank you to the NICF, Judges and Sponsors for providing this opportunity'".
View the 2023 Final photo gallery
This years "Judges Challenge" was to produce an image from a limited number of tiles supplied and the theme being "Sport" this was won by Daniel Jones who wins a trophy and a £100 Amazon voucher. Daniel said of being part of the competition: "I entered the FOTY 2023 right after The Flooring Show 2022 and was so excited when I was picked as a semi-finalist. When I had the email to confirm I had made the finals I was absolutely delighted. The experience was fantastic! I will definitely be entering again in 2025."
The whole two days were live streamed on the UK Flooring TV channel which received over 46,000 views.
The NICF would like to express their sincere thanks to all of this year's sponsors, without whom this competition would not be possible, the competitors, the judges and all who help make the event happen.
The Finalists
I'm Wesley Brocklesby from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. I'm really happy to have made the finals. I have grown up in the flooring trade and I am part of the second generation running our successful family business, Brockson Carpets, in Ossett with my brother Scott. We are celebrating 50 years in business this year. For the past 6 years I've specialised in LVT installations and have attended many LVT training courses to learn the best scribing techniques, as well as the preparation knowledge to help get a good finish. I always critique my own work to help me improve. I can't wait for the finals to raise the bar again for myself. I wish the best of luck to the other finalists.
I am delighted to be in this year's final for LVT Fitter of the Year. I have been in the flooring industry since I left school. Outside of flooring, I am a husband, dad and uncle. I am lucky enough to work with my wife and nephew on a daily basis and our son is our number 1 fan. Since setting up my own business in 2020, I have focused on developing my skills and attended several training courses. This gave me the confidence to enter the competition and I am pleased that my hard work and quality has been recognised. I would like to thank The NICF for this opportunity and look forward to competing with all the other finalists. Good luck to everyone.
I'm Darrel Emery. I'm a husband and father of 4 humans, 6 dogs and a horse, I've been laying flooring for around 25 years, mainly fitting LVT but I do carpet, wood, and domestic vinyl too. I fell out of love with the trade a few years ago until I started to see other fitters' creations on social media and it made me realise that you can do anything with LVT. I started going on training courses to learn new ways and methods and it gave me the passion I needed again. Entering this competition has been the best experience of my career and to be competing against some of the best in industry has really boosted my confidence.
I'm 53 and married to my lovely wife Adele. I have 4 beautiful children. I have been in the flooring industry for 35 years. My main area of flooring is LVT and vinyl. I am currently employed by Oxford city flooring who are fantastic to work for. In 1988 I walked into a careers office after leaving a job I hated. There was a job advertised for a "Floorlayer Improver". That was it! Applied, started the next day and I'm still at it. I love the trade and I've had the pleasure of meeting lots of great people. I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to pass on my knowledge to others through training. Although I'm starting to get older, there's life in the old dog yet!
I'm thrilled to make the finals at Harrogate this year. I would like to take the opportunity to wish all the finalists the very best. It's so nice to be amongst likeminded, top-class installers.
I'm delighted to be part of the finals for the second time. The first time round marked a huge turning point in my flooring career as I developed the confidence I needed to pursue my own work, which now makes up 99% of my workload. I didn't think I could do that and I didn't think I would ever be of a high enough standard to compete against some of the most highly skilled professionals I've ever met. It's a pleasure and a great honour to be able to put something back into a trade that's given me so much.
We would like to take the opprotunity here to thank our remaining semi-finalists who didn't make the final, but who took part and playing a valued role in the 2023 competition.
