Home » About Us

About Us

AIREA plc is a UK design-led specialist flooring company listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, supplying both UK and international markets. Since 2007, the Group has been focused solely on floor coverings and enjoys a strong and growing brand position within the commercial flooring market.

Seeing healthy returns in our profits and the value we offer our shareholders is essential. This means investing in research and development, logistics and, most importantly, our people.

What We Do?

As a design-led specialist flooring company, we believe in growing by doing things differently. We are constantly looking for new ways to please and impress our customers – through our high quality, original products and thoughtful, responsive service.

Seeing healthy returns in our profits and the value we offer our shareholders is essential. This means investing in research and development, logistics and, most importantly, our people.

In order to achieve this we have a simple philosophy: to be black and white in everything we do. This runs throughout our business, and we’d like to think it makes us straightforward and easy to work with.

Part of our black and white approach is helping people find the information they need. You can do that here. Thanks for visiting.

Our Strategy

ESG is fundamental to the continued commercial success of AIREA, as evidenced in our values, our actions and our products. We have made excellent progress in 2022 through the launch of our sustainability principles, eco2matters , which have been laid out to highlight our ongoing commitment in anchoring our business to a sustainable ethos. The Group’s focus is, and will continue to be, the promotion of trade responsibility and the active pursuit of achieving a Net Zero business.

Our Values

In business, the need for clear communication has never been stronger. So at AIREA plc, we have a simple philosophy: to be black and white in everything we do. This runs throughout our business, and we’d like to think it makes us straightforward and easy to work with.

OUR CORE VALUES

PRINCIPLES
The Group is committed to success with integrity by building and strengthening its reputation through earning our stakeholders’ trust. We commit to the principles of being honest, transparent and accountable for the impact that it has.

AGILITY
The Group strives for continuous improvement, prioritising what matters and making considered decisions in an efficient and timely manner. There is a constant pursuit of innovation and an innate emphasis to connect new ideas with business realities.

COLLABORATION
The Group wishes colleagues and stakeholders to understand our origins, current position, and future focus and will work together with purpose and pace to achieve the key objectives. Through empowerment, mentorship and encouragement, these goals will be a tangible reality.

EXCELLENCE
The Group is passionate about its people, its products and continually improving the quality and service delivered to its customers. The ambition is to continuously develop ourselves and help each other to do the same. The Group seeks to maximise the potential of our people through their talent, passion and hard work.

Directors

Martin Toogood – Independent Non-Executive Chairman

Martin Toogood joined the group as an independent non executive director on 1 April 2009, and was appointed independent non-executive chairman on 6 November in the same year. Martin has considerable experience at executive and non-executive level, most recently with ILVA in Scandinavia and the UK, B&Q in the UK, Carpetright in the UK and Europe and Habitat in the UK and internationally.

Médéric Payne – Chief Executive Officer

Médéric Payne joined the Group on the 25th August 2022 as Chief Executive Officer from Al-Futtaim Group based in the Middle East. He has held a number of key international executive roles, notably within Landmark Group as CEO for Homecentre and at Kingfisher plc as CEO for Castorama RU. In his recent role as Managing Director, his main focus has been the growth, turnaround and digital transformation of a number of well-known brands within his retail portfolio in MENA. Médéric has considerable experience in supply chain, sales and innovation in both mature and developing markets.

Tanya Ashton – Independent Non-Executive Director

Tanya Ashton joined the Group on 10 May 2023 as an independent Non-Executive Director, with over 20 years’ experience in strategic marketing and brand development roles. She currently acts as Head of Sustainability at Walgreens Boots Alliance Global Sourcing, Europe.

History

With origins going back to 1880, the group started life as a spinning business company later to become Sirdar and made its first move into floor coverings through the acquisition of Burmatex in 1984. In 2007 the original spinning business left the group, and the new name of Airea was adopted. From 2007 Airea has been focused on floor coverings.

Our Markets

Commercial flooring market: Burmatex enjoys a strong and growing brand position. Traditionally identified with the education and public sector in the UK, the expansion of our design capability over a number of years combined with the recent strategic investment in manufacturing technology provides the spring board for extending the product range to new market sectors. New products are developed with the international market in mind. We have a direct sales force in Poland, and a network of agents and distributors covering all major international markets. We are consistently winning major prestige flooring projects, including airports, universities and commercial office space both in the UK and abroad.

Our Products

AIREA’s core brand Burmatex® is one of the UK’s leading designers and manufacturers of commercial carpet tiles and planks.

Burmatex® focuses on the design and creation of sustainable innovative flooring solutions to meet the needs of architects, specifiers and contractors with a continuously developing range to suit the education, leisure, commercial, hospitality and public sectors.