1934
At the age of 14, Eric Horace Newton (Simon Grimley’s grandad) left school to become an upholstery apprentice at Stollery’s (a family run department store).
1950
Eric moved on to working for Englenders in Weybridge as an upholsterer.
1960s
Eric went on to work for Freemans (a soft furnishing company) in Walton on Thames. Eric learnt how to hand sew carpets, along with the proper fitting of them.
1965
Eric became a self-employed carpet specialist. He began doing freelance work for Pages in Camberley.
1968
Eric began working with Jim Vincent, who ran a shop (Vincents) in High Street, Addlestone and began to fit carpets for him. Eric also partnered with his work friend, Ivor Cosson. They soon also began fitting carpets for Jeffries Carpets in Cobham.
1975
Eric and Ivor began working with Vincents full time, along with carrying out any other private work that came their way. Eric also asked his son in law, David Grimley (Simon’s dad) to work with them and learn the trade. David soon became proficient in all aspects of carpet fitting and became a third, equal partner.
1978
In 1978 Eric decided to go his own way, though they all continued to fit carpets.
1982
A very young Simon begins his journey!
1985
In 1985, David also decided to go his own way to build his business.
2000
In early 2000, Simon began working with his dad as an apprentice and spent 5 years learning the true skills of carpet fitting, estimating and offering excellent customer service.
2008
Eric proudly continued to install carpets until he was in his late 80's and continued to fit and repair carpets of his long term clients.
2009
Simon started working at John Lewis’s estimation division and learnt more about flooring, technical data and all the British Standards, really growing his expertise.
2015
Simon began working for Carpet Right, as a surveyor. This deepened his knowledge in all elements of flooring. It was at this point that David also had a stroke and decided to retire from carpet fitting.
2020
Simon started Grimley flooring, as a third generation flooring specialist. Despite starting just before Covid, Simon was able to nurture his fledgeling business. He joined the BNI in December 2020, which gave him the support to really push forward the business’s success.
2021
Simon stopped sub-contracting to flooring shops, allowing him to really maintain his superb standards. Simon won Flooring Contractor of the Year 2021/22 from the Prestige Awards. Simon joined the National Institute of Carpet and Floorlayers as a carpet and LVT specialist.
2022
Simon won Flooring Contractor of the Year 2022/23 from the Prestige Awards and SME News UK Enterprise Award for Flooring Specialist of the Year for East Sussex.
2023
Simon won Flooring Contractor of the Year once again for 2023/2024, along with winning Construction and Building Service StartUp of the Year from StartUp Awards South East. Simon proudly became a Screwfix Top Tradesperson 2023 Finalist. Grimley Flooring also became VAT registered and a Limited company. Simon joined the NICF council.
2024
Grimley Flooring became Trading Standards approved through the Buy With Confidence scheme and won the SME News UK Enterprise Award for Flooring Specialist of the Year for East Sussex for the 2nd time.
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