It was in the autumn of 1988, just before my 20th birthday, when I first took on a role with a degree of responsibility here at Minoli, moving from general warehouse, merchandising and showroom duties and into sales and account management, in the wholesale distribution department – an area covering north London and some of the northern home counties.
I had always worked within the business, as a “Saturday boy” after school and even just riding on the trucks delivering during the school holidays, probably well before my teens. The role as sales representative was the first one where there was accountability and to a degree pressure.
Under my father’s watchful eye, I very slowly began to establish myself within the tile industry, building relationships with professional partners and production plants, suppliers and of course working with the clients, developers, automotive manufacturers and retail resellers to help grow the business.
Sadly, just a few years later in the spring 1994 my father Peter Minoli passed away aged just 55, which accelerated the trajectory of all aspects of the role and the responsibilities.
Now here in 2023, in my role as Managing Director, and with well over 35 years of experience within our family business, I think I’m more passionate about Minoli than ever. With a talented and enthusiastic team around me, I love the way we’re always striving to find new ways to be more efficient and effective, to improve processes, to enter new markets with exciting new products and, most importantly, to deliver a more compelling and rewarding customer experience.
A few points that stand out from these past years…
- The influence of both my father, who in the 1960’s created the Minoli business model for tiles & mosaics, and my grandfather, who founded the original terrazzo firm.
- The long-term partnerships with the leading tile manufacturing production plants in Italy and Spain. Some of these relationships go back 40 years or more.
- The development and expansion of Minoli’s facilities in Oxford. Although we are still based on the same site as the original terrazzo factory, the site is now four times the size and a program of redevelopment has resulted in two state of the art buildings and two more in future development.
- The return to having a base in London after some 50 years, with the opening in September 2013 of the Minoli Showroom on George Street Marylebone, The Surface Within – Minoli London. In September we will mark the 10th anniversary of this facility.
- The expansion of our product portfolio, stockholding strategy and delivery capability. As tiles have changed, both in the type of raw material to manufacture and the size and design, I like to think that Minoli have been at the forefront of introducing these new products to the UK market.
- A track record of steady and organic growth over these past 30 years since my father passed away, together with maintaining financial stability, for the benefit of our clients, production partners, supplies and of course the Minoli Team.
- The growth of the Minoli team with new roles and expertise. So many of the senior Minoli team began their career journeys within the company at a junior or entry level, growing with the business and taking responsibility and initiative through the years. This is something that as a company we are very conscious of and the importance of internal progression.
- The introduction of the next generation of Minoli to help take the business forward.
We have more exciting initiatives planned for the immediate and mid-term and, whilst there are always the day-to-day challenges and rewards of running an SME business in a fast-moving industry, I look forward to continuing to help steer our course towards a bright future for Minoli & co.