Case Study - Concept Carpets Ltd

Monday 22 June 2026

The apprentice who came back to own the shop

Concept Carpets Ltd is a Trading Standards Approved Norfolk Trusted Trader, and the longest established flooring shop in Aylsham. From our showroom on Penfold Street we supply and fit every type of flooring, alongside blinds, shutters, beds and mattresses, all on display for customers to come and see. We also run a full in house service that covers carpet cleaning, binding and taping, right through to diamond floor grinding. Today we have three members of staff and four regular fitters, and we are busy training a new fitter of our own.

My own story with Concept goes back a long way. I joined the business as an apprentice straight after leaving school, around twenty years ago, and learned the trade from the ground up alongside Paul Dennis, who first opened the shop more than twenty five years ago. For eight years I was Paul's main fitter, and over that time I kept pushing myself to learn every part of the job, from floor preparation through to advanced bespoke installations.

In 2014 I set up on my own, but I never really left Concept behind. I carried on doing Paul's fitting work alongside my own jobs and projects for other well regarded companies in the area. In 2022 Paul and I went into partnership and started expanding what the business could offer, and around eighteen months ago I bought Paul out completely and became the sole owner. These days I am focused on growing the business, although you will still catch me out on the tools every now and then. It is the part of the job I have always loved.

Why we joined Norfolk Trusted Trader

We wanted to be part of a scheme that showed customers, clearly and openly, that we work to strict rules and a proper code of practice. The fact that people could also see genuine, independently vetted reviews made it feel like exactly the right direction for a business like ours. In a close knit place like Aylsham, that kind of reassurance counts for a great deal.

“Being part of a council backed scheme gives some of our more vulnerable customers real peace of mind.”

What membership has meant

I will be honest, the vetting process was more thorough than I had expected, in the best possible way. We had to tighten up a few things on our estimates, but the team were genuinely helpful and explained clearly what was needed at every step.

Since joining, more of our customers have taken the time to leave a review. We hand out cards with a link to our Norfolk Trusted Trader profile, and people tell us they feel far more comfortable leaving honest feedback on an independent, trusted site than they do anywhere else. Reading back through what they have written, the comments about tidy work, sound advice and a job done properly say more about this shop than any score ever could.

It matters most of all with our older and more vulnerable customers. Many of the people we look after in and around Aylsham want to know that the company coming into their home has been properly checked, and being a Trading Standards Approved Trusted Trader gives them exactly that. We are proud of our membership and promote it wherever we can, with the logo on our van, on our advertising banners and across our social media.

Looking ahead

We are always looking to improve. Our focus now is on expanding our ranges and choosing our suppliers carefully, so that everything we offer comes with the consistent quality and service our customers expect. Further down the line we would love to move into a larger premises, which would let us display a much wider range of beds and really show what we can do.

After two decades with Concept, what drives me has not changed. I want to keep offering the honest advice and quality workmanship the shop has been known for since the very beginning, and being a Norfolk Trusted Trader sits perfectly alongside that.

Mike Gaze
Owner, Concept Carpets Ltd

• View Concept Carpets Ltd's Norfolk Trusted Trader profile.
• Read Concept Carpets' verified customer reviews.
• If you would like to become a Trusted Trader, you can apply here
• If you are a Trusted Trader and would like to leave a case study either as text or as a video, get in touch.