Meet the Team: Factory Outlet store

Ashley: I like to play the Xbox, watch telly, and I try to go on holidays as much as I can, although I’ve bought a house now so I can’t do that as much! FIFA is my favourite Xbox game, and Call of Duty, although I’m not very good at them. I like to take the dog out at weekends as well – when it’s not raining.

Steven: I like to keep fit and do weight training. I watch a lot of films as well, that sort of thing. Probably Star Wars is the one I’ve watched the most, I’m a bit of a sci-fi buff.

Steven: I wouldn’t do my own tiles. I can handle a bit of DIY but I’m not going to get myself into too much trouble tiling as I know lots of people that can do a good job. 

Ashley:I know a lot of tilers so I don’t need to do that. I have done the floor tiling in the office in the back here though, but everyone joked that it will look good when the carpet goes down.

What’s your favourite Johnson Tiles product?

Steven: I’ve got the Solace tiles in my own bathroom at home. The inkjet tiles are really impressive, they look like marble but every one is slightly different.

Ashley:I’ve got Zeppelin tiles at home, they are in my bathroom. I’ve got Bevel Brick White in the kitchen as well.

Steven:All of it! Meeting all the different people, it’s customer-based so I’m always meeting new people. There’s always something new that comes up every day. It tends to be more the questions that you haven’t heard before that you remember, and you’ve got to look up what they need. I’ve learned a lot over the years. 

We get general public and a lot of trade guys, people that travel and have looked on the website but want to see the tiles in person. We do a lot of sales over the phone as well. We really cover a lot of bases. It’s only one store but it’s a really busy one. 

A lot of people come back and tell you how a job went and that makes you feel good. You get interested in what they are doing.

Ashley: Meeting the customers and dealing with different people every day, you get a real mix of people in here. They often want advice on what tiles to have or what goes with what. 

This month we’re heading to the Factory Outlet store at our Stoke-on-Trent home, as we continue to introduce you to the Johnson Tiles team. Meet Deputy Manager Steven Powner, 44, and Sales Assistant Ashley Thomas, 26, two of the friendly faces who look after our customers every day.

Steven has been working in retail since 1997 and for Johnson Tiles for the past five years. Ashley is nearly as long serving, having worked at our Factory Outlet for four-and-a-half years.

The Factory Outlet is based at our main headquarters in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, in the heart of the Potteries, offering great prices on our most popular products for both trade and DIY customers. It stocks a wide range of tiles as well as everything else you need to complete your tiling project. Call 01782 524 040 for more information.