Chandler & Skitmore is a true Norwich based family firm. Established in the 1960’s by the late Gordon Skitmore the firm is now run by Karl Skitmore who personally oversees all aspects of business. Karl believes in maintaining the high traditional standards established by his Father but also ensures the business can deliver quality, service and customer satisfaction in today’s modern world.

Way back in the 1960’s Gordon Skitmore worked tirelessly to give the family business the code of ethics and credibility it has today. He insisted on employing only conscientious and highly trained staff who were committed to customer care. He found family members employed within the company gladly took the time to provide the care and attention to look after customers the old fashioned way. Gordon successfully ran the family business for nearly 30 years but sadly passed away in 1988.

To ensure the family business continued to thrive Paul Skitmore took an even more active role in the firm’s management. Paul was determined that the firm’s values would continue to deliver complete satisfaction to customers. Having started in the business in the 1970’s as a carpet fitter he moved into a management and customer facing role, carrying out much of the estimating, planning and advising. Paul is now semi-retired but still plays an important role within the firm.

Karl Skitmore currently leads the family firm using nearly 30 years of his own experience. Having worked as a fitter, planner, buyer, designer and estimator within the flooring trade, Karl is able to take an unbiased approach to customer needs and ensure their exact requirements are met. Karl firmly believes “there is so much more to flooring than just selecting colours to match decor. New flooring is not a frequent purchase and products are constantly changing. I always try to help customers choose the best solution after I have discovered their priorities and needs.” Using his experience he guides customers through the decision making process to ensure all important aspects are considered. As did Gordon, Karl feels it is important that customers should be able to meet and personally speak with the owner of the business. For this reason he takes a prominent role in home visits and estimating.

Stephen Skitmore has many years planning and fitting experience in the flooring trade. His job is to manage and run the Chandler & Skitmore office. During your initial enquiries he will ascertain basic customer needs and arrange for Karl to visit at the customer’s home to assess the full extent of needs.

Louis Kean is Karls Nephew and head of customer accounts. Louis has been with the family business for over ten years. Once you have been visited by Karl and your needs assessed, Louis will be your first point of contact. His friendly and reassuring nature results in great service from start to finish. He is also a qualified fitter and planner. Louis sums up the family business like this “to get the kind of service we offer you would expect to pay over the odds, but we are just as competitive as anyone you care to mention and if you find this all too good to be true….. phone us today to find out for yourself”.

Today our long serving Head Fitter Jerry undertakes most of the fitting. Hardworking and conscientious he takes a great deal of pride in his work. His friendliness and helpfulness has resulted in many letters of thanks some of which can be seen on the testimonials page of this web site with many more on display at the showroom.

Karl’s son Aaron is now showing an interest in the business and may well follow in his Grand Father’s footsteps.