SME News Q3 2026/ 30 Today’s competitive business landscape demands managing directors to balance efficiency with performance, requiring them to demonstrate unwavering passion, resilience, and a keen attention to detail if they wish for their company to remain at the top. At Carpet & Latex International, this is a role expertly fulfilled by Stephen Fitzgerald, who has successfully led his team from strength to strength since joining the company in 2020. As Stephen and his team are recognised in the Managing Director of the Year Awards 2026, we caught up with the visionary leader to hear more about his journey. For over 30 years, Carpet & Latex International has provided formulated latex compounds to the textile and floor coverings sector. The company became an established UK market leader in 2022 due to its unparalleled technological edge, boasting the highest product performance and the shortest manufactured lead time amongst its peers. This edge provides end-users with the luxury of a best-in-class product paired with competitive pricing and comprehensive customer service. Carpet & Latex International’s product line is primarily comprised of coatings applied to the back of textile products to impart a specific technological performance. This can be to improve drape, dimensional stability, and feel, or for more specific performance criteria such as flame retardancy, anti-static properties, and water resistance. These products are delivered as part of a complete wraparound service that includes bespoke on-site technical service, as well as collaborative control of customer product volumes and a flourishing transport fleet. This service is delivered to a diverse client base ranging from large PLCs, such as the Victoria Group and Shaw Industries, to dynamic, family-owned businesses such as Cormar Carpets and Regency. Carpet & Latex International also facilitates the smaller, more traditionally recognised woven carpet manufacturers such as Axminster and Wilton, alongside bigger, world-renowned peers like Ulster Carpet Mills and Brintons, who supply contract carpet to cruise liners and casinos. In a saturated market, Carpet & Latex International stands out for its ability to provide each customer with a uniquely formulated latex product that aligns directly with their specific needs. While many multinational companies can only offer their own standalone latex product, which doesn’t typically meet the performance criteria in full, Carpet & Latex International can blend together a range of latex from different suppliers to produce a bespoke formulated latex product with an unparalleled technical performance. The company has dominated the market with its ability to formulate bespoke latex blends and flexibility surrounding order quantities. With Carpet & Latex International, the client is guaranteed a bespoke product that is competitively priced and delivered in the desired quantity, at a time that suits their production needs. For this unrivalled service offering, Carpet & Latex International has been recognised for North West England’s Bespoke Latex and Flooring Solutions of the Year 2026. As the textile sector has faced challenges in recent years, Carpet & Latex International has diversified its offerings to supply latex compounds to the construction, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers sectors. The clients include some prestigious blue chip multi -nationals as well as reaching out to end-users who are well known house-hold names. The range of diversity also expands into agricultural products, soil stabilisers and road surfacing. As Carpet & Latex International continues to explore new avenues, it is becoming increasingly clear that the team can successfully occupy a long-term position in these new sectors. Guard-e-on is the new company born to embrace and develop a long-term position in these diverse new sectors. The handpicked management have cross functional responsibilities across both Guard-e-on and Carpet & Latex International and are challenged with the continued growth and future proofing of both businesses. At the helm of Carpet & Latex International and the newly formed Guard-e-on stands Stephen Fitzgerald, a seasoned Managing Director who joined Carpet & Latex International in 2020. Stephen has completed nine years of dedicated study overall, with three of those years spent obtaining a degree in Polymer Chemistry from the Manchester Metropolitan University in 1990. Through a combination of day release and night school, Stephen has also achieved a number of management qualifications to MBA level. Stephen has held a wide range of roles across the industry over the years, first beginning as a Lab Assistant before climbing up the ladder as a Lab Technician, Lab Manager, Technical Manager, Technical Director, and, finally, Managing Director. He progressed naturally through these technical roles, with his increasing responsibility supported academically by the qualifications achieved through the years. Across these roles, Stephen has been fortunate to have had exposure from front to back, from incoming sales to manufacture and dispatch. Prior to Carpet & Latex International, Stephen was invited to head up a management team Textile & Floor Coverings MD of the Year 2026 (North West England): Stephen Fitzgerald & Bespoke Latex & Flooring Solutions of the Year 2026 – North West England Carpet & Latex International Ltd
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