There they find a group of technicians and scientists whose predecessors have won a Nobel Prize, are considered global experts in their field and have saved architects and designers millions of pounds.

The origins of the British Carpet Technical Centre (BTTG-BCTC), based just off the West Park Ring Road, go back 90 years, as director Mike Nunney explains.

"BTTG-BCTC is without doubt one of the world's leading carpet testing and technical consultancy organisations. We started out 90 years ago as the Wool Industry Research Association (WIRA) and have far more expertise in testing of carpets than anyone else in the world - at least 60 years.

"Carpet manufacturers send us samples for testing from as far afield as the Far East, Australia, the USA and Europe - and, frankly, if those carpet samples don't pass the tests for safety, then they don't get the CE mark -and that means they can't sell their carpet legitimately in Europe.

"We currently test carpets primarily for the contract flooring market - for hazardous content, flammability and resilience.

"But the tests are going to get tougher as more and more environmental and ecological concerns are addressed by stricter testing guidelines."
He says the key issue facing most businesses buying, fitting or selling carpets is cost.

"We are moving more and more into advisory and consultancy roles with architects and interior designers with whom we work to establish that they are indeed specifying or fitting the correct carpet.

"Carpet can be light, medium or heavy-use, and while the longevity and wear resilience of most carpets is in many - but not all - cases a given, appearance retention is a key issue.

"A carpet is not just a floor covering, it is a piece of the fabric of the building in which it is fitted and can be a massive influence upon the image a company, hotel or organisation wants to portray.

"No one will deny that a scruffy carpet gives the impression of a shabby or run-down business, so it is crucial that the right sort of carpet is specified for the right sort of usage.

WIRA was formed in 1918, testing and researching wool industry products.

In 1952 a team, led by Professor Henry Daniels, won a Nobel Prize for research into partition chromatography to identify the proteins of which wool fibres are made.

In 1982 the British Carpet Technical Centre was formed and it became part of the British Textile Technology Group (BTTG) in 1988.