Altro is celebrating its 100 year anniversary in the floor and wall industry. Founded in 1919 by a small group of individuals with a big idea, the company now has more than 900 employees globally with multiple historic achievements, the company said, including inventing safety flooring, developing a hygienic walls system and creating the first adhesive-free safety floor.
“One successful innovation could be luck; repeated success needs a little help,” said Richard Kahn, Altro’s CEO and the third generation to lead the organization and its offices across Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. “We’ve always known that speaking with, listening to and partnering with customers, end users, contractors, engineers and designers is the key to getting what we do right. It’s allowed us to be bold and to explore design and functional possibilities, without losing sight of who we’re doing it for.”
The company’s first safety floor installation occurred in 1950 in a church hall in Nottingham, UK. That same flooring is still in place and maintains impressive slip resistance, keeping users safe for nearly 70 years. The company said it continues to turn creative thinking into practical real-world solutions that can transform everyday spaces into environments that improve the wellbeing of everyone that uses them.
“While the world in 1919 couldn’t seem more different from today’s, our excitement at embracing and developing new technologies and ways of working is exactly the same as back then,” said Kahn. “Add to this that we remain a family business with family values and I think you have the reason why we’re here today, celebrating our centenary.”