Bill Walters wins the Tile Industries top award

 

The Tile Association Awards are the “Oscars” of the wall and floor tile industry and the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Tile Industry is the highlight of the awards.  It is made by The Tile Association itself on behalf of the industry.  It recognises people who have had a positive impact upon the industry and whose contribution has helped to shape the industry into what it is today. 

At a glittering gala dinner, at the Birmingham Metropole Hotel, Bill Walters received this award to a standing ovation from an audience comprising the most influential people within the industry.

The remit for this highly coveted award is very simple; that the he or she has made a difference to the industry as a whole, not just within their own business environment.

Bill Walters is well known to many within the industry and has very definitely made a difference on the technical front .

Bill achieved an honours degree in physics at Manchester University and then began a career, spanning 43 years, with the British Ceramic Research Association, which we now know as Ceram .  In his early days his research work in ceramics resulted in him becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Materials .

For the past 18 years Bill has specialised in the performance and installation of ceramic tiles.  He sits on British, European and International Standards Committees and has lectured widely in the UK and internationally. He also provides informed advice on TTA Technical Committees and Working Groups, and is highly regarded as one of the UK ’s principal experts in testing methods for ceramic tiles and is a pioneer in testing slip resistance of floor tiles.

Bill has lived around the Stoke–on–Trent area for most of his life. He loves jazz and rugby and, with his wife Margaret, travels far and wide to share their enjoyment of bird watching.

For details of the winners of the other 20 awards, including wall tile of the year, floor tile of the year, best use of tile in a housing development and best initiative to reduce environmental impact got to the TTA website at www.tiles.org.uk where you can access the awards brochure.