The force is strong with Kenilworth carpet company

Kenilworth Carpets, based in Farmer Ward Road, created four carpets for the premiere, including a black carpet with the Star Wars logo inlaid into it, and a red carpet complete with another logo which the likes of Harrison Ford, John Boyega and Carrie Fisher all walked along.

Keith Swain, director of Kenilworth Carpets, was present at the premiere to see how the carpets looked.

He said: “We were getting comments from people saying the carpets look fantastic. There was quite a lot of pressure to get them right because it is the most high-profile film of the year.

“This has been unlike anything we’ve done in the past just because of the interest in the film. Our delivery drivers do not usually get interested in the carpets themselves, but they’re much more interested when we told them these ones were for Star Wars.

“From our point of view it worked really well and it was a great end to the year for us.”

Creating the carpets was a drawn-out process, with the four carpets taking four days to complete due to the difficulty of incorporating the Star Wars logo within them.

The logos had to be carefully inserted into each carpet, and each logo was hand-cut on site by staff at Kenilworth Carpets.

Mr Swain added: “The process was quite intricate so we were glad the carpets looked good at the premiere.”

The Star Wars premiere is not the only event the company has made carpets for this year. The after-show party for Spectre, the recent James Bond film starring Daniel Craig and Christoph Waltz, featured a red carpet made by Kenilworth Carpets.

Additionally, a purple carpet was created by the company for the champions’ dinner at this year’s Wimbledon Championships.

With the domestic side of the business seeing an increase in trade as well, the company has had one of its most successful years since it started trading in April 2010, which Mr Swain put down to the build-up of momentum within both sides of the business.

However, when the company first started, it took a little bit of time to build its reputation among the events industry due to the fallout from the recession in previous years.

Owner Ian Michael Gaby started working with Mr Swain four years ago, and since then the company has gone from strength to strength. There is a strong possibility that it could break its own turnover record this financial year.

According to Mr Swain, one of the reasons why Kenilworth Carpets gets contracts for such high-profile events is down to the personal relationships it forms with its clients, which he admits can sometimes be down to luck rather than science.

Mr Swain said: “Sometimes you’re just the flavour of the month within the events industry, but it can change very quickly.

“The main thing is the upturn in confidence over the last few years, and that you’re only as good as your last job. We’re always looking at keeping a good relationship with our clients.”