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The director hopes his visit to the US, where he learned techniques the UK has not seen before, will see the business go from strength to strength

A unique Northampton showroom, which is one of “only a handful of its kind in the country”, is celebrating its first year of being open.

BMC Venetian Plastering, located in William Street, is a showroom, training academy and supplies materials nationally – but after the managing director visited the US, he has been able to offer something “completely different”.

A couple of months ago, Billy Mcsweeney travelled across continents to add to his skills and master the art of Venetian plaster. In doing this, he can now perfect the polished plaster finish – which appears like glass.

He said: “I came back and ripped the whole showroom out to put in different looks that the UK hasn’t seen before.

“Since opening our doors last September, a lot of people have visited and were amazed.”

Billy says there are only around seven showrooms in the country that offer this, and there are none within a 30-mile radius of Northampton.

After learning how to perfect the polished plaster finish, Billy hopes to offer crystal art pieces on top – which he learnt during his trip.

BMC Venetian Plastering offer products that can be used on floors, tables, worktops, bathrooms and as feature walls.

“There’s not one person in the UK doing that,” he said. “The one person who can do it in the world, who taught me in the US, only shared his expertise with a handful of people.”

The plan to offer this is part of BMC Venetian Plastering’s goal of expanding, and Billy hopes to gain more customers now he can install these bespoke designs and finishes from around the world across Northampton.

Billy is “proud” of the progress he has made over the past year, and hopes to see the company celebrate 10 or even 20 years in business in the future.

The showroom opened its doors at the end of September to celebrate its one year anniversary, and visitors were able to see the Venetian plaster offerings for themselves – and the varieties of looks, textures and colours.

The managing director says while most people would opt for tiles, some of the Venetian plaster products are more durable and fully waterproof – and customers can carefully tailor the design to their needs alongside Billy.

‘Only a handful in the country’: Unique Northampton showroom celebrates first year of being open

You can visit BMC Venetian Plastering’s website here.