Miles of Tiles

Once upon a time, Great Britain Tile CEO George Clamp played and coached soccer in — you guessed it — the United Kingdom. That all changed, however, in the late 1970s, when a coaching gig brought him to Chicago and then the Tampa area. He fell in love with the west coast of Florida, and a few years later he moved his entire family to the Sunshine State and went into the tile and flooring business.

At age 15, George Clamp had learned how to install tile from his uncle, even though he aspired to a soccer career. He passed the knowledge on to his children, including son and heir-apparent Steve Clamp, who today helps George, 67, run Land O' Lakes-based Great Britain Tile. The company was founded in 1986 and has enjoyed steady growth, even during lean times like the housing market downturn a decade ago.

“Dad just loved the environment and saw the potential for growth here,” says Steve Clamp. “It was the early '80s and he saw lots of opportunity. He said, 'That's it; we're moving here.'”