CHESHIRE tycoon Dawn Gibbins, who sold her Flowcrete flooring business to an American company this year for £30m, today announced a £1m deal to kickstart her new venture.

The mother-of-two built Flowcrete into a £45m-turnover enterprise specialising in commercial and industrial flooring. Now she has bought premises near Macclesfield for the headquarters of Barefoot, which will provide resin-based luxury flooring for homes, offices and garden patios.

Initially, Barefoot will operate in the Cheshire area but a nationwide franchise roll-out is planned for 2009.