Topps Tiles was founded by Edward Derbyshire and opened its first store in 1963 in Sale, Manchester. It then continued to open stores across the North West and the Midlands. In 1990, Topps Tiles merged with Tile Kingdom and consequently expanded its presence into the South and London. Stuart Williams and Barry Bester had set up Tile Kingdom in 1984, with funds from Bester’s wife’s business. Bester and Williams bought out Derbyshire in 1995 and in 1997 Topps Tiles became a public limited company.