Things have been getting very busy here at Shawstone these last few months. Not only have we employed more skilled people to accommodate the busy schedule we now have, we have increased our daily fitting to three fits a day.
When fitting new worktops we take pride in the knowledge that your worktops are an investment of the future. We pride ourselves on being members of the guild of master craftsmen and a proud member of checkatrade.
When fitting your worktops our fitters will take every care to insure that the fit goes without incident and that the granite or quartz look stunning.
Please feel free to interact with our fitters, ask questions and take an interest in the fitting of the worktops. I myself when fitting encouraged my customers to stay in the kitchen and watch and ask questions. A lot of what you learn will amaze you.
So when the fitters arrive at your front door, make friends and stick the kettle on…..
Well, it’s almost Spring already! If you’re planning a new kitchen or revamping your old one in time for spring then now is the time start choosing your granite worktop or quartz worktop (Silestone).
With a massive range of granite and quartz for your kitchen to choose from making a decision can sometimes take a little time but we are always happy to help where we can. Things are getting really busy down here at Shaw Stone so as they say, book early to avoid disappointment!
Ten years ago we started Shaw Stone, becoming a limited company a few years later. I decided to form Shaw Stone after leaving a marble and granite fabrication company, having become disillusioned with the customer service we were offering. I knew I could do better and so I started the company with my brother who left the business a few years later.
In the beginning our office was a desk in my one bedroom rented flat and we had no workshop. We leased a van, bought some hand tools and we were off! My then girlfriend, now wife, left her job to work in our ‘office / lounge’. I had a contact in Birmingham who was importing thin granite slabs which we began selling and fitting as they were cheap. These didn’t really take off because being only one metre long the average kitchen worktop had too many joints.
We then started selling 30mm granite blanks that were longer so we got over the joint problem. We used to rent out a corner of a friends factory in Birmingham to do the cutting but having no forklift we could only handle blanks. We eventually rented our own factory in Birmingham but still cut and polished the majority of the marble, granite and quartz by hand. As I was living in Fareham and the factory was in Birmingham the travelling got too much so in 2006 we moved to our current location in Fareham.
By concentrating on customer service and providing the best quality possible at the best realistic price we were able to build a good reputation expand the business. We now have a factory full of state of the art cutting and polishing machinery, a forklift, digital templating machines and a large stock of full size slabs (we don’t use blanks anymore as slabs are of much higher quality). We’ve fitted thousands of granite worktops over the years, have a fantastic Checkatrade report and have an annual turnover well in excess of a million pounds. A lot has happened in ten years and I’m looking forward to the next decade. Happy Birthday Shaw Stone!
Robert Shaw
After the extremely busy December when everyone wants their granite worktops or quartz worktops (Silestone) fitted in time for Christmas, January is traditionally a relatively quiet time in the stone industry. It’s a good time to pick up a great deal and here at Shaw Stone we’re doing our bit. For January and February only we’re offering free digital templating worth over £200! It’s also a great time to order a granite, marble or quartz off-cut for a vanity top, fireplace hearth, shelf or any other use you can think of.
We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Looking forward to 2012, we are quite upbeat. After a record year for granite worktop and quartz worktop sales in 2011, we intend to improve on it this year.
We put down the success to our continued commitment to only use 1st quality granite and quartz full sized slabs (not cheap 2nd grade ‘blanks’ as many of our competitors use) and also exploiting the very latest technology breakthroughs such as digital templating and ‘lifetime’ natural stone sealers offing a 15 year warranty. As ever, customer feedback also remains key and we are very proud of our Checkatrade score of 9.9 out for 10 from 175 feedback forms. Another massive growth area for the business is the sale of the stone off cuts which are proving very popular. These are ideal for vanity tops, shelves, cistern tops, fireplace hearths and much more.
Well it’s been a busy December fabricating and fitting lots of granite worktops and quartz worktops (Silestone) in time for Christmas but last weekend was the Shaw Stone Christmas party and we decided to do something a little different this year. Rather than the usual dinner and dance the guys in the factory wanted to go Go-Karting at Teamsport in Gosport and managed to convince the ladies in the office that this would be a great idea (although not everyone wanted to race with some opting to spectate).
I must say well done to Kath for giving it a go but after taking quite a hard bump in the side from Kev as she came out of the pits on her first lap, she decided to give the rest of the race evening a miss (and asked if we could go for a spa day next year)!
The race was a hard fought battle that proved a lot more difficult and competitive than many people had expected. With Jason getting far ahead in front after Mike (who had qualified on Pole) span out, it left exciting wheel to wheel racing for 2nd place between myself, Mike and Sam. I must admit my competitive side took over and I raced as if it was the F1 world championship!
After the race it was the prize giving on the podium and then we all went off to the Chinese for an all you can eat sit down meal. I think a great night was had by all. We’re back to fabricating and fitting those kitchen worktops on Monday.
The final race positions were:
1st Jason Carr (our bookkeeper Nia’s husband); 2nd Robert Shaw (MD, myself); 3rd Mike Green (templater & fitter); 4th Sam Arkley (fitter); 5th Jo Shaw (the good lady wife); 6th Kevin Greaves (fabricator); DNF Richard Atkins (factory manager).
November has proven to be a popular month, and this is set to continue throughout December with large amounts of work scheduled!
Whilst we were fully booked in the run up to Christmas with templating and fitting granite worktops and quartz worktops (Silestone), we now have limited availability due to a small number of jobs having been delayed due to builders not being on schedule or kitchen units not turning up on time. So if you want the kitchen worktop fitted before Christmas, get in touch with us soon before these dates are go!
Well, Christmas is fast approaching and as always it’s a busy time of year in the stone and kitchen industries as people want their new granite worktops or quartz worktops (Silestone) fitted before the big day. For our industry this does mean that January and February tend to be a bit quiet.
For customers who can wait this is a great time of year to pick up a fantastic deal as company’s try to keep their staff busy. As such we are offering a special deal of free templating worth £204 for all granite kitchen worktops and quartz kitchen worktops fitted in January or February 2012 (terms and conditions apply). So you could save yourself a fortune by buying your new kitchen in the January sales and taking advantage of this offer.
If you’re researching granite worktops or quartz worktops (Silestone) and are looking for prices then we have a useful tool on our website, the online price calculator. This is quite useful for just getting an estimate on your granite worktops or quartz worktops although we always prefer to discuss your plans further if the initial estimate is of interest to you. Every kitchen worktop we fabricate is bespoke so pricing for every scenario on the website is impractical; we try to make our website estimations as accurate as possible, but at the end of the day, it is a guide, and not a firm price.
Once you’ve completed an online estimate it can be submitted to us so we can review it and give you a firm quote based on the information you have inputted. At this stage, we can discuss your needs in more detail and come to a firm price and plan of installation.
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week we were exhibiting at the Big Green Home Show at the National Build centre in Swindon. We were presenting the new Eco solid surface from Cosentino (the same company that manufacture the market leading quartz engineered stone Silestone).
Ideal for kitchen worktops this material can be fabricated in the same way as our granite worktops and quartz worktops but it s green credentials are impeccable, made from 75% recycled material and bonded with 25% organic resin it really is the first choice for environmentally conscious consumers.
