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Derbyshire Firm Creates a Solid Grounding for the Future
07/10/2008
A specialist stone processing firm in Derbyshire has increased its productivity and turnover due to a major investment in technology.
Natural Stone Surfaces Ltd in Chapel-en-le-Frith, High Peak, Derbyshire, is one of the region’s best known companies for importing granite, marble, slate and limestone, from which it manufactures horizontal and vertical surfaces for the home - flooring, work tops, cladding and vanities – and has over 40 years experience.
The material the company manufactures is imported from all over the world, via shipment to its factory, where it is then cut to size and overseen by the finest of craftsmen. Natural Stone take great care in ensuring all of the material from granite, marble, travertine, limestone, slate, sandstone and quartzite is finely polished and cleaned by hand with great precision and care, which is why investments in the latest technology are essential.
Natural Stone’s most recent investment is in a new stone processing CNC (computer numerically controlled) machine costing £120,000, part funded by East Midlands New Technology Initiative (NTI).
Mat Milner, managing director of Natural Stone Surfaces, says: “Since we have introduced the CNC lathe into the manufacture process, there has definitely been an increase in turnover (predicted to be approximately 20%), and in the long term I am sure profits will be higher. This investment has also helped us to release the pressure of an ever increasing bottle neck in the production of our stone surfaces.”
The company is also investing in specialist training for two employees – Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Accounting and 2D AutoCAD at the University of Derby.