Stone contractors Grant Ameristone, formed in 1986 by UK stone contractors WE Grant and the American Turner Corporation and bought by Cawdor Investments in 1993, have changed their name to Cawdor Stone. They say this is to help unify and strengthen their brand identity by combining their four stone divisions under the name of Cawdor - a name taken from the Scottish Campbell clan history chosen by group managing director Colin Campbell when he set up the business.

The company used the Cawdor name on the credits they received for two London projects honoured at the Natural Stone Awards in November (see the December issue of NSS). These were for the hard landscaping at Bishops Square and for the interior of Cardinal Place.

Grant Ameristone have worked on many prestigious projects over the years. When Cawdor Investments bought the company, by then solely owned by the Turner Corporation, it was with a deal to carry out work in the Far East. That led on to one of the largest ever stone flooring contracts, installing 125,000m2 of granite paving at Chek Lap Kok Airport, Hong Kong. It was a contract worth £24million, the majority of it being finished in 12 months by the 150 people working on it.

Since then, the revival of the UK market has seen Grant Ameristone working much more in the UK, developing into four divisions providing a comprehensive range of stone and services to builders, architects and consumers. Ever more frequently Grant Ameristone have found themselves on the same tender lists for major projects in the UK as Grants of Shoreditch, a company that grew out of WE Grant to become a major stone contractor. It has led to some confusion that the name change removes.