When your competitors are battoning down the hatches it can be a good time to raise your profile in the knowledge that your message will not get lost in the noise.

That, at least, is the attitude of three companies who have opened new showrooms.

They are: Churchfield Stone, who have taken over the first floor showroom that used to be bathrooms & kitchens at Howarth Builders Merchants in Corby; Kirkstone, who have opened a showroom at their headquarters at Skelwith Bridge, Cumbria; and CDUK, the UK distributors of DuPont’s acrylic hard surface Corian that is starting to make its way into the workshops of granite worktop processors, who have expanded into larger premises in Leeds.

Churchfield Stone is run by Vic Abbott, who has made a speciality of supplying British stone as flooring (in particular) for the past 15 years. He says interest in British stone is growing and already had displays of the British stone tiles he produces from his factory near Peterborough in specialist outlets such as Hyperion Tiles of Ascot and Marlow, who have featured Vic’s tiles for more than 12 years, and Hardrock Flooring in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

Howarth Builders Merchants could expand Churchfield’s exposure considerably as Corby is only one of their 48 outlets. If it goes well, Churchfield Stone could have displays in more of the Howarth outlets.

Kirkstone Quarries’ new showroom (they also have one in London) is on the site in Skelwith Bridge where the company was established 62 years ago. Kirkstone employed HM Architecture to transform an old outhouse into a contemporary display space showcasing the best in architectural stonework.

And Corian hard surfaces company CDUK have seen so much growth they had to have more space, which gave them the opportunity to upgrade their facilities, although still in Leeds. NSS will be taking a closer look at Corian in the New Year.