Andy Bell relaunches the National Masonry name and introduces the Weha Titan sandblasting machine, the Cobalm Venus bridge saw and the Marmo Meccanica LCV 711 edge polisher.
Due to some confusion in recent years caused by a number of machinery companies having similar names, Andy Bell has returned to his original National Masonry brand.
“We started and developed as National Masonry and no matter what I call myself, people will always refer to me as Andy of National Masonry, so it makes sense to stick to what people know,” he says.
Andy and his team have been planning their strategy for the next 24 months with a view to expanding the business and raising the bar on service.
National Masonry has allocated a budget to promoting itself in the Natural Stone Specialist magazine and will be exhibiting at the Natural Stone Show at ExCeL London 30 April to 2 May next year, but its marketing efforts don’t stop there.
It has dedicated staff working on targeted e-shots, its priority hotlist, online auctions and direct mailers, with the intention of ensuring the brand reaches every corner of the UK… and beyond.
Having recovered from his illness earlier this year, Andy plans to be on the road visiting customers to promote National Masonry’s new products and help companies with machinery to move on get the best deal.
Since the National Masonry relaunch in September, it has more used machinery in stock than ever.
It had run a priority hotlist of customers who contact National Masonry when they are looking for a particular machine and they are first to be contacted when a machine comes in that meets their requirements. Even then, more than 50% of the machines are sold before National Masonry has time to put them on its website.
On meeting the demands of his customers Andy says: “I can’t sell everything, but if my customers ask me for consumables and tooling then I supply them to offer as complete a service as I can. All my suppliers have strong brands and are superb companies to work with. I owe it to them to look after the customers that buy their products, so they feel happy with the whole experience and want to come back and buy those machines again.”
The reach of National Masonry goes beyond the UK – in fact, beyond even Europe. Just last month (September) he sold two machines outside Europe. One was a Marmo Meccanica LCH 711 that was sold to Stone Interiors in Melbourne, Australia, and a Thibaut bridge saw was snatched up by Atelier Progranit Inc in Quebec.
Andy was delighted to see the results of the National Masonry marketing efforts and says his hotlist includes companies from South Africa, Sweden and Barbados. Andy relishes the opportunity to spread the name of National Masonry internationally.
National Masonry has always been a lean team, looking to be as cost effective as possible and keep overheads down. However, the workload has increased to the point that it will have to take on more staff in order to expand the business and the intention is to have recruited new fitters and administrative staff by the New Year.
Andy confesses that he realises how lucky National Masonry is to own its premises at Town Head Farm in Bishop Auckland. The company intends to expand the buildings on the 52acres of land there in 2013 in order to meet its aspirations of having the capacity to double turnover in the next 12 months.
Andy: “I can’t do this without the continuing commitment and dedication of my team, but essentially when someone calls to buy or sell a machine it is me they want to speak to.
“I am quite direct, and if there are issues I like to resolve them as quickly and easily as possible.
“People don’t come to me to be molly coddled, they come to me because they know that I can give them a fair price for their machine, or I can get them what they need. Anyone who has met me will have no illusions about this and even those who have not seen eye to eye with me in the past have come back eventually. When it comes down to what’s best for your business it’s the results that count.
“My pledge to my customers is to beat any other offer (when proof of the offer can be supplied in writing) on a used machine, no matter what the machine – guaranteed!”
This month (October) National Masonry introduces a number of new machines. The Titan Sand Blaster is described as the monumental mason’s best friend and is just £4,999.
This upgraded version of the Titan Sand Blaster from Weha is clean, simple to use and requires minimal maintenance.
Portable and self-contained, the unit weighs only 75kg and, unlike its predecessor, the Titan recycles the blasting grit, which makes it not only cleaner to use but reduces the workload for the mason. It is powered by a 240V/1200W motor and its overall dimensions are (LxWxH) 1000mm x 700mm x 1600mm. Delivery time: 14 days.
The Cobalm Venus is ideal when you need to accommodate extra length. Price: £28,995.
Engineered stone is increasingly popular and can be supplied in longer lengths than the standard granite slab, presenting a problem for the mason as most saws are not designed to take a slab longer than 3m. Cobalm has risen to the challenge and presents its Venus bridge saw, which can accommodate up to 3.5m of material, eliminating the need for that second cut.
This monolithic bridge saw is robust but compact (overall dimensions are 5150 x 2400 x 2400mm and it weighs 2.4tonnes), so it won’t occupy space unnecessarily. Axes movement with servoventilated motors are controlled by an electronic positioner for fast execution of work. The head rotates and tilts 0-90° and the Venus carries a blade of 400-500mm diameter powered by a 5.5KW (7.5HP) motor that has a forward speed of 0-8m/min.
The control panel clearly displays the position of the axes. Options include a table that rotates through a full 360° with a mechanical lock to 0-45-90°. Extras include step-cutting, tilting table, laser pointer and marine ply table.
From Marmo Meccanica comes the latest version of the Magnum, one of the smallest and most compact edge polishers in the world. Price: £28,995.
Although only 2450 x 1185mm, efficiency and performance are not compromised with a power rating of 6.8kW that enables it to polish a flat edge with a top and bottom chamfer at 1m per minute.
The Magnum is perfect for inner city sites or anywhere space is at a premium. It requires only 2.97m2 of floor area plus 1.2m either side for the roller tables that are included in the price.
The Magnums have been in production since 1982 and were developed with ease of both use and installation in mind – they do not need foundations or draining slopes but are simply put in place, levelled and good to go.
To meet the need for more flexibility, the latest model can now accommodate 88mm splashbacks as well as the standard 100mm.
And it is worth noting that parts for the Marmo Meccanicas are readily available from your local engineering supplier, which reduces down time and price.
This model is in stock at National Masonry and can be delivered in 7-10 days.
Online Auctions
National Masonry will be hosting four online auctions a year with the next one scheduled for December.
“The auctions are a fantastic, exciting way to provide a bespoke platform for the seller who wants more control over the selling process,” comments National Masonry’s Andy Bell.
The process is similar to a one day auction on Ebay and provides transparency to all the parties involved.
The machines up for auction are listed on the auction page at www.nationalmasonry.co.uk. Interested parties register for a bidding number and the auction runs over a 24hour period.
Registration for the December auction will be open from 20 October.