There was not much stone from the British Isles at the Marmomacc stone exhibition in Verona last month (25-28 September) but the fact that there was any at all was enough to attract plenty of attention to it.

Last year, Burlington was a lone representative of English stone at the Italian show. This year the Cumbrian company was joined by Albion Stone, the producer of the famous Portland limestone, and Forest Pennant, which quarries Pennant sandstone from the Forest of Dean. Albion and Forest Pennant shared a stand in Hall 8, where Burlington also once again exhibited on its own stand.

Nick Horton, the Managing Director of Forest Pennant, said he was delighted with the response the company and the stone received from visitors. “People were coming on to the stand and saying: Britain? Stone? We thought you imported all your stone. You don’t produce stone, do you?

“I think people were interested because there was nothing else there that looks like our stone. The Brazilians were the only other country with something different to show.

“If we get 5% of the enquiries converted to sales we will be more than satisfied.”

He says the enquiries were from all over Europe, the Middle and Far East, Australia – anywhere and everywhere.

Forest Pennant wanted to start exporting because the company could extract a lot more stone from its quarry than it currently needs to satisfy demand in the UK.

Nick said: “I would certainly do this show again and I would encourage others to do it.”

Michael Poultney, the Managing Director of Albion Stone, was just as enthusiastic. “It was a fantastic show. We got leads from nations we didn’t even know existed; a complete kaleidoscope of companies that came to speak to us.

“We had a 3m Union Jack on the back of stand and people were still asking where we were from. They’re just not used to seeing English stone.”

Some other British quarry operators visited Marmomacc and, on hearing the enthusiasm from the English exhibitors, expressed some interest in joining Albion, Forest Pennant and Burlington in Verona next year. Michael Poultney said afterwards: “If any other producers want to join us next year we would be delighted to hear from them.”

The only other stone producer from the British Isles exhibiting was Kilkenny Limestone Quarry in Hall 11, showing its Irish Blue limestone from the company’s quarry at Kellymount, County Kilkenny, as blocks, slabs, tiles, palisades, pavers and block steps.

The only other exhibitors from the UK were this magazine and its Natural Stone Show, held every other year at ExCeL London, which has had a stand at Marmomacc for many years, and Carl Sharkey’s Laser Products Europe, which was launching a new digital templater that can work in both three dimensions and two (see last month’s NSS for details).

Carl says: “People were pretty impressed with its capabilities.” And visitors to the show were not just saying they were impressed, they were buying the units. Laser Products Europe took orders for 21 of them during the show. Interest in the templater has been so great that Carl has appointed a UK Sales Manager in Dean Bell and at Marmomacc signed up new distributors for Russia and Germany.

As well as running Laser Products Europe, Carl also heads Breton UK, which represents the Italian Breton stone processing machinery company in the UK. He says interest in the Breton CombiCut is currently high in the UK because companies find its combination of a saw and waterjet cutting an ideal way of processing the new range of sheet products now available – such as Cosentino’s Dekton that was officially launched into the UK at the 100% Design exhibition at Earls Court last month (see page 14).

Carl says that while waterjet cutting is ideal for intricate cuts, a saw blade is much quicker for straight lines and simple curves, so a machine that can switch straight from one to the other on the same head provides the best of both worlds.

As well as those companies with their own stands, there were, of course, plenty of the agents that represent overseas machinery manufacturers in the UK and Ireland supporting the manufacturers on their stands.

Some were also taking the opportunity of being at the show to find some new companies to represent and D Zambelis, based in Essex, reports that it has now added Donatoni and Omag to the makes it represents in the UK. It entered the machinery market representing Spanish manufacturers Gisbert but has since added Achilli and, lately, Terzago, which takes Zambelis into direct competition with market-leading GMM. Donatoni and Omag continue the move by Zambelis into the upper echelons of stone processing machinery.

Many of the machinery developments being launched at Marmomacc that will be coming to the UK were previewed in last month’s NSS, but there were other developments and launches, including a new crystalliser from Fila called Kristall Plus, which will restore a natural sheen to the worn surfaces of marble, travertine, agglomerates and limestone.

Developed for use by treatment specialists, Kristal Plus provides a slip-resistant shine while taking some of the hard work out of the process.

A little of the product goes a long way (a litre will polish up to 50m²). And it is simple to apply: After washing the floor with a degreasing detergent, simply spray a small amount of Kristall Plus on to the dry surface and polish evenly using a single-brush machine fitted with a white disc.

On the stand of Flow Europe, represented in the UK by Waters Group, was a live demonstration of its Mach 3b 4020 with its Dynamic Waterjet XD technology for high-precision flat stock and 3D cutting.

Flow’s Hyplex Prime 30 pump, rated at 60,000psi but still unusually energy efficient, delivers a continuous operating pressure of 55,000psi.

Flow claims to have invented abrasive waterjet cutting in 1979 and in 2001 came up with Dynamic Waterjet to eliminate stream lag and taper on flat surfaces. This increased by two-to-four times the speed of cut, which has made waterjet cutting a whole new proposition for stone processors.

Now Flow brings that technology to 3D parts with the patented Dynamic XD Waterjet Technology, enabling manufacturers to cut intricate and complex designs so accurately that there is usually no need for secondary processing. This includes bevelling up to 55° and mitring.

Of course, the companies and products mentioned on these two pages are just a tiny part of the Marmomacc exhibition, which this year saw 55,000 visitors, including more than 30,000 from outside Italy – an increase of 6% – which indicates the success of Italian companies in switching their emphasis from sales in Italy to exports.

The visitors from outside Italy came from a record-breaking 143 of the World’s 205 nations.

There were more than 1,400 exhibitors from nearly 60 countries, 16 international group attendances and 44 official trade missions, including, for the first time, a visit from the Egyptian Minister for Industry & Trade, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour.

Germans were most prevalent after the Italians themselves, followed by (in order of numbers attending) Indians, Spanish, Turks, French, Americans and then an unusually high number of visitors from the UK, which might indicate the upturn most companies in the UK have seen this year has encouraged them to go out and look for new opportunities.

There were not so many visitors from China this time, perhaps as a result of the country’s own show in Xiamen now being such a major international event. Russia and Brazil were still well represented.

Ettore Riello, President of Veronafiere, said as the event came to an end: “The results of the 48^th Marmomacc confirm the validity of the show’s unique formula, combining business with product culture, design, training and constant innovation.

“All this is equally hallmarked by Marmomacc’s increasing internationalisation – its initiatives abroad interpret and promote the excellence of the Italian stone industry."