There was a great atmosphere at the Natural Stone Show this month as the UK’s largest gathering of the stone industry and its customers once again unfolded at the ExCeL London exhibition centre.

It was good to see there are still plenty of companies making profits that they wanted to invest. And although the visitor figure analysis was not available as NSS went to press, exhibitors reported having seen plenty of architects and designers interested in stone as well as a strong showing from the trade.

Being an international industry, there was plenty of imported stone on show but there was also more British stone than ever before seen at the Natural Stone Show as British quarries report renewed interest in indigenous stone.

There were new developments to be seen in the machinery, tools and consumables that the industry uses that were clearly attracting interest, as the ‘sold’ signs on the machinery being shown and the wads of enquiry sheets testified.

In the current economic climate that has taken its toll on the stone industry in the UK as much as any other industry internationally, this year’s Natural Stone Show was never going to see the growth that all its predecessors have achieved since the launch of the Stone Shows back in 1995.

But at 225, the number of exhibitors was only slightly lower than last time’s biggest ever Show and the overall number of people at the exhibition was still similar to the 2006 figure at more than 5,000.

It was good to see exhibitors and visitors alike had put the gloom behind them and were determined to play their part in the private sector-led recovery – no doubt the 5% growth in construction output last year played its part in that.

Running in conjunction with the exhibition was the Natural Stone & Building Conservation Conference. Attendance at some of the sessions was disappointing considering the high level of speakers who were giving the presentations, but the most popular attracted audiences of more than 100.

Show Director Richard Bradbury told NSS as the exhibitors dismantled their stands at the end of the exhibition: “It was encouraging to see so many visitors and to hear such good reports from exhibitors about the number of meaningful enquiries they have received. Clearly confidence in the UK is growing.”

You can read more about the Show and see some of its highlights in our photographic review that starts on page 16.

The Stone Show will be back at ExCeL London in its usual two-yearly cycle in 2013. You can find out more about it on the Stone Show website, where there are also more pictures from this year’s exhibition.