From the beginning on January Iain Kennedy becomes managing director of Realstone, one of the country\'s largest stone companies, based in Wingerworth, Derbyshire. He takes over from Andrew Gregory, whose father started the company 50 years ago.

Andrew will be the chairman of Realstone and will continue to be based at the head office but will be devoting his time to other business interests outside of the stone industry, including housing development and a business to business operation in India.

Iain Kennedy was formerly MD of George Farrar (Quarries) Ltd, joining Realstone as marketing director in 2003. His management team includes Steve Wright (financial director) and John Mulkeen (product director).

Realstone, with sales of £8million this year, are among the major suppliers of sandstone, limestone & granite in the country, working alongside their sister company, Block Stone, that extracts stone from 10 quarries in the UK.

Realstone, however, also import sandstone, granite and limestone as required for projects, Iain explaining: "Our customers want choice and this broadens it - in price as well as anything else."

He says Realstone are aiming to be even more customer focused in the future. "The Realstone experience, if you like, should be second to none, guiding clients through the stone process. Not only the quality of our work - all companies aspire to top quality - but it is the customer service that we need them to want to repeat.

"We need to become the buyer\'s assistant in the case of the contractor and a decision assistant in terms of the 17,000 decisions an architect typically has to make on a regular size project."The experience our design, drawing, production and delivery services offer to the benefit of the customers\' projects is what we want them to choose to repeat."

The decision to appoint a separate managing director of Realstone was to allow Andrew Gregory the opportunity to pursue other business interests without focus being detracted from the core business.

Asked if he had any specific plans, Iain told NSS: "Watch this space. I don\'t think there\'s anything that needs announcing now."

A change that was already on the cards is the sale of Dimensional English Stone, the British limestone tile business that Realstone bought last year from the group that encompassed Stonell, based in Kent. The Dimensional English Stone business is based around a tile line in a factory near Matlock in Derbyshire. This year the company recruited Sarah Johnson to sell the tiles to retailers across the country.

Realstone have built up the tile business and their range of English limestone tiles is now stocked in about 30 shops. "But it\'s not our core business," says Iain, "and we are looking to divest ourselves of it next year."

They would like to sell it as a going concern but will consider other offers.

"The trouble is, the economy is out of our hands. We are in a world market. The stone industry has no influence on it. Britain itself has less influence that it used to. So you don\'t keep all your eggs in one basket. We\'re looking to world markets - and not just importing, but exporting as well."

They already supply stone overseas, especially to America, where they have made a considerable marketing effort attending shows and making presentations to architects. Jill Gregory, the managing director of Block Stone, is based there. Realstone have just finished a project in up state New York and another in Toronto.

"It\'s making the Americans more aware of what\'s available from the UK," says Iain. "I have given presentations in the USA and they have been extremely surprised that the UK produces any stone at all.""