Stone Federation Great Britain’s Quarry Forum gives its opinion on issues relating to the stone industry from the point of view of companies that extract dimensional stone from opencast and underground quarries and mines.

If you hadn’t got the hint yet, we’re quite passionate about British Stone. But then again, as the Stone Federation Quarry Forum, we may have somewhat of a vested interest in raising the profile of Britain’s indigenous stone.

In the 2016 materials market there are now more choices than ever. Countless options for the architects, designers and clients to choose from. So how do we ensure that British stone holds its own in such a fiercely competitive market? 

First off is to be active… very active, in fact, in promoting the wide range of choice British Stone provides using online and offline methods.

One example of an initiative with both these elements is the ‘Welcome to British Stones’ campaign.

Launched in 2013, this is focussed on dispelling the misnomer that British stone lacks variety of colour and texture.

The online element is an interactive map-based tool that allows architects, designers, specifiers and clients to search for stone local to their project.

More than 80 indigenous stones quarried by Federation member firms are listed. They include limestones, granites, slates and sandstones. The ‘Welcome to British Stones’ tool remains one of the most popular pages on the Federation’s website and receives the highest click rate from social media posts.

Indeed, one architect commented: “The British stone sourcing tool is one of the best specifying resources I have come across in my career as an architect.”

‘Welcome to British Stones’ is available all year round. There are certain events where the Quarry Forum takes the stones shown in the virtual world and displays actual samples in the physical world on British stone sample boards.

These sample boards have been part of the Federation presence at a number of major trade shows, including The Natural Stone Show and EcoBuild.

The sample boards contain the same stones as those listed on the website, but have the added advantage of allowing architects, designers and clients to get a hands on experience of the materials, which is always so important for really understanding the nature of the stones.

Many visitors to these exhibitions are surprised at the wide range of indigenous stones available and will often request a number of samples for projects they are working on as a result of what they have seen on the boards.

The display boards have an accompanying guide book that lists the geological name, quarry location and applications of each of the stones. This has been given to thousands of architects, designers, developers, local authorities and clients over the past few years.

We also ensure that all the stones displayed have data for CE Certificates, providing show visitors with an example of best practice when it comes to selecting natural stone.

The 2019 Natural Stone Show will be the next big outing for the British stone sample boards, so make sure you pop by the Stone Federation stand and take a look. 

You might even find you are surprised by just how much choice British stone offers. If you want to see now, visit the website at bit.ly/britstone.