Marshalls Natural Stone have gained the CE Mark for their York stone product range of paving, setts and kerbs.

Tony Walker, Marshalls Natural Stone\' sales & commercial manager, says: "The European-wide recognised Mark will give the company a real product and sales differentiator in the market by demonstrating our superiority over other indigenous natural stone suppliers.

"Even though CE Marking is still voluntary in the UK, we have welcomed the justification of it, as it enables us to clearly demonstrate the excellent properties of our materials. This will also give our customers a greater peace of mind as it shows the performance characteristics of the stone, whether it be paving, setts or kerbs."To add to this, CE Marking gives us a stronger commercial offer, because from October 2003 the European Single Market Public Procurement Directives stated that \'any local authority which chooses to specify natural stone for use as paving, setts and kerbs, must do so in accordance with a relevant European Standard, if one is available\', which the company can now clearly demonstrate."

The CE Mark will now be clearly placed on all Marshalls\' York stone packaging, which details the technical compliance of the product with breaking strength, abrasion, slip & skid resistance, freeze/thaw and any chemical surface treatment.

The CE Mark demonstrates that products marked meet the requirements of the relevant product standard. These products, which include natural stone, can then be sold within the European Community without encountering trade barriers.

Marshalls\' Natural Stone is now also pursuing the CE Mark for its imported products.