Ross Stewart is UK senior sales manager for Neolith, a world leader in the design and manufacture of sintered stone. With more than ten years in the stone industry, Ross speaks with Stone Specialist about the market, sustainability, and how fabricators can enjoy extensive training with the brand.
If someone is looking to work with Neolith for the first time, what advice would you give to them?
We recommend designers and fabricators planning to work with us take part in the extensive training we offer. We also offer a RIBA approved CPD to the A&D community. But the best way to experience Neolith is to arrange a visit to our factory in Castellón, Spain. The Neolith Experience is an exciting journey to Neolith’s core, to its products and how they are crafted, as well as giving a masterclass on the history and values of this family-owned company and its meteoric rise to become a global corporation, present today in more than 100 countries. The visit includes a guided tour around Neolith’s production plant, where the manufacturing process is explained in detail, showing how the natural minerals are transformed into premium sintered architectural surfaces. The tour also includes a visit to the headquarters’ showroom, where the guests can see for themselves the versatility of the surfaces and the difference Neolith makes.
Tell us something that makes the products unique?
The major standout qualities of Neolith sintered stone are the combination of design and functionality with high heat resistance, high scratch resistance and near zero porosity of its surfaces, meaning Neolith is very easy to clean and highly resistant to staining. It’s also highly resistant to UV, frost and thaw, which means it can be used in outdoor kitchens, which are becoming increasingly popular in the UK market and being adopted into the offering of a lot of kitchen designers and studios.
Neolith is also synonymous with quality, versatility, and sustainability as well as class, elegance, and style and contributes to the creation of unique spaces and extraordinary experiences featuring sustainable functional design.
Neolith has reached the lowest crystalline silica content range in the market and continues to evolve its sustainability roadmap, leading the change in its industry by minimising the crystalline silica content as technically feasible. In fact, earlier this year at Salone del Mobile in Milan, we presented a new product line without crystalline silica in its formulation.
Neolith Calacatta Gold Isla
What would your dream project be?
I would love to see more UK designers specify Neolith in a unique and interesting way that creates a seamless look across a project e.g. from surface, to cladding, to bespoke furniture such as planters. Neolith lends itself to a multitude of applications, the easiest way of explaining where it can be used is to say that if a flat sheet material is suitable for the application, Neolith has a solution. Focusing specifically on the KBB sector we have solutions for kitchen countertops, table and furniture tops, kitchen cabinet door dressing, bathroom countertops and vanities, interior wall cladding, interior and exterior flooring for both indoors and outdoors kitchens, the list is endless. So I’d like to see something one of a kind.
What are your plans for the next 12 months?
When I joined Neolith in January 2023, I had a very busy year of restructuring Neolith in the UK to ensure that all partners in the supply chain had the correct support and service. Over this year, the UK industry will continue to see a steep increase in engagement from us – including activations at Salone Del Mobile, Clerkenwell Design Week, and through the specification of our surfaces on a number of large projects as the benefits of working with us become wider spread. Steady and strategic growth, backed by genuine product innovation and global infrastructure, is our plan for the region.
To read more of this exclusive interview, please see the Summer 2024 issue of Stone Specialist. To subscribe, visit https://www.qmj.co.uk/Natural-Stone-Specialist-Subscription