Neolith has opened its own UK distribution warehouse and showroom in Harlow, Essex, with Shaun Hopkinson as Area Manager supported by a newly hired sales team.

Shaun, once the manager of Levantina in the UK, says: “More feet on the ground will ensure hand-in-hand growth with partners.”

The warehouse opened in February and stocks the entire range of Neolith sintered stone slabs in all sizes, finishes and thicknesses. 

There are also plans to open a showroom in central London this spring where architects, designers and fabricators can see the slabs in application. 

The company says the UK is one of its fastest growing markets for both residential and commercial applications and it wanted to be permanently represented in that market.

Neolith’s UK Business Development Manager, Marco De Grazia, says Neolith has opened a fourth production line in Spain and had sales worth more than €100million last year. The company “wanted to amplify our sales presence and tighten up our logistics within key territories”. 

He says the uncertainty caused by Brexit also had an influence on the decision to establish a stronger foothold in the UK. “We’ve no doubt that the UK leaving the European Union will have a considerable impact on businesses across the continent. As one of our biggest export markets, we want to ensure we limit the effects of this eventuality as much as possible to guarantee that we always have the supply ready to meet any increasing demand.”

There are four new designs of Neolith for 2018. There is Retrostone, described by The Size, which makes Neolith, as a “homage to design-classic terrazzo”, and three Mediterranean-inspired patterns called Mirage, Krater and Calatorao.

Two new colours have also been added to the NanoTech Polished collection – pale-grey Luna and light-brown Bombón.

There is more about develolments in the engineered stone sector in the April issue of Natural Stone Specialist magazine.