As Roccia Machinery looks forward to its fifth anniversary of trading, the company continues to grow and develop as one of the major suppliers of machinery to the stone industry in the UK.

Derrick Fretwell, one of the original investors, has now increased his shareholding while Darren Bill, who joined later, has also invested in the company.

Derrick Fretwell says: “When we started the company we needed investors involved to assist with the initial setting up of the company and infrastructure. Now we have become established it made sense for me and Darren to take control of the company. This was amicably completed in January.”

Darren Bill adds: “When the opportunity arose to take a shareholding in Roccia it was an easy decision for me to make. I have the utmost respect for Derrick and have a great deal of faith in the products we promote and the team we have at Roccia.”

Roccia has continued to set milestones this year, notably with the installation of the UK’s first five wire Pelligrini Pentawire AT wire saw.

The saw’s rapid adjustment system minimises transition times from cutting one thickness to another. Each flywheel has independent manual adjustment, allowing thicknesses to be set without having to dismantle the machinery. It means different thicknesses can be cut in the same cycle to maximise product from each block. As Darren says: “This is such a major step forward.”

Roccia has had further interest in this multi-wire machine and expects to sell more before the year is out.

GMM continues to be Roccia’s cornerstone agency, with strong sales of the CNC bridge saws again this year. The Brio attracts most interest from the Kitchen worktop market while sales of larger models for the architectural market have grown significantly over the past six months, Roccia reports.

Fraccaroli water treatment systems and Brembana CNC workcentres further underpin the growth Roccia has seen this year, while consumable and tooling sales reinforce the message that the market is improving.

Darren Bill: “There is little doubt that the pick up in the economy and the building industry in particular is feeding through to fabricators. The ongoing tax benefits of investing in capital equipment and initiatives such as the Regional Growth Fund have given companies the confidence to consider purchasing machinery.”

Next up is the implementation of plans to enhance the service support aspect from Roccia.