Tile company N&C Nicobond gained top honours in the Best Natural Product Category of The Tile Association’s annual Awards this year with a tile made from the lava of Mount Etna in Sicily.

The basalt from Etna is exceptionally hard and durable. It has been used as a building and paving stone in Sicily for centuries. Although the Sicilians have tried to export it, it is a fairly bland, dark stone. That trait has been overcome in these tiles from Nicobond by having a metalic glaze applied to them then firing them for four hours so the glaze forms unique patterns with the stone.

Having come out of a volcano, basalt is particularly resistant to heat – it is sometimes used for barbeque surfaces because of that – which makes it an ideal stone for use with a glaze that requires firing in a furnace.

The glazes used are bronze, titanium, platinum and gold, which is reflected in the price – around £80 (retail) per 300 x 600mm gold glazed tile, for example.

The Tile Association (TTA) Awards were presented last month at an Awards dinners held, as usual, in the Hotel Metropole at the NEC, Birmingham. This year saw a record 127 nominations for the Awards.

Other winners included BAL Variset XP wall and floor tile adhesive from Building Adhesives Ltd, which was Best New Innovation. Variset XP gives precise control over working and setting times.

Natural Stone Emporium in Chapel-en-le-Frith in the Peak District gained the Excellence in Independent Retailing Award for their recently opened showroom with its displays of limestone, granite, slate, marble and travertine.

Best Initiative to Reduce Environmental Impact went to Mapei (UK) Ltd. Last year they took steps to increase recycling significantly and so reduce the amount of material sent to landfill.

One disappointment was Floor Tile of the Year winner. Misleadingly called Natural Slate from Unicom Starker and imported by British Overseas & Export Trading Ltd of Edgware, Middlesex, it is, in fact, a digitally printed ceramic tile.