This year Blyth Marble have been celebrating 40 years of supplying stone to the UK market. The market has changed, but adapting to those changes has been Blyth’s strength

It is an indication of how much the world has changed in the 40 years that Blyth Marble have been trading that they now have a website for Blyth Granite. It is also a testament to their ability to adapt to those changes and continue to supply the products and service that keeps stone processors coming back to them.

Granite scarcely featured in the UK stone industry when Peter Blyth set up the business importing Portuguese marble predominantly for fireplaces back in the days of the hippies.

Peter already had a metals business that took him to Portugal and while he was there he saw how much stone the Portuguese used compared with how little England used. He thought there was an opportunity to bring some of the Portuguese stone to the UK. Blyth even had their own factory in Portugal in those days.

In the early days the competition came from wholesalers whose names are still familiar today (Pisani, Gerald Culliford, Eric Parker…) and Blyth needed to make an impression to establish themselves. They did so by pioneering 60x40cm tiles for the fireplace market.

Then came hearths and back panels as coal fires gave way to gas fires. It was not long before agglomerates were also added to the Blyth inventory.

Blyth were once again pioneering when micrograins entered the market by being first to supply a micrograin with veining. They put the idea to their suppliers, Santa Margherita, who came up with Fiorito Romanio. There have been few products on the micro side that have been as market changing as that was.

As granite kitchen worktops became increasingly popular, Blyth were early into the market with a CNC workcentre to improve the quality of the worktops they were supplying for kitchen showrooms and fixers.

They even offered – as they still do – a templating and fitting service within a 75-100 mile radius of their warehouse and workshop in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

As they were already supplying man-made materials used by fireplace makers, incorporating engineered quartz for worktops as it became available was an easy decision for Blyth Marble to make.

They supply the Galaxy range from Santa Margherita and have also just taken delivery of their first quartz slabs from China, although Technical Director Roy Holden says: “I think we are still a few years away from the Chinese taking over this market.”

Even so, it is an indication of how they are searching the world for the materials their customers want. “A diversity of materials has always been one of our strengths,” says Nicky Blyth, Peter’s daughter, who became Managing Director of the stone business in 1986 having previously been a commodity trader in Australia and New Zealand. Peter remains the chairman.

And although this clearly is, and is proud to be, a family business, the appointment of directors and key members of staff from outside the family has enabled Blyth to make the step up into the major league.

The location chosen for his businesses on the three-acre site Blyth Marble share with Peter Blyth’s metal business helped them to take that step.

The stone business occupies 4,500m2 of warehouse, workshop and office space, as well as using outdoor storage space, and the location provides easy access to the A1 and M1 to connect to the country’s major arterial network. To make use of that network Blyth have a fleet of 10 specially designed lorries for delivering stone, complete with Hyabs so they do not rely on cranes in customers’ premises.

Such an extensive haulage fleet means that almost all parts of the country are covered at least once a fortnight, and many areas as much as twice a week.

They also have modern, efficient computer systems to control the stock and ensure prompt processing of orders that can go out on the next available lorry because of the high level of stock holding in the UK – £3million worth (which will last about six weeks), including 60 different types of granite in both 20mm and 30mm thicknesses that can be seen on their granite.co.uk website.

In Scotland, Blyth have another depot that mirrors the Worksop operation.

Because they supply customers all over the country, it is not always easy for those customers to see slabs before they are delivered. The websites and digital photography have become important tools in this respect, but the most important factor is Purchasing Director Stuart Vardy’s selection of top quality materials. “One of Stuart’s challenges is to get that consistency,” says Nicky.

Customers trust Blyth to do that, and the fact that they can trust them to do it contributes to the value of the Blyth package, even if the stone is not necessarily the cheapest. Nicky has always said Blyth aim to be the Marks & Spencer of stone supply rather than the Aldi or Netto, although they are certainly not the Harrods.

Another change to the stone industry over the years has been the growth of China, India and Brazil as sources of materials. In order to compete, Blyth buy directly from these countries, with most of the stock coming into the docks at Immingham, Hull and Liverpool.

Three years ago they set up a separate company in India called Blyth India, which, as well as sending stone to Blyth’s depots in the UK, also sell container-loads directly to customers not just in the UK but across Europe.

The range of materials and services from Blyth has won them the contracts to supply the stone for a vast number of projects with a wide range of contractors.

Just to drop a few names, they have supplied the black granite counters for MAC and Bobbi Brown in Debenhams, Fenwicks and House of Frazer; the Verde Francesco granite for Waitrose in Cardiff and Plymouth; various granite countertops for the Ministry of Defence, cafés Ritazza, Nero and Upper Crust, as well as the newly opened Sapporo Teppanyaki restaurant in Glasgow.

They have supplied Nordic Sunset for the counters, bar and serveries at Mumtaz restaurant in Leeds and selected travertines and Nero Marquina marbles approved by English Heritage for the Western Bank Library at the University of Sheffield.

Granites for the refurbishments of villas at CenterParcs and Birmingham airport passenger terminal also came from Blyth, as did the quartz for vanity units at Johnson & Johnson’s head offices in Woking.