Finishing school

Raw stones are transformed into perfectly polished, top-class worktops by the hi-tech production facilities at F Jones Cleveland, so its forward-thinking chairman, Fred Jones, is well-placed to conduct a masterclass on quality production standards 

It’s obvious from the moment that Fred Jones starts talking, that he’s very proud of F Jones Cleveland, the stone fabrication business he set up 25 years ago.  “It’s a wonderful place to work,” he says.  “We have probably the finest factory built in the north of England.”

A bold statement it may be, but the 65,000 sq ft production facility is undoubtedly impressive. Completed in 2007, and set in 8.9 acres of land in an industrial park alongside the River Tees, all fabrication is done on-site. Uncut slabs of stone enter at one end and are despatched, ready-to-go, at the other. 

Its state-of-the-art facilities are a long way from the traditional dusty stoneyard, as sales director Philip Eeles points out: “People are used to grinder and shed operations in this industry, so when I pull out our catalogue and show customers our purpose-built, efficient, clean factory, they are pretty surprised.”

High quality production standards and efficiency are key to the company’s philosophy. “Things work as a produc­tion line,” explains Jones. Once cut in the factory, barcode-labelled stones are CNC machine-shaped and edged. Polishing and finishing takes place, then the materials are carefully loaded onto liveried trucks by an overhead crane. 

F Jones Cleveland is a business that has come a long way since its modest beginnings as an architectural antique and fireplace specialist. As the original business began to expand, Jones started importing marble from Europe to manufacture fireplaces. “I saw how stone was being used in Italy and Portugal,” he explains. “There were lots of handsome marble bathrooms, kitchen worktops and hotel counters, and stone was being used in a way that it simply wasn’t in England.” 

Increasingly frustrated with life supplying fireplaces to disorganised building sites, and unable to use the increasingly developed stonemasonry skills of his team, Jones began running small advertisements in the Yorkshire regional press to supply kitchen worktops and marble bathrooms. 

“It grew and grew, and within a couple of years, we got out of fireplaces completely,” he recalls. “Since then, the bulk of our work has been in producing kitchen worktops, plus vanity tops – we’ve just supplied stone for 335 bathrooms at Terminal Five – and reception counters for hotels.”

Today, the company carries stock of about 80 different stones, valued at around £600,000. “Everyone sells six or seven granites, but we’ve got a much larger selection,” says Eeles. 

 “That’s the way for retailers to bring in new customers, because it creates a real point of difference.”

Exotic stones, such as Verde Guatemala and Namibian Rose granites, sit alongside the more widely available Rosal limestone from Portugal, Jura limestone from Germany and man-made quartz stones including Silestone, Zodiaq and CaesarStone. 90% of the natural stones come from Antolini Luigi in Verona. “I know when that rock arrives here, I can’t buy any better,” says Jones. 

Although his three brothers are involved in the business today; Ian as md, Jeremy as purchasing director and Simon as production director, Jones doesn’t want his company pigeon-holed as a family business. “I don’t emphasise it, because I worry people will think we are small and insular, not the growing, aggressive business which we are,” he says. 

Instead, he’s much more interested in explaining the importance of the £100,000 edge-polishing machine. “The majority of the industry polish by hand, but the edges may be dull com­pared to those done in an expensive polishing machine with 10 polishing heads,” he says. 

The company introduced a 10-year warranty on its polished granite surfaces in June 2009. “That makes us the first in the UK industry to offer it,” says Eeles. “People are often frightened of granite, so this gives reassurance to the end user.”

Perfectly polished production isn’t, however, the only thing that interests the chairman of the company. “I come in at 6.30am, before any of the staff arrive,” he says. “I see things waiting to go out, such as deep moulded edges on a counter top, or a marble island with beautifully shaped bowed ends, and I think, ‘Isn’t that beautiful?’ I’ve got to get those capabilities better known.”

Of the immaculate presentation of his factory, he maintains: “You can’t pro­duce quality in sloppy circumstances”, and the company’s far-thinking envi­ronmental policies are also a source of great pride. “All water is recycled and scrap goes to a local quarry to produce grits and gravel for the construction industry,” he explains. 

The company runs its own training programme for staff, and welcomes half a dozen young people from the area each year as part of a skill trainee programme. But Jones is possibly proudest of all of the liveried Mercedes vans used by the templating staff. 

 “Our staff look professional when they are out templating,” he says. “And they don’t start sawing up bits of plywood in someone’s home. Instead, we use digital templating.” 

Nor do they have to wait for the measurements: instead, they are emailed directly from the site. Worktop turnaround times are usually three days.  “Then the product is delivered on A-frames designed to carry stones, shrinkwrapped and labelled – it looks right,” says Jones.

A professional service is all part and parcel of the company’s quality production standards which, says the chairman, are what his clients have learned to depend upon. “When we get a customer, we keep that customer,” he insists. 

In fact, clients are encouraged to send their own customers to the factory. “We don’t clear up specially – it’s always immaculate.” says Eeles. “And we don’t go for a hard sell, but most people do leave having chosen something more expensive and interesting than they might otherwise have done.”