Digging Deep

Burlington Stone has been quarrying in the Lake District for over 100 years, but now it’s planning a major push into the k&b market, as well as opening its doors to a brand new showroom.

There can’t be many British companies with a history dating back over 150 years and still trading. But that’s the story of Burlington Stone, the Cumbrian natural stone producer. “Our quarries have been worked for over 400 years, initially by individual families on a very small scale,” explains sales and marketing director Nick Williams. “Burlington was founded in 1843 by Lord Cavendish,
the Earl of Burlington, when he set up an incorporated company to take over the commercial aspects of the quarrying, and to take the stone to a wider, and not just local, market.”
Today, the company is still owned by the Cavendish family: the present Lord Cavendish is the great-great grandson of the founder, and Burlington’s chairman. And Burlington still does what it did over 150 years ago, which is to quarry and sell stones from its Lake District quarries.
Its headquarters at Kirkby-in-Furness are set against a breathtaking panoramic backdrop of Lakeland Fells, and after hearing tales of peregrine falcons nesting in its quarries, it’s tempting to think that history and beautiful surroundings keep the Burlington fire burning. But don’t be fooled: Williams, 47, and md Rob Irwin, 50, have ambitious business plans to drive the company forward.
But first, let’s start with the stones. There are seven, varying from the Kirkby Stone blue-grey sedimentary slate, to the metamorphic volcanic stones, olive-green Bursting Stone, silver-grey Brandy Crag, pale green Elterwater and mid-green Broughton Moor, plus two limestones from the Baycliff quarry, light coffee CaulFeild and oatmeal coloured Lord. “Why have cotton when you can have silk?,” queries Irwin. “We have products that, through the uniqueness of the raw stone, cannot be copied by manufacturing processes. And yes, there are other stones on the market, but we at Burlington believe we have the best.”
There’s a small library’s worth of tests carried out by the independent United Kingdom Accreditation Service or UKAS  to support Burlington’s ‘best of the best’ claims. “We are very fortunate to have stones that, while not only aesthetically pleasing, are also inert, colourfast, extremely hard wearing and dense,” he explains.
Stone is extracted from Burlington’s seven working quarries using diamond wire to ‘saw’ the face, then low-level explosive is used to complete the task, in a method designed to ensure the least amount of damage is done to the stone and surrounding area as possible.
Business to date has been built up by supplying architects and designers, largely on commercial projects and what Williams describes as “heavy duty construction”, including roofs, cladding and floors. But things are about to change with a major push into the kitchen and bathroom sector.
“We’ve been supplying this market for a number of years, but largely without any vigour and only through customer request,” explains Irwin. “By targeting kitchen and bathroom designers with a clear direction and focus, we are able to bring our propositions to a much wider audience.”
The first step is a brand new 110 sq m showroom, adjacent to the production facility, in Kirkby-in-Furness, represent­ing a £½m investment. Designed to show the different ways the stones can be used in kitchen and bathroom settings, the Lakeland backdrop adds a sense of theatre. Clients can also even visit the quarries on request.
“In the past, we’ve relied on specifiers to have their own imagination about how the stone could be used, but now we’re trying to demonstrate what’s possible. With all the imported products now available in stone, we need to educate people to let them know that we have the best stone in the world and how it can be used,” says Williams.
The new showroom also allows Burlington to show off its new “off-the-shelf” range of products, including floor and wall tiles, shower trays and shower panels. “In the past, it would be eight to 10 weeks’ wait for something made to order, but now we have a range of products readily available and in stock,” explains Williams.
But isn’t the Cumbrian location of the showroom just a little far away from the potential customer base? Williams explains that Burlington is also identifying key top-end kitchen and bathroom companies, as well as tile showrooms, as potential partners, and he hopes it will be their show-rooms that will display Burlington products in urban areas.
With retail prices for a standard floor tile at just below £100 per sq m, this stone isn’t cheap. “Yes, prices are top end,” says Williams, “but so is the quality. And each piece of stone is unique, from the beautiful colours to the natural markings.” But will the stone run out? Fear not, he says. “We have plenty left, at least to last well past
my lifetime.”