AFFORDABLE GRANITE – 20 YEARS OF GRANITE WORKTOPS

Well… we nearly missed the date!

In February and March of 2003 Clive Marret, a builder in Brockham, Surrey, ordered a container-load of granite from the Far East and hired someone to help him sell it. With those actions began a process and company that has grown to be the South East’s leading fabricator of solid stone worktops for kitchens, and a significant employer in the small business world of East Surrey.

That first saleswoman was Naomi, who is still Sales manager 20 years later. In fact, our turnover of staff through the years has been enviably small. A good proportion of us have had more than a decade with AG Worktops.

Clive Marret sold the firm to Andy Phillips some 12 years ago, and we have gone from strength to strength since then. That isn’t to say that the road has all been easy – the chill winds of Brexit changes, of Covid, of Putin’s War and of Trussonomics have blown on us just as they have on other businesses. But here we are, 20 years on, moving forward and with much to celebrate!

Happy 20th Birthday, Affordable Granite!

Early spring – stock-taking and performance reviews…

This time of year, after the Christmas rush and before the full flow of late-spring orders is upon us, is a great time of year for a general stock take. Keeping track of slabs is always a challenge, but we are getting sharper and sharper at keeping tabs of stock.

This time of year also sees our annual staff reviews. Providing feedback, setting goals, rewarding progress – all of these elements are necessary if a company is to go on growing. Staff need to stay in that sweet spot on the graph of Challenge v Skills where they are truly productive – neither paralysed by anxiety nor getting slack through boredom. Review time isn’t an easy one – especially for management who simply have a ton of work on top of the normal – but it pays off in sharpening us all up.

One of the clear strengths of Affordable Granite since Andy Phillips bought the firm..

… is the ongoing commitment to improving quality and productivity through investment in the very best machinery. During our 20 years, kitchen worktop production has been facilitated by a major machinery purchase every two to three years – like our CNC saw, in 2020. We have just taken delivery of a phenomenally powerful tool to enhance our production of granite and quartz kitchen worktops. As I write, the machine is being set up – this one will take the engineer all of two weeks to get completely ready. I am going to make it the subject of an entire blog, once it is up and running. In the meantime, any guesses what it is?!

My own review is done and I have been taking stock.

Having worked 14 years out of AG’s 20 year history, this round of performace reviews has been a chance for me to take stock too. I have, I hope, not many years to go to retirement, I have a fulfilling secondary career as a photographer, and yet I still find immense satisfaction and excitement working for AG. We are at a tremendous time of change in the industry. We are in the thick of it, driving onward and upward. On the one hand, we see huge Health and Safety improvements, especially regarding dust in quartz worktop manufacture. On the other hand, superb new designs and materials, with a whole new trend to colour and variety, are driving us onward. Much is happening and will happen over the next few years, and I am glad to have a role in reporting on it. I can see that I will need to rewrite significant parts of this website as new technology makes some of our trusted kitchen worktop advice obsolete. Bring it on!