All Change at Silestone/Cosentino UK
Silestone is a brand of Cosentino, the massive Spanish-based, multinational surfaces company. Cosentino also manufactures/distributes the ceramic-type kitchen worktop material Dekton, the deep-sealed natural stone range Sensa and other natural materials under the Scalea brand.
Cosentino has its UK base at Hook, Hampshire, which makes them relatively local for supply to us at our Gatwick factory.
The vast Cosentino site in southern Spain, one of a number of manufacturing facilities around the world
‘All change’ at Silestone may be overstating it a bit, but there has certainly been a rejigging of roles which has completely changed our points of contact with the company. Our local rep and her boss moved on early this year and we have just had our first meeting with their replacements.
Looking back over our relationship with Cosentino, we have seen some ebb and flow in the tide. Four years and more ago we organised several trips to visit the Silestone factories in Spain – working with the reps as our hosts, we invited some of our most regular kitchen clients to join us for what were really useful relationship-building visits. In Fran (now running Novella Designs, her own kitchen company) and then Rob we had two superb reps with whom our annual throughput of Silestone grew and grew.
Good times – at the Cosentino marble quarry with a group of kitchen clients in 2017
The last 3 years have been a far leaner period for us with Cosentino – the relationship has been less positive, and as a result we have enthused less about the company and the product (including in this blog) and we have sold less too. It was high time for a reset, and we do believe it is happening.
We have known Kevin Anstey within the Cosentino UK organisation for some time, but he has been promoted to Retail Sales Lead in the recent reshuffle. We won’t necessarily see him frequently, but if and when there are major launches, visits, or any issues with supply or materials, we look forward to being in touch with some confidence of a positive relationship.
Claire Hillier-Brook is new to Cosentino UK, but not to Cosentino products. Having worked in the Kitchens, Bedrooms and Bathrooms sector for years, she understands the kitchen retail market. She is broadly from our neck of the woods, down in East Sussex. Outgoing and fun, we look forward to getting to know her as our regular point of contact with Cosentino / Silestone.
Andy Phillips with AG and Cosentino Sales staff – a good meeting
Superficial change or sea change? The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and relationships in business take time to work out. But we needed a reset with Cosentino / Silestone and are really hopeful after a good, open and honest initial meeting.
Ultimately, in any sales relationship, one looks for 1) friendliness & warmth, 2) honesty & trustworthiness and 3) genuine enthusiasm for & thorough information about the products. That’s what we stand for as the Affordable Granite sales team, and it is what we look for and find with many reps in our industry. We have got where we have with Caesarstone, with Radianz, with Classic Quartz, with Cambria and others, because of genuine, caring, attentive reps, and we look forward to getting back there with Cosentino.
We are Affordable Granite, the leading granite installer in Surrey, Sussex and across the South East. We aim to maintain good relationships across the range of quality stone suppliers so that you, our end-use customer, can have the widest possible choice to make the best informed selection for your home. If you have any questions or queries connected with any aspect of worktop installation or kitchen design, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01293 863992 or by email on sales@affordablegranite.co.uk/ .
