{"id":33924,"date":"2018-12-27T17:00:40","date_gmt":"2018-12-27T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.affordablegranite.co.uk\/?p=33924"},"modified":"2018-12-27T17:00:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-27T17:00:40","slug":"annual-review-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.affordablegranite.co.uk\/annual-review-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"AFFORDABLE GRANITE REVIEW OF 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row el_class=”instalation-page quartz_grid_effect”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Looking back at 2018<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text]
<\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]So, it’s a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Affordable Granite! In this week of holiday, with the office and workshop shut, we thought we would have a look back at some of the highlights of the last year.
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\n2018 wasn’t all easy. The pre-Brexit wobble, with some lack of consumer confidence, has hit our industry as it has many others. At times we have had to work hard for sales, but while some other worktop firms have hit big problems, we have held our own and been able to continue positive development as a company. It is that positive story that we want to tell.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_single_image image=”33925″ img_size=”full”]
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<\/div>[vc_column_text]A year of good developments in the workshop<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]As mentioned in our blog<\/a> back in October, we have invested in a second Intermac CNC machine. Installed in November, we are not quite sure how we would have got through the Christmas rush without it! Early in the New Year I hope to do a full shoot of the workshop as it now is. Many of our images of the factory on this website are seriously out of date; our present workshopis a matter of pride with a seriousness about big scale production at high quality that we have never achieved before.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”33926″ img_size=”full”]
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<\/div>[\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_column_text]A year of good visits and developed relationships with suppliers<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Between us we have been to several industry exhibitions and made visits to key suppliers over the last year. Naomi and Cassie’s visit to Milan, for the Design Show, has made them completely unbearable on the subject of textural contrasts and metallic finishes ever since! Andy’s visit to Caesarstone was not only helpful to get an understanding of this big quartz manufacturers (growing fast in the British market) but also led to some really useful ongoing relationships with other fabricators. Competitors can be good friends, and we actually sometimes need each other – a highlight of the year for the boss.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”31091″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Cass at the Design Show in Milan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

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Andy’s fabricator posse during the Caesarstone visit<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”31895″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Hege Lundh of Lundh’s at the Gerald Culliford Open Day<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

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Naomi with Kelley from Cambria at the KBB show<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”33336″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Last visit of the year – the Cosentino open evening at Hook<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

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<\/div>[vc_column_text]A year of good installations and happy customers<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]We have fitted a few worktops in 2018! Well over a seven hundred homes have had a visit from the magic silver vans and our equally magic fitters. An amazing proportion of the worktops have been white – see our recent article<\/a>. But we have also installed a whole range of materials which have been new to us or have been particularly exciting. We are proud of our work, and proud of another year as the leading granite and quartz worktop provider for the South East.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”33931″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Classic Quartz Statuario Venat<\/i>o in Reigate – as Cassie says, “sick vein-matching”<\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

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Dekton Trilium in Slinfold, West Sussex – see our case study<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”33795″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Cosmic White granite worktops in Redhill – see our case study<\/a>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

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Silestone Eternal Calacatta Gold quartz worktops in Oxted, Surrey – see our case study<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”33930″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

A slab of Paisley Cream granite<\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

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<\/div>[vc_column_text]A year of random and fun moments – and a memorable Christmas party!<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]2018 was the year of the pigeon and of the earthquakes! Life on the farm is never dull, but this year has perhaps been one of the most eventful. We have probably had the best rapport as a team, with a lot of fun moments. Bring on 2019![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”31411″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Our lost pigeon<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

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We never expected to be looking at local seismograph readouts<\/a>!<\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”31542″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Dave’s Cancer Research boxing match<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

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From spring on the farm…<\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”33935″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

\u00a0…to our Christmas Party<\/i><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

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<\/div>[vc_column_text]2018 was a year and a half! As we come to the end of it, we wish you and yours all the best for the New Year.\u00a0 The UK faces many challenges, as does UK business. May we all come through it smiling. And possibly with fewer earthquakes![\/vc_column_text]
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<\/div>[vc_column_text]We are Affordable Granite, the leading installer of\u00a0granite<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0quartz<\/a>\u00a0worktops in Surrey, Sussex and across the South East. For questions, queries and quotes for these and other materials,\u00a0 please don\u2019t hesitate to contact us on\u00a001293 863992 or by email on sales@affordablegranite.co.uk. Or you can use our\u00a0quotation<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0contact<\/a>\u00a0forms.
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\nPhotography: by and large, Andrew King[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2018 has been a tough but incredibly rewarding year here at Affordable Granite. We look back at some of the highlights of the year in our annual review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,2,105,96,98],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAFFORDABLE GRANITE REVIEW OF 2018: A QUICK LOOK BACK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"2018 has been a tough but incredibly rewarding year here at Affordable Granite. 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