{"id":36570,"date":"2019-08-08T16:13:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T15:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.affordablegranite.co.uk\/?p=36570"},"modified":"2019-08-09T16:50:06","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T15:50:06","slug":"culliford-granite-guest-blog-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.affordablegranite.co.uk\/culliford-granite-guest-blog-1\/","title":{"rendered":"GUEST BLOG: OLLY FROM CULLIFORDS 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Oliver Webb<\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Gerald Culliford is a long-established name and leading wholesaler in the stone business. Cullifords sources some of the finest quality natural and man-made stones from all over the world. From eye-catching patterns to statement colours, Cullifords boasts an extensive range of granite and quartz surfaces. They want to help customers create a scheme that is guaranteed to leave a lasting impression. The array of materials combined with the company\u2019s five decades of experience and knowledge is invaluable.<\/p>\n

To talk us through his favourite statement granites, we\u2019ve teamed up with Oliver Webb, Director at Cullifords. This is by way of a bit of a swap, as Andrew recently wrote a piece for the Culliford website<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]

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Gerald Culliford Ltd Stone yard, in Lower Marsh Lane, Kingston-upon-Thames
\nPhoto from the Culliford open day<\/a> last year<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

<\/div>[vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The first thing we always like to highlight to visitors to our yard is that there\u2019s more to granite than just ‘boring grey’. This isn\u2019t just limited to appearance either, from some of the hardest materials such as Lundhs Real Stone (please note they actually market themselves as Anorthosites and Larvikites which are even harder than granite), to softer materials such as Cosmic Black and Matrix, there are so many variations to consider from both a practical and aesthetic point of view. <\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”36573″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Even grey can make a statement – here is Matrix granite in a Satinato finish – awesome!
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The incredible Rainforest Green
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The advantage of granite as a natural stone is the beautiful colours and variations that are available. The most common demand we hear when customers visit the Culliford’s yard is that they want something unique, and there are plenty of granites that can deliver a truly stunning distinctive finish. <\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]

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<\/div>[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]My favourites are the Fusions. These are natural quartzites that offer you some really interesting and bold colours. They have a little more durability than some marbles. A truly affordable choice is Piracema. We selected this for our own showroom; it\u2019s extremely durable and has a nice price point. Another favourite is the truly striking Verde Lapponia, which is a really tough and beautiful material from Finland. The slabs we have are huge, which is rare \u2013 they would make an amazing wow-factor long kitchen island. <\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”36647″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Close up of a slab of Piracema which Affordable Granite recently bought from Cullifords
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Verde Lapponia in Culliford’s yard
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Diamond Fall Granite in close up
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Other interesting stones are Diamond Fall, Moon Agate (which has little agates in it which look like little galaxies against a star scape), Mosaikus and Silhouette Black. Though, to be honest, we haven\u2019t been able to source any Silhouette Black for some time now. The last person to buy a slab of this from Cullifords was actually Sir David Attenborough!<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]

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Silhouette Black Granite
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Close up of Moon Agate
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A lovely slab of Mosaikus
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]

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<\/div>[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]… blog to be continued. Ollie was kind enough to make this comment on our work:<\/p>\n

We at Cullifords have worked with Affordable Granite for many years now, and we are privileged to have a customer as loyal as they are. It takes a certain type of fabricator to work the natural materials as well as they do. With ever-more competition in the fabrication market it is difficult to keep your standards high, and supply a beautiful, reliable and affordable service. But Affordable Granite manages to do this time and again! Their attention to detail is spot on, their understanding of the materials and how to cut them really makes them stand out from the crowd. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Stone supply is a tricky business. There are not many industries where a product changes colour, has strange veins that can crack or open up in production. It all adds up to a lot of inherent risk. But working closely with a loyal customer like Affordable Granite over many years means that we get to understand the levels of service and quality required, and this in turn mitigates the risk. <\/em><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”36646″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]\n

Ollie Webb with James Semmens – two Gerald Culliford Directors with a slab of Rainforest Green<\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]

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Andy Phillips of Affordable Granite chatting with Neil of Culliford at their open day last year.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text]

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<\/div>[vc_column_text]We are Affordable Granite<\/strong>, the leading installer of granite and quartz worktops across Surrey, Sussex and the whole South East. We work hard to develop the best possible relationship with stone importers like Cullifords, so as to offer you, the final customer, the best possible quality, variety and price. For advice, help or a quotation on your kitchen worktops,call us on 01293 863992 or contact by email on sales@affordablegranite.co.uk.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our guest blog: Oliver Webb of Gerald Culliford Ltd describes some of his favourite stones – the big statement granites that give any kitchen the wow factor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":36572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,3,96,99,100,106,6],"tags":[255,409,408,410],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCulliford - the big name in exotic stone. 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