Specialist tile firm looking overseas to grow

YORKSHIRE tile specialist Lapicida is set to expand in China, more than two decades after a father-and-son team visited there to lay the groundwork for the company.

The stone tile firm, which is based in Knaresborough, plans to open in the Communist country and also develop its American exports as it takes advantages of territories which have escaped the worst of the housing slump which has hit Britain.

Jason Cherrington, chief executive and founder, said demand for Lapicida’s products remained strong in New York despite the economic problems which have hit areas like Florida.

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Lapicida hopes to significantly increase its presence in the New York market – where home design centres stock tiles, stone and paint under one roof – by spring next year after seeing a strong United States interest in English-style design.

Mr Cherrington said he expects to sell more to high-end residential customers in California, Texas and Houston.

The privately-owned firm also wants to open a retail space in Shanghai by spring 2013 and go on to open a second, although it is not planning a chain of shops in China because of the large fixed overheads and carbon footprint it would involve.

Earlier this year Lapicida opened a 1,000 sq ft showroom in the affluent central London area of Marylebone, surrounded by furniture and antiques shops, which it hopes will provide a springboard for growth. Its first sale from the London shop was a job for £100,000.

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Mr Cherrington said: “We do some orders in America now and we want to develop that. The market in the UK is relatively flat (but) opening the London showroom has opened our eyes to where there are pockets of wealth.

“If New York was a country it would be the sixth-largest (economy) in the world. In New York the people we deal with don’t seem to have been as affected as in Florida.

“China is the fastest growing economy and there is a certain value to attached to English products and companies – it is the automatic next step.”

Lapicida – which is Latin for stone worker – was set up in 1984 in Leeds after Mr Cherrington and his father David launched a quest to find slate for their roofing business.

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Jason Cherrington found a world geological map in Leeds library, identified China as a source and travelled there to investigate.

The Cherringtons were the first Westerners to start importing slate from a Chinese quarry and the diversification led to a new business that now sources natural stone worldwide from Asia, South America, Israel and Europe.

It recently won a “significant capital injection” from a venture capital firm but Mr Cherrington declined to name the company involved or the turnover of his business.

He said: “The recent investment in our company represents the next stage in Lapicida’s evolution.

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“Lapicida is committed to growing within Yorkshire and the wider UK market whilst using the investment to develop an international platform on which to grow our business. The team and I are excited to showcase the very best of Lapicida to a much wider audience.”

In China the firm’s route to market will be through Hao Hong Fey, with whom it has had a trading relationship for 25 years as the Chinese businessman has supplied stone tiles to Lapicida.

“It is ironic that after 25 years we will be sending products back to him,” Mr Cherrington said.

The British market has been flat after the loss of work from developers was mitigated by spending in London, as well as from Britons who have second homes in resorts such as Ibiza and Majorca, and particularly in skiing destinations such as Austria and Switzerland.

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“Developers’ business has tailed off dramatically. We used to supply lots of developers. Domestic markets have stayed constant.

“London is a different world. There is a lot of wealth in a small area.”

The firm also has a partnership with upmarket interiors brand Fired Earth which means its tiles are sold in the chain’s 55 shops across the UK and Ireland.

Working through word of mouth

Lapicida, which has 12 staff, stocks everything from slate and tumbled marble to mosaics, quartz and bespoke wall art made from stone and much of its work comes through word-of-mouth recommendations.

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“You do one project and architects continue to use you. Having those relationships is vital,” said chief executive Jason Cherrington. “They don’t come through us automatically but when they have come through us they have gone on to use us (again).”

Mr Cherrington, from Leeds, founded the business in his home city but moved it to Harrogate, where it was based for 17 years.

It then moved on to Knaresborough in late 2007.