You might have thought we’d shot ourselves in the foot. In February 2020 we announced a price freeze for the second year in a row, just as Covid was putting on its running shoes.
You might have been surprised when, despite widely reported shipping price increases, transport problems and increased costs of materials, we came back in February 2021 with our third consecutive year of price freezes on natural stone and porcelain. Nor did we blur the edges by changing our service offering, but maintained our free delivery terms.
It's at the core of the London Stone ethos to put our customers first by offering the best possible products and the lowest possible prices. So, it was with genuine pain that we finally had to raise the cost to our clients of a range of products last year, including the ever-popular, value-for-money range of Indian sandstone.
Favourite products reduced
We were sure prices would come down again. And we offered a promise, there and then, that when that happened we’d be the first to pass on any price reductions.
So, we’re delighted to follow through on that promise. We’re reducing the prices of 54 natural stone product lines. We’re also freezing the prices on the majority of our other products.
Look around and you’ll see that a lot of suppliers in the industry have opted for price rises on all their products. Some prices are going up by as much as 20%.
Instead, at London Stone, we’re reducing the price of Indian riven sandstone, tumbled sandstone, riven limestone and sandstone setts by 10%.
And we’re not resting there. If there are no sudden increases in transport costs, we’re expecting to reduce prices on Indian sawn sandstone and Project porcelain in the next few months.
How we can keep paving prices down
The drop in shipping rates has made a big difference. We hope that other suppliers will follow our lead in the near future, as we don’t see how higher prices can be justified when freight costs are decreasing.
On top of that, we’ve got some good negotiators in our team, who have really helped with persuading our suppliers to keep prices down. But the benefits aren’t all one way. Once we’ve found a supplier we like, we want to stay with them—we’ve found this the best way to maintain a top-quality materials—and our suppliers appreciate that.
An ongoing contribution is our lean working practice. Through improvements in processes, we’ve increased productivity, essentially adding nearly 3000 extra working hours to the year. Every member of staff contributes to our continuous improvements, helping to contribute to their well-deserved pay rise this year.
Meeting the challenge of 2023
It’s generally forecast that 2023 will be a difficult year. We have reluctantly had to raise some prices—on clay pavers, Jura limestone and some of our Italian porcelain products.
However, we’re well prepared for any economic downturn. We’re focusing more than ever on our core values. Don’t expect many new products from us this year, but do expect extra emphasis on reliability and dependability. More than ever we know you want stability and exemplary customer service from your supplier.
In these challenging times, you can depend on us.
