profile
Krystal Williams
Krystal has extensive commercial experience in the landscaping and building materials sector, working with leading brands of aggregates, stone and concrete paving since 2003. She joined Pavestone in 2017 and was promoted to Managing Director of the company’s landscaping division in 2019.
Krystal’s commercial acumen, vision of the future and strategic thinking has helped drive Pavestone’s growth and market leading position in a fast-paced sector.
Pavestone
Pavestone is a leading hard landscaping supplier of natural stone and man-made paving products, serving independent builders’ merchants across the UK.
For nearly 20 years, the privately owned business has been synonymous for elegant products, manufactured from the highest quality materials and to relevant British Quality Standards.
Its natural stone landscaping products originate from many countries around the world. The stone is ethically sourced from audited, long standing supply partners and to exact specifications.
Pavestone’s manufacturing facilities are located in Chipping Campden (Gloucestershire) and Burford (Oxfordshire), where it makes most of its made-made landscaping products using local Cotswold stone. The electricity used to power Pavestone’s production machinery, light, heat and general power is supplied from renewable resources that include wind turbines and hydro-electric schemes.
In addition to its own manufactured products, the company also supplies the finest and most innovative European landscaping products through commercial partnerships with world class concrete and porcelain manufacturers.
Visit: www.pavestone.co.uk
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/pavestone-uk-limited
Twitter: @Pavestone
Launched in 2015, the award winning monthly Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report is the only reliable measure of repair, maintenance & improvement (RMI) activity in the UK. Filling an important gap, it can be widely used in construction, and by economists, Government, national media, commentators and influencers outside the industry.
Pavestone Comment: Q3 2023
Quarter 3 saw a gradual slowdown in paving sales compared to Q2. Fortunately, this was not as steep as the quarter-on-quarter drop off seen in Q3 last year.
The tail off in demand could be attributed to the exceptionally wet weather over the summer, which hampered landscaping projects, or consumers choosing to spend money on other things like holidays. But overall it does feel like a challenging time for the industry. A number of our competitors are laying off staff or restructuring and some builders’ merchants are taking similar actions to remain profitable.
Pavestone is bucking the trend as we have just taken on staff. The key to our success? Working hard to win customers’ business – something we didn’t really have to do during the Covid home improvement boom. We are helping merchants to proactively sell paving products with training and sales support. We are also working with influencers to create a buzz on social media about our products to bring more customers to their door.
Porcelain sales continue to grow, with Indian porcelain taking market share from Italian suppliers. Shipping prices from India are now at pre-Covid levels which is helping keep the price point low. Pitted against entry level Indian porcelain, sandstone sales continue to decline.
By demand, we are now stocking 16mm porcelain slabs (standard depth is 20mm). This thinner paving will save customers a few pounds per metre, but merchants should advise landscapers on the potential pitfalls of fitting a thinner product. If the bed it’s installed on is not exactly correct, it can fail, leading to call backs and complaints.
In terms of product trends, dark grey paving is losing ground to earthy, neutral toned products like greige which is growing in popularity in Europe. Following the success of our sell out marble patterned paving, which offered something unique and different to consumers, we are looking at adding more new designs for 2024.
Despite the doom and gloom and talk of recession, we remain positive that opportunities for paving sales remain strong. We just need to work harder, smarter and more creatively to secure that business.