Brothers carve their mark on hi-tech stone
Jun 23 2008 The Journal
F. Jones Cleveland is an award-winning family firm carving out a strong future in the Tees Valley with a band of brothers driving growth.
Plans are already drawn up for the factory’s fourth phase of development, which is set to take place in 2009.
A further £2.5m injection will add 30,000sq ft to the site, giving the company more production space.
The plans are the latest in the continued development of this Teesside firm.
Since announcing its intention to build a new factory at Riverside Park in 2001, F Jones has invested £6m, expanding the facility to 55,000sq ft.
But this business has its roots in humbler beginnings.
Fred launched the company in 1983 in Middlesbrough’s Brentnall, importing marble to be used for fireplaces.
“I then decided I wanted to get out of the fireplace trade and focus on the bathroom and kitchen market,” said Fred.
The company now imports stone slabs from suppliers in both Northern Italy and Sicily, offering customers a choice of 500 different types of material – with two truck loads a week arriving on Teesside.
Supplying to shop fitters, architects, specifiers and kitchen and bathroom retailers, stone from the Teesside company is used in locations such as luxury hotels, corporate offices, businesses and homes.
“Our marble and granite comes from all over the world,” explained Fred. There is a misconception it’s all grey and black – but in reality the range of colours and patterns available is huge.”
The geographic origin of the marble and granite makes for a myriad of styles and patterns.
From blues and browns to pinks, reds, whites and violets – there is a rainbow to choose from.
Marble is a metamorphic stone where heat and pressure in the earth cause physical and/or chemical change – leading to its beautiful colours and patterns.
Granite meanwhile is an igneous rock – formed by volcanic action – found lower down in the earth than marble, making it good choice for hard wearing surfaces such as kitchen worktops.
Fred, one of eight Jones children, now works with three of his brothers.
Jeremy is finance director, Simon is production director and oldest brother Ian is the most recent addition, having joined the company about three years ago as managing director.
“They’re very clever fellas,” said Fred, “and we all trust each other. But we don’t take work home with us.”
Ian, who has previously been based in London, added: “Fred is my best friend, so it’s great to be working with him – and for such a fantastic company. I’m very proud of the business and this area has such fantastic people.”
The company was recently named one of the best businesses in the region, taking the Small Business title at the North East Business Awards, organised by the
The company also took the Small Business and Manufacturing categories at the Tees Valley awards.
“Until we applied for the awards, the company had continued to grow but we’d just got on with the job quietly,” said Fred.
“But it’s been great to have people see what we’re doing here and for the judges to visit and give their independent opinion.
“That makes me feel proud. But it’s also been a great boost to the staff, who work very hard.”
Other developments this year include plans to double production capacity after buying £450,000 of CNC cutting equipment, making F Jones Cleveland the largest investor in CNC stone technology in the UK.
It has also launched a new digital template and installation arm.
With plans already drawn up for the fourth phase of development at the Riverside Park site – it’s clear more growth is on its way for this Middlesbrough firm.
“We want to keep growing,” said Fred. “How can we not grow what is such a wonderful company? We have 50 staff at the moment, but that figure will continue to grow too.”
F Jones Cleveland is clearly a true Teesside success story.
And Fred admits the firm’s growth has not gone unnoticed by others in the industry.
“We have attracted takeover interest,” he said, “but we’re not interested. We’ve still got serious growth to do.”
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