About Us
We are a small family run business in the south west of Warwickshire, nestled on the edge of the Cotswolds. We have been selling tiles for over 30 years as both agents for factories and direct to the trade and public.
Our aim is to provide a satisfactory customer experience and good value for money. We pride ourselves in good verbal and face to face communication. We aim to make the purchase as painless as possible.
With our collective knowledge and experience we do more than just sell tiles. We will help you and guide you and recommend solutions to any technical/practical problems you may have.
What we sell and how we sell it?
We only buy quality tiles from premier factories, where most our stock comes from Italy. From the relationships we have built over the years, we have access to graded and end of line products normally not available to most retailers. We are able to sell premium high-end tiles for typically half of showroom RRP. Our no-frills policy plus selling the tiles in lots means we can deliver a product which is very good value for money.
Selling tiles in lots is something we have done for some time now. We have found it a good way of keeping running costs down and so charge less for the tiles.
If you discover a lot which is to large for requirements, the first factor to consider is that you will need healthy contingency of 10-15% above the measured area. If (after considering the contingency) the advertised lot is still too large, we can split the quantity to your requirements but will charge a small fee. This is due to the time it takes to split and re-pack the boxes from the original lot. Please contact us to make your request.
Collecting your orders from our warehouse is preferred. Your order will be picked and ready for you at your nominated pick up day/time and collection is free of charge. However, sometimes the convenience and practicality of having your order delivered makes more sense, especially when you've ordered a large quantity.
If your delivery address is local to our warehouse, then we will aim to deliver ourselves. If your delivery address is further afield, then we will use a national pallet network courier service. Your delivery will be booked in, so the carrier will call you directly to arrange a suitable day/time delivery slot. They will deliver as close to your property as access will allow on a secure pallet. If access is a problem for the delivery vehicle ( 18 ton curtain sided delivery truck with tail lift), they will not deliver and return your order to the depo.
Please make us aware of any potential access issues so we can work out a way to deliver your order.
The quality of our products
The quality of our tiles are very good as we only buy from quality manufacturers. However, quality will differ depending on the reason for grading. The two main categories are -
Out of Production or
Specification change
Grade 1
Tiles that the factory have decided to discontinue due to changing industry tends/fashion. These are first choice premium tiles with no defects.
Tiles where specification has been changed by the factory to a current product line. These are first choice premium tiles with no defects.
Graded as second choice
Grade 2
Tiles where the shading is slightly off the given parameters set by the factory, or slight printing defects found in the production run. Sometimes it can be just a dust spec caught up in the firing of the glaze. This means some tiles in a batch may contain a small defect. Still on the whole very good quality.
What we dont sell
We dont sell tiles that are chipped/broken, warped or out of square. Our tiles do not have glazing issues or scratches or any physical defect. It is possible you could discover a broken tile in a box, but this can happen wherever you buy tiles, as damage sometimes occurs in transit from the factory.
How to work out your contingency?
When considering any tiling job, you will always need to order more than the measured area you are laying. The main reasons for this is the wastage from cuts, any accidental breakages from handling and over optimism from the measuring. Normally a 10-15% surplus will cover you for the reasons mentioned. This does depend on factors like size/shape of the room, the size and type of the tile and how successful the cuts are.
If you are ordering our grade 2 tiles, we recommend you increase it a little (10-20%) if you want to avoid using any tiles with a small defect. In most cases tiles with a defect can be allocated for the cuts and in areas where you wouldn't notice. There is a good chance you wont find any, but a precautionary view is recommended.