Stone imports to the UK went into decline last year after having held up reasonably well in 2008, when the value of imports was 4% above the 2007 figure. In 2009 the value of imports fell 16%. But that flatters the position. The weakness of stirling (a 15% fall against the Euro and a 25% fall against the US dollar compared with 2007 rates) increased prices through the poor exchange rate. Volumes of imports fell by 43%, according to UK government figures.

The UK stone industry got off to a good start in 2008, continuing the exceptional growth that had started in 1996 and continued on a general upwards trend well into double figures ever since. However, as the year progressed the reality of the recession started to bite and after April sales began to fall. The year still showed that increase in the value of imports on 2007 overall. Of course, the rise in prices must also have played its part in curtailing demand.

Imports account for the majority of stone sales in the UK. The indigenous stone quarrying industry is so small that no accurate figures for extraction of dimensional stone from the 300 quarries active in the British Isles (which includes Ireland) exist. Anecdotally, sales of British stone had been pulled along with the general increase in demand for stone in Britain throughout the second half of the 1990s and into the new millennium. Again anecdotally, the fall in demand for stone last year was not as bad for home produced stone as it has been for imports.

Leading the growth in stone sales over the past 15 years have been the interiors market (especially granite and latterly engineered quartz worktops and limestone flooring) and hard landscaping. Both benefited from the falling price of imports thanks to the growth of first India and then China as the source of stone and the falling price of diamond tools to process granite. There have also been a relatively large number of palacial private mansions and country houses built in the British Isles. The top end of the market has held up better than the lower end, which tends to help traditional masonry using indigenous stones because these projects are less price sensative than commercial or public sector projects, where the money being spent has to be accounted for to shareholders or tax payers.

Housebuilding has been particularly severeley hit by the recession as buyers fear further price falls could put them into negative equity. In any case, when people believe the price of anything is going to fall, they are likely to wait until it has fallen to buy it. Even if they want to buy, mortgages have become difficult to secure as the banks demand larger deposits and have increased interest rates on loans. The granite worktop and limestone floor and fireplace market have been particularly badly hit. Many kitchen shops have gone out of business and with them their granite worktop suppliers. Small worktop companies who had put their houses up as collateral for money borrowed to invested in a saw and CNC workcentre were particularly vulnerable. Granite, sandstone and other stones (notably porphyry and some limestone) are the preferred choices of hard landscapers and landscape projects have continued, although imports of stone for this sector fell in 2008 and 2009.

Stone use in every area has grown in the past 15 years. Cities have always used stone, internally and externally, for important buildings. There was also an increasing number of fairly modest houses built with stone walls and archetectural masonry, particularly in those areas of Britain that have traditionally built in stone – the villages of The Cotswolds, Yorkshire, central southern England, Scotland and parts of Wales. Here, planners often insisted on locally produced stone being used to match existing buildings and preserve the vernacular character of such areas. But imports also benefited as all over the country housing developments have incorporated stone fireplaces, and stone floors in reception areas and kitchens in particular, but not exclusively. And nearly all this stone is imported. Latterly, underfloor heating has increased the attraction of stone flooring in living areas. England has always had a lot of conservatories added to houses as a home improvement and, with underfloor heating, the attraction of natural stone flooring in conservatories has increased.

Hotels have been refurbished using marble and polished limestone for bathrooms and floors in reception areas and, in some cases, the rooms. Many offices have used marble, granite, limestone and other decorative stones for floors, wall linings, reception desks, stairs, lift surrounds and other public areas, as well as for cladding for the outer skins of the buildings.

The aesthetic for the natural beauty of stone has pervaded most areas of society in Britain and has been used in ever more interesting and intricate ways as the CNC technology for working stone has improved and become more affordable. Even waterjet cutting, which has not made a big impact on the British market, is beginning to be used for creating intricate patters, especially on flooring and paving.

The past 15 years have been a heady time for the growth of the stone market in the UK that has benefited the whole industry and seen a lot of new companies entering the market.

There is a nervousness in the stone industry now that is curtailing any further investment, especially in machinery for processing stone, sales of which had enjoyed the boom in the industry. Following the May election, the new Government has to address the level of debt in the UK and fiscal and monetary measures taken for that will put further pressure on demand. The country as a whole is nervous and fears a dip back into recession. Until confidence returns, there will not be much of an improvement in sales.