Recently while putting together a quotation for a client in the USA jointly with a London designer I was asked, what were my USP's. After asking isn't that something you plug into a laptop I was told it stood for Unique Selling Point and was necessary for the package being put together because obviously our USP's become a large part of those of the whole team including the designers.
We are a specialist high quality company and here are our
10 main Unique Selling Points.
1/ Bespoke service - We make all our pieces to exactly the size the client requires, as everything is made to order and does not come off the shelf, this bespoke service does not add time to the project.
2/ Hand carved in UK - Everything we supply is hand produced in the UK in either our Cotswold or East Anglian workshop. We do not use cheap labour or anything made in sweat shops.
Pictures above show the Laurel cushions being worked for the fire surround at the foot of this blog.
3/ Materials - We use only the best quality materials, never using lower quality to drive up our profits. We use limestone and sandstone from the UK and France; Slate from Wales and England and marble from Italy, France and Greece. The materials we use are those used by the likes of Michelangelo and Henry Moore and in the building of St. Paul's Cathedral; The Parthenon; The Doges Palace, Venice; The Palace Versailles and many others. Due to the continuity of the quarries we use we know the quality of the material and exactly how they will perform.
4/ Ocular rectification - Where enough information is given by the client we use ocular rectification when designing our fire surrounds etc. This allows for the direction natural light falls on the piece, from what direction it is mainly approached when and the size of the room it is to be fitted in etc. These are the same techniques used when producing the classic antique fire surrounds we now so admire.
5/ Design & drawing service - We can help with the design and proportions of your piece providing drawings for the clients approval before work commences.
6/ Training - Myself and my team are all fully trained, I myself was trained by a city of London company over 32 years ago and was lucky to have a connected training meaning my apprentice master started his training in 1946, his master 1920's, his in 1890's and so on. This is the sort of training teaches the tricks and techniques found in a practical craft not often found in books.
7/Training the next generation - Most companies do not put any thing back into training the next generation of stone masons. There are companies the employ 100 + and have no apprentices, we are a small skilled team of craftspeople and take a new apprentice at least every 2 years, which means we always have 2 or 3, this is a full apprenticeship and although the recognised training today is for much less we have our apprentices for 5 year as we aim to produce the master craftspeople of the future.
8/ Experience- Myself and my team have a vast experience in our field. Between us we have produced work for: The Palace of Westminster; Woburn Abbey; Stoneleigh Abbey; Somerset House; Buckingham Palace; Windsor Castle; Raglan Castle; Queen's House; Greenwich; St. Paul's Covent Garden; St. Martin's in the Field; Great Palm House, Kew; Heythrop House; Gloucester Cathedral; The British Museum; Dulwich Picture Gallery; Victoria & Albert museum; Chamber's Bridge; Wheatly Park; Charlesworthy Bridge; The Circle of Lebanon, Highgate and many Government and public buildings.
And for: The Aga Khan, The Sultan of Brunei, The Duke of Bedford, 2nd Baron Dickinson of Painswick, Lord and Lady Bamford, George Michael, Roger Dawtrey, and many others corporate and private clients.
9/ Web cam service - We offer a web cam service to allow the client to discuss their project with the craftsman whilst on the bench in real time. Also with all fire surrounds we provide a 3 minute film on a memory card of your actual fire surround being worked.
10/ Reproduction – We can exactly copy a fire surround or ornament of your choice whether it be an antique or contemporary piece, we are able to work from a photograph or a sketch .
http://sjcritchley.com
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