A quarry with a UK front door.

The India operation, Mallikarjun Stone Polishing Industries, owns the beds at Miriyan and runs the polishing yard beside them. Cutting, honing, brushing and polishing are all carried out there, which is why stone arrives in the UK calibrated and ready to lay rather than as rough sheet to be finished on arrival.

The UK company exists so that a merchant, distributor or main contractor deals with a domestic entity on domestic terms while buying at quarry level. There is no trading house taking a margin and adding a handling step, and thin stone loses less to breakage the fewer times it is moved.

Shahabad limestone has been a working floor and paving material across India for generations. It is far less known in the UK than Indian sandstone, and that gap is the reason this channel exists. The UK is the first market; the same yard will supply further markets from the same beds.