05 August 2002
Montpellier Marble makes it three!!
Montpellier Marble has just won an incredible third award in the Best Fireplace Mantel category at the Hearth and Home 2002 Exhibition, the crowning glory to a hugely successful show. “Although the show was smaller this year, the quality of the leads was exceptionally good,” comments Eve Iravani, whose partner and co-director Michael Mellor designs the fireplaces. “There were more serious buyers than ever before and we were delighted that most of our top retailers made the visit to Harrogate and had the opportunity to see our new designs first hand and provide us with invaluable feedback.”
The prize-winning surround, The Arizona, is a sleek contemporary design which captures the current mood. Within an hour of the show opening, the company knew it had what Eve calls an “order magnet”. “The amazing thing was that the new fireplaces nearly did not make it to the exhibition. They were air-freighted to the UK and were delayed by almost a week due to a missed flight. We barely had time to set them up in our warehouse to name and describe them for the award entry forms. On top of this, the header board on one of the new designs, The San Francisco, toppled over when the crew was distracted by a beautiful blonde passer-by while setting up the stand and broke into three pieces”. Thanks to Andy Winman, Montpellier’s Warehouse Manager (and expert stonemason) who successfully glued the pieces back together, The San Francisco made her debut, also to great acclaim. Eve continues, “Following the wonderful reception the new fire surrounds received at the show, they have now been put into production and will be ready for delivery in early September”.