The Brew Cabin

I'm looking for a good price on either Marshall's Chancery or StoneMarket's Millstone.

I normally get a half decent price on building materials from Jewson's in Reading, but they are quoting about £26 ex. VAT / m2. This seems quite expensive to me!

Any advice on guide prices and recommended suppliers appreciated.

thats about what I pay for chancery, never used Millstone.

look at Westminster Stone's Old Yorkshire Street, or Old Lancashire Mill Flags (www.westminsterstone.com)

Thanks for your replies. I'll give Westminster Stone a call next week.

In the meantime, can anyone better £26 ex. VAT / m2 (delivered) for Marshall's Chancery?

Try Will Sugg at Meakin Builders Supplies in Oakley/Basingstoke - 01256 782421. Generally speaking, they are cheaper than Jewsons or Travis Bloody Perkins for all paving products but I'm not 100% sure he stocks Marshalls/Stonemarket. Still, it's only a phone call to find out.

They bought out my pet BM about 4 years ago, and overnight, prices went up by around 35%. I had been paying 6.30 per square metre for CBPs and T-Bloody-P put them up to 8.50...with immediate effect!!

I'd been dealing with that BM since he first opened for business back in the late 1970s - in fact, it was me and me Dad that concreted their yard, but as soon as Travis Bloody perkins bought them out, the prices went up and the level of service plummetted. All of a sudden, it wasn't a case of, "We'll get those blocks to you first thing, Tony", but a matter of "We have to run some flags up to the Bolton branch for one of their customers, so it will be dinnertime before you get your delivery".

And it wasn't only me - in the space of 3 months, every groundworker and paving gang worth their salt had stopped dealing with them.

Where do they get those prices? A few weeks back, they wanted 18 quid for a 25kg block of roofing pitch that I can get from a one-man band roofing supplier for 8.50 quid. And have you seen their list prices for summat like Chancery Flags or Chapelgate Clay Pavers??? Jeez!!

Have you tried Buildbase in Theale (nr Reading) (or other locations). I find them much more competitive than Jewsons (even with so called 'trade' discount are more expensive than the B&Q over the road).

Are there any other specialist hard-landscape suppliers in the area? I knoiw there's Silverland over towards Chertsey, but are there any good yards in/around Reading, other than those already mentioned?