Well what can i say i did think today would be busy but if im honest it even caught me out the phone started ringing at 9 am and didnt stop till 4pm with people placing last minute orders to save money before vat returns to 17.5%.
Also i have answered around 20 emails regarding Fireplace products and stock availability as everyone is getting back into work mode now the festive period is nearly over.
I have even been to the factory today to meet a customer who wanted to come and collect Lytton and Pine Bedford gas package in a Highlighted finish and 54″ Pine Bedford Mantel.
I didn’t really mind as to all intents and purposes it wasnt a day off yesterday i was working all day.
Stove sales were patricualary busy again yesterday with us now taking forward orders of Firefox 5 Stoves that are arriving in Late January,we do have 25 on order but ive sold 9 of those now so i will have to up order levels when our suppliers return on the 4th.
So we are returning back to the office and factory on the 4th and will deliver all these orders asap so nobody is kept waiting long for all their new goods anyway im off to get ready now
Happy new year to everyone from Castfireplaces and we look forward to dealing with you all in 2010
Archive for December, 2009
Last day for Lower rate VAT sees surge in fireplace and stove sales
Thursday, December 31st, 2009Buy an new Fireplace or Stove in the New Year
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009As 2009 finishes we all reflect on what the past year has brought us all and i must say with things in our personal lives im glad to see the back of it.
Workwise i dont think things could have gone any better i know times have been tough and money is short for people but we have come through this terrible turbulent times in a new factory which we are in the process of buying and our Fireplace stocks have grown hugely.
Yes profits are down slightly but being house orientated people have mothballed projects and a few developers we deal with have dissapeared.
It could be alot worse i know of 6 local fireplace companies finishing business this year and i have noticed a few website firms shut too.
So as we await the new year and get things ready for what are normally a few busy months for fireplaces and stoves as the weather starts to get really cold i look back and think yes we have done ok were all intact our company is well known and has respect in the trade and im sure that here at Castfireplaces we have a very exciting 2010 ahead of us.
Im really looking forward to getting back to work and making progress in our aim to be the best known company on the internet and the 1st choice for buying all your fireplace products and im sure with all our staffs help and in particular our customers help we can achieve some real big results this year.
Only three days to go to save money on our Fireplaces
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009Time is running out for the VAT reduction on our Fireplaces as we return on Sunday to vat rate of 17.5% im not really sure if this has made a difference to our economy but hey im not in charge.
I have been out shooting today as we do every Christmas (and whenever i can get time off) and have had a lovely day whilst Rhian has been answering phones and taking a few orders.
Our workload is building up quite nicely so we do have plenty to do when return full time to the Factory on Jan 4th.
I really must say i am enjoying our time off but i am also ready to stop drinking and eating so much and return to normal living and get back to work as we have so much to do in January with website launch and around 200 new items to list on our website which feature new products we have not sold before and some old favourites from the Jig / Carron range which are making a long awaited return to our range and they will have there own section so our customers can easily naviaget our website.
Right of to lock up my very tired dog and give him his tripe as a reward for being my little shooting pal
Are we having a sale in January for our fireplaces and stoves
Monday, December 28th, 2009Someone today has rung me to ask if we are having a January sale on our website and at our Factory as he has been looking online at a few fireplaces he fancies and wondered whether to wait till Jan to see if they were going to be cheaper.
As most people know the VAT is due to rise to 17.5% and we also have had a price increase from gallery which we have not added to any of our products so really the basic fact is when we return back to the office full time on the 4th
1 The VAT will be at a higher rate adding around £15 to a fireplace package costing £700
2 We are implimenting price increases straight away on new website
3 We dont do sales we are already one of the cheapest if not THE cheapest online
So when you are searching online for a new Fireplace or Stove i am sure you will find Cast and Pine Direct to be one of the most competitive places to shop and with our fantastic delivery and customer service i am 100% sure no other company comes near in offering you the best quality fireplaces online at a price that will save you hundreds buying from your local fireplace shop
By the way after telling Mr Jackson about the no sales thing he promptly ordered Firefox 8 Stove and at around £340 he has got himself a bargain
Quick hour in the office to catch up on Fireplace Orders and Work
Sunday, December 27th, 2009Hello and seasons greetings to you all i have had an hour in the office this morning just to answer a few emails and ring a few people who have ordered things on our website.
As i said we do answer the phones and emails when we can during time off so we never seem to shut properly but its better than no rest at all.
Im off to the factory today to make sure everything is in order there and also to have an hour splitting my logs that i was telling you about.
I really must grab a day in early jan to move a bit of stock around as as it was coming in and out that fast in November and December we have stoves and fireplaces all over the factory and not stacked neatly how we normally have it.
I know it sounds petty but its much simpler to have things where you know they are and fireplaces being fragile items we dont want to damage anything.
In january we do have a large shipment of stoves arriving and also we have numerous crates of fireplaces arriving that have been ordered and now will need somewhere to be stacked ready to be opened and dispatched what is always another busy few months anyway im off now to walk the dog in the lovely drizzle then im off to refill my woodshed (an excuse really its already very full of oak) so i will keep you posted on how wood splitting goes
Celtic Combination Cast Iron Gallery Fireplace Featured Item
Saturday, December 26th, 2009Happy Boxing day we are not at work today so please dont think im a saddo posting an article about fireplaces i am actually at my sisters with all my family having christmas boozy fun.
Anway heres todays article.
The celtic cast iron fireplace has been a firm favorite in the selling stakes for quite a few years and understandably so as it is a great looking fireplace and with prices starting at £250 for the cast iron on its own what better or cheaper way is there to make a feature out of your chimney breast.
The celtic comes in three finishes
Black A matt black finish we can be treated with black lead grate polish for amore traditional look
Highlighted This finish is where all the raised edges have been polished to give a highlighted appearance to all the decorative features
Full Polished Our most popular choice the polishing on all gallery fireplaces is secondary to none in the trade and this offers amodern look to a traditiopanl fireplace.
As with all the fireplaces we sell the Celtic Cast Iron Fireplace Package is available as a package complete with choice of hearth for our normal option of solid fuel (Real Fire) Gas and Electric use and on our new website it alos comes with the option of an LPG gas insert for our customers running on bottled gas.
Anyway have alook at the photo of the full polished version below and click on it to see the item
Merry Christmas From all of us at Cast Fireplaces
Friday, December 25th, 2009Merry Christams to everyone who reads our blogs and has bought fireplace items from our company obviously i am not mad enough or indeed brave enough to be working today this blog has been scheduled to list itself.
Im sure all of our customers old and new are having a great christams day and we look forward to seeing you all again in january when we return to work fully recharged after a nice break.
The new website has been approved to go and will be making an appearance very soon it has been so painstaking swapping every thing over on to it as our current site was not compatible to do a simple swap over so alot of the text on our website has had to be manually transferred to the new updated site and the descriptions were all jumbled up to so i have had to go through those to altering and amending every single item which was not an easy task.
No as i look at it in our test mode im so happy with it and i honestly do think it is the best fireplace retailing site on the internet and promise it will not be long befor you can judge for yourself.
Anyway im off now to eat yet morre turkey and my mums homemade stuffing and once again merry christmas to you all
Log Splitter arrives and i am at the Fireplace Factory making logs
Thursday, December 24th, 2009Im like a child when it comes to new things arriving and yesterday my Log Splitter came by pallet delivery and was sitting on my drive when i got back from washing the vans at our local Valet company (Full valet in mine looks like brand new)
Anyway i was told it would arrive between 9 and 5pm there not as good as us with our 1 hour time slot and it duely arrived so i loaded it straight on to me van and rushed off to the factory to play with it.
God it was cold in there the showroom and canteen are the only places with heat in there anyway unpacked and assembled i thought right lets get one of the tree trunk rings in and give it a go
Quick read of the instructions and start it up im not joking it cracked it in to with no effort at all and i spent the next ten minutes splitting it in to fire size pieces this was so much easier than the axe attempt i tried a few days ago.
It made such short work of it i was there for around 40 miutes and split up enough to 3/4 fill a tonne bag which i loaded on my van with the forklift.
I was getting carried away thinking of all this wood to burn in my Gallery Fireplaces Tiger Plus Stove Rhian then rang to ask if i was coming back (told her i was only dropping it off) as she knew i would be playing with my new toy it was getting dark and we were going out at 6pm so i finished off a ring and added them to my bag which was now on the back of my van
So if you do want to know anymore about where i bought it from just let me know and ill point you in the right direction
1 More sleep till santas here cant wait for that too
We can now offer logs for sale for all our Stove and Fireplace Customers
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009Cast Fireplaces can now offer loads of logs for sale via one of my very good friends who has loads of experience in the gardening and log supply industry.
Now im sure you are aware there are differnt types of logs ie hard wood and soft wood and what he supplys is a mixed load so it burns better.
We have been having logs of paul for ages and i can personally guarantee how good they are the latest batch he dropped me off were cherry and they were in tree like form as he had not split them so ill tell you more tomorrow how i got on with that.
He offers the logs he supplys in either tonne bags or as a full load on his transit tipper which is better value for money.
As he is one of my ggod mates ive said ill add him a section on our new website so customers can order and pay for them online.
However at the moment he only sells within a 20 mile Radius of Ripley as this is where we are based and its not economical to send out by Pallet service.
So if you are within 20 miles of us give him a ring on 07970 958432 and im sure he will be more than happy to help you out and if you have ordered a stove from us recently there will be a leteer offering his services coming through the post to you
1st day off and im back at Fireplace Factory
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009Well at the start of our Christmas holidays i have been to the factory this afternoon to wrap and send out a gas insert by Parcelforce to a customer in Cumbria who we bent over backwards for to get delivery to before christmas sending it on a courier who collected from us at 10pm at night just so they can have it fitted.
Now as it turns out the gas insert has a missing knob and a one of the matrix that holds the coals in place is broken too, we do not open all of our gas inserts before dispatch as i can honestly say this is only the second time this year something has been wrong with them so we trust our suppliers to check them.
Now we normally insist on having items returned to us before dispatching new replacement item (postage paid by us) as in the past we have had customers not return items when they have had their new one and this is very costly to us as they are £165 retail price.
Now for this customer we have sent replacement gas insert out as we felt it was unfair being so close to Christmas not to send gas insert as there is no way they can return and us dispatch new item in time so i really do hope the original gets sent back.
Now anyway they were not too pleased at it not being correct when the fitter had come to fit so please bear this in mind if you have a fitter booked please check over all the items so they are ready to fit when he comes, dont get me wrong damages are very rare but sometimes customers order the wrong tiles or order wrong size mantel and when the fitter is stood there all ready to fit it and its not right there is not much we can do that same day.
Anyway moan over we have sorted it out at our expense and hopefully it will arrive Christams eve and get fitted in time for the big day so back to my relaxing with family and im just starting to feel tired from yesterdays all day drinking with the Fireplace Lads.