Marshalls paving sales hit by wet weather
Paving slab maker Marshalls has seen home improvement sales fall by 12% after the second wettest year on record forced households to postpone projects.
The Huddersfield-based group said prolonged periods of heavy rain over the summer had put a stop to work.
A spokesman said overall sales slid 7% to £309m in 2012.
But Marshalls said it was eyeing the opportunities of extreme weather, with its water management products earmarked as a potential growth area.
Chief executive Graham Holden said devices both to preserve water and drain gardens and driveways had seen double-digit growth in each of the past five years.
The company was started in the late 1880s and operates its own quarries and manufacturing sites throughout the UK.
Last year Marshalls closed its manufacturing facility in Maltby, South Yorkshire, because of a worse-than-feared slump in the building industry.