Congratulations, slaps on the back, high fives all round. That’s it, our new Leyden website has officially been launched and we’ve got to say, it looks great and we’re very happy with it.

Sure, everyone says that about their website in the same way that everyone thinks their child is talented and wonderful.

However, at Leyden because we specialize in heritage plaster it creates a very slight problem for us. On one side we have a business that is totally functional, trade based and part of the wider building process. Yet on the other side we are responsible for some of the region’s most beautiful craftsmanship on some amazing buildings so the question always was, where do we pitch our website?

Do you either create a functional website that essentially tells you very little, or do you follow your heart and look to help your audience understand what we do, how we feel about the aesthetics of a building and how we believe in traditional methods that ‘do the right thing’ for the building itself. At Leyden we unashamedly choose the later for our website and we actually make no apology for it.

You see, here’s the thing. Property or buildings are not just property or buildings, they’re houses, they’re architecture, they’re artwork on the landscape and most importantly they’re homes, places in which our loved ones live. That’s why this work is so important to us and it’s why the line ‘serious about craftsmanship’ is never far from our lips.

Recently, we were reminded of a brilliant ad campaign for the luxury Swiss watch brand Patak Philippe, who summed it up perfectly with the tagline “You never actually own a Patak Philippe, you merely look after it for the next generation”. That’s exactly how we feel about period property … you don’t actually own it, although don’t mention that to your mortgage company, they may have a view on it.

So yes, for us at Leyden the word ‘craftsmanship’ is important but that’s only part of the story. It’s as much to do with making sure that future generations learn just how important it is to look after heritage buildings. To do that properly, lime-based materials are a key, central element.

If you want to understand a period property, you need to understand the likes of lime render, lime plaster and lime repointing as these materials and processes are vital with anything to do with heritage buildings. Lime render, as an example, is a perfect protective layer to any traditional brick and stonework and it looks stunning when it highlights those amazing features that older properties are so famous for.

In addition to our traditional, heritage-based work, the new website also highlights our modern Thin Coat Systems that are applied to the outside of buildings for better protection, improved insulation and a low maintenance finish … just to prove that at Leyden, we’re not only about heritage work.

Lastly, it’s our aim with this website to make sure that we don’t just leave it sitting there like a glorified ‘yellow pages’, instead we want to use it properly to bring you news about the company and views on the industry. In addition, we may occasionally drop in the odd piece that gives you a better feel for the type of people that we are here at Leyden and how above anything else we are genuinely serious about craftsmanship.

Enjoy the website and please call us if you have any questions.

All the best

Matt & Hannah