LDC Top 50 2024
Ankit Modani
Director
Nustone
Ankit Modani has an entrepreneurial background; he scaled his family business in northern India from a standing start to £15m in just a few years – but he always wanted to go it alone. In 2020, he decided to buy paving stone retailer Nustone.
“It wasn’t doing that well, and I knew I could help,” he says. He turned it around, investing in new product lines, honing customer service, and focusing on e-commerce. This year, it will hit £25m in turnover but Modani feels there’s still a long way to go: “By 2030, I want to IPO,” he adds. “When you think of patios, I want you to think: Nustone.”
When you think of patios, I want you to think: Nustone.”
Q&A
How did you save the business?
We have expanded beyond paving, moving into fencing, composite products, garden furniture and, soon, lighting. Anything in and on the patio, we sell. We have two showrooms but 90% of revenue comes from ecommerce, and we now sell on all the major marketplaces, like Amazon and eBay.
Crucially, we built trust with consumers through our customer service. When I took over in 2020, Nustone had a Trustpilot rating of 2.3, now we have thousands of reviews and a rating of 4.7. We now sponsor Premier League team Ipswich, which will help build more awareness and trust.
How ambitious are you?
I don’t have the words to explain. I sleep five hours a night. The first thing I see when I wake up are my emails and they are the last thing I see when I go to bed. My wife called my emails my ‘first wife’.
What impact do you make on people and the environment?
I donate at least 10% of my income to charity, supporting young people’s education in India and helping those with financial struggles access medical support. Nustone is also very focused on sustainability; we audit all our quarries annually and make sure all our suppliers take care of people and planet. We recently launched composite products fencing and decking, which lasts 25 years and uses only 30-50% wood, the rest is recycled plastic and resin. It’s a much greener product than traditional timber.
