Advice on composite worktops, please

[littlegreen]

Have finally decided to choose a composite worktop for our new kitchen but now begins the trauma of deciding what sort. Can you please tell me what is the difference between eg. corian/quarella/silestone/quartz? Also, where do I find one independently, without having to go through a kitchen kitchen supplier. Any recommendations gratefully received.

We had encore worktops - topclasscarpentry.co.uk had the best online prices I could find and our kitchen supplier agreed to match them so they worked out to be relatively cheap too.

Very pleased with them so far.

corian is a solid surface synthetic material - very hygenic, can be repaired, can make built in sinks in same material. Can be a flat, solid colour, or with speckles.More "plastic" feel ie: warmer to touch
quartzite (incl quarella and silestone) is composite with real stone so has some qualities of stone worktops, but more even colour - nice sparkles in it. Feels like real stone ie: cold to touch - Dont know the differences between the brands, sorry.
Once you have decided on the product ask them to recomend a fabricator in your area, if recommended will get better results.