Diespeker's story starts with Luigi Odorico, an Italian entrepreneur who owned a mosaic and terrazzo company in Frankfurt. In 1881 he sent his sales rep Sigmund Diespeker and craftsman Giovanni Mariutto to England to research the potential for selling marble and terrazzo products. But instead of reporting back, the pair started Diespeker & Co at Holborn Viaduct and became one of the first companies to offer terrazzo and mosaic in Britain.

In 1908 the company built a dedicated terrazzo and mosaic factory beside City Road Lock in Islington, which at its peak employed around 250 craftsmen producing sheets of marble-chip terrazzo for buildings including Blackpool's Winter Gardens. The company is credited with devising the method of precasting reinforced terrazzo in the 1920s, an innovation that helped establish terrazzo as a mainstream building material through the twentieth century.

Bob Krause and two business partners had bought Diespeker from Granwood Flooring in the 1970s and now his son John runs the company which operates from a purpose-built factory just off the Old Kent Road in southeast London. The bespoke workshop has not changed in years. It is known as the 'green shed' and uses traditional methods to hand make terrazzo. The cutting machines uses water jets to reduce the amount of dust created in the factory. Around 80% of the company's output is terrazzo, the rest is cut natural stone, such as marble and granite, creating flooring, cladding, worktops, and bespoke installations, for clients including the Royal Academy, Oxford University, Selfridges, and Harrods.