Hit by the housing slump

Demand for walling stone has hit the buffers this year as housebuilding schemes all over the country have been put on hold. It has left stone producers searching for alternative markets, as NSS discovered on a visit to Doulting Quarry in Somerset

British quarries benefited enormously from the boom in stone housebuilding that started in the mid-’90s. But it has exposed them to a market that now looks to be in freefall again as banks and building societies tighten mortgage credit and housebuilders stop building in the face of the crash in demand.

Government figures show that private enterprise housing starts in the second quarter of this year were 27% down on 2007, even worse than in the first quarter when they were 21% down. For the third quarter in a row, completions exceeded starts – something that has not happened since 1992-93.

Doulting in Somerset were one of the quarries that had been looking forward to supplying their limestone to some major housing projects this year for companies including Bloor, Taylor Maxwell and Bellway.

Many of those projects are now on hold and Doulting owner Colin Keevil and his Quarry Manager Richard Matthews have had to look around for other work for the Maveco primary, secondary and profiler saws they have installed at the quarry alongside a 1m Wells Wellcut saw, Wells croppers and even an old Anderson Grice saw with a 2.7m blade that is still in commission, although Doulting have to make any replacement parts they need.

Colin Keevil says: “Things have changed, without question. I’ve had two people leave and I haven’t replaced them. It’s a different climate to what we’re used to. Quarrying will come back, but we’ll have to watch our costs and promote Doulting as much as we can.”

Two people leaving, by the way, reduces the number of people working at Doulting to four plus Richard. “We run a tight ship,” says Colin.

They are currently keeping the saws busy by processing stone for masonry companies, many of which are not involved in housing and are still busy with other work. Doulting have always supplied sawn stone (and raw block) but they have now increased that side of the business to take up the slack left by walling.

Often they are supplying sawn-six-sides. And Doulting are persuading a larger number of masons that it is worth buying stone sawn-six-sides rather than raw block because it saves transporting the 30% or so of waste there will be from squaring up a block from the quarry.

As Richard says: “We can take it straight out of the quarry and on to a saw. If the carbon footprint of building products has been at the back of people’s minds and now comes to the front of their minds through fuel prices, we have to look on that as a window of opportunity.”

There is a self-employed mason, Kevin Spears, working in a shed at Doulting. He tends to get the work if someone comes in wanting a particular piece of masonry in the quarry’s stone. It is another service Doulting can offer. And it reinforces the benefit of accurate sawing because it means he doesn’t have to spend half a day squaring up a piece of stone before he can start working it.

It was because Doulting wanted that level of sawing accuracy, as well as the automation to free up the staff in the factory and improve productivity, that they bought the Mavecos two years ago after Richard Matthews took over as Quarry Manager.

The drawback with sawing stone for masonry companies rather than producing stone for housing projects (and walling was often accompanied by quoins, cills and other masonry as well) is that housing developers had gone to Doulting quarry because they wanted the Doulting stone. Masonry companies, on the other hand, often want something else sawn, particularly Bath stone. Doulting Stone Company have to buy that in (although they have their own Woods bed that is similar in appearance to Bath stone and which they do offer as an alternative). As a result, says Colin: “The saws are still flat out but margins are down about a third.”

And although Doulting are keen to let masonry companies know they are happy to process any limestones for them, they also want to let the market know that Doulting stone is available – and straight away in almost any quantities required, while there can be a wait for Bath stone.

In recent years Doulting have extracted about 1,000tonnes of stone from their quarry each year. But they have planning permission to extract 6,000tonnes a year and have 200,000tonnes of consented reserves in the quarry as well as plenty more under adjoining land that Colin Keevil already owns.

Like the rest of the stone industry, Doulting had been enjoying the good times with turnover last year six-and-a-half times what it had been in the mid-’90s. In January this year their sales peaked at £92,000 – their best month ever.

That success was helped by the arrival of Richard Matthews. He had joined the stone industry in 1980 as a sawyer with Dring & Williams. He stayed with the company at Keynsham, Bristol, through its various incarnations, ending up as part of Hanson Bath & Portland when they bought the site.

Then he and his family went to France, but didn’t like it as much as they thought they would and came home again. After more than 20 years in the stone industry Richard wanted a change, but was persuaded by Colin to go and work at Doulting as a sawyer, knowing that there was an opportunity to become the manager there.

He started in the factory because “we both wanted to see if it would work”, says Colin.

It did and in September 2006 Richard was made Quarry Manager, leaving Colin more time to concentrate on his 1,200-acre arable farm that the quarry is on. The quarry made a useful contribution to the estate while grain prices were low and now that the profits from the quarry have been hit, crop prices have risen. Colin admits he is glad to have the farm as well as the quarry.

“I’m here [in the quarry] between 6.30 and seven in the morning to discuss with Richard what’s happening that day and to make sure we’re going in the same direction. Richard knows if there’s a problem during the day he can ring me,” says Colin.

It is at Richard’s instigation that portable cabins have been replaced by permanent offices (built of stone, of course, not just because it is so readily available but also because it acts as a display of walling, quoins, cills, lintels, windows and door frames) and a new sawing shed now houses the Mavecos. Richard suggested Mavecos because he was familiar with them from Drings.

He is pleased with the way the quarry and the factory have progressed. Stone is now available from three different beds in the quarry and some of the block is so large that Richard wants to persuade Colin to invest in a 3.5m saw so that larger sizes of stone can be offered.

“We really want to get to the architects and prove that Doulting is still here and it’s a prime product. It’s good quality stone available in large sizes,” he says, adding that the new website (the address is at the bottom of this page) is helping them to promote themselves and produce leads.

Colin adds: “We like to work with architects and builders – it can save them a lot of money.”

He quotes Kings Bruton prep school, where Doulting have just finished the supply of stone to contractors Morgan Ashurst for a new reception area. The architect had wanted a 750mm high plinth. Richard suggested they should course it, which they had not considered. “We have to help them understand what stone can do best,” says the Quarry Manager.

The quarry at Doulting was used by the Romans and enjoyed a revival by the Victorians, which means there is a constant demand for the stone now for conservation.

It was and is not only used in Somerset, but has also made its way further afield, including London. It was used to build Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Street and the MoD building, for an extension to the Horniman Museum, East Dulwich, and recently for repairs to the Polish Bobola Roman Catholic Church, where it was selected for its hard wearing properties to replace Bath stone.

Outside of London, it is currently being supplied to Ken Biggs at Wells Cathedral and they have just got the go-ahead for a Bloor Homes project at Shepton Mallet that has been resurrected. At one project the specification includes mullions 1.8m long on bed. King’s Bruton prep school included two enormous hoods that were £5,000 each.

Doulting are certainly not claiming to be untouched by the problems in the housing market, but neither are they despondent about it. The quarry has been through good and bad times for 2,000 years and the current operators are convinced the stone will be in demand for many more years yet.