Albion Stone, Hutton Stone, Lundhs, Paye, Polycor and The Stonemasonry Company have joined together to form The Stone Collective. With the view to 'educate and inspire the built environment community about the power of stone', those involved are pioneering stone as the 21st-century's low carbon, load-bearing material. 

This May, The Stone Collective will sponsor a Material Futures stream at the Footprint+ conference – an event dedicated to promoting decarbonisation in the built environment. During the London event, members of The Stone Collective will be delivering seminars including:

Towards a new stone architecture
Pierre Bidaud, Natalia Petovka (TBC) and Michael Poultney
Since architects Martorell, Bohigas, Macklay and engineer Peter Rice built the 1992 Pavilion of the Future for the Seville World Expo from granite, what has changed in the use of stone in modern buildings? During the last 30 years updated systems and technologies have enabled the development of new stone building typologies. From a simple brick to highly engineered prefabricated pre-tensioned system, stone has proven its versatility, efficiently addressing pressing issues of the over consumption of energy.
 
A perpetual virtuous cycle
Robert Greer, Marcus Paine, Thor-Anders Lundh Håkestad and Valerie Bergeron 
From extraction to use, stone is a low environmental impact material. Ready to use, affordable, plentiful and easily adapted for reuse, stone is more relevant than ever. At the heart of stone construction there is a very low carbon footprint, with no heating/cooking process required, very little water needed, with a nose to tail approach including all the wonky bits for a 100% yield of the extracted material.

Footprint+ runs from 8-9 May at Old Billingsgate, London. For more information, visit: footprintplus.com

Conservation and restoration specialist Stonehealth has launched an upgraded version of its superheated water cleaning system.

The Gloucestershire company has launched the Doff III – a new and improved, even safer and more sustainable version model of the machine favoured by architects, specifiers and cleaning industry professionals in the UK and worldwide. 

Four years and a six figure sum have been invested in the development of the new machine, which is based on customer feedback from the previous (and continuing) incarnation, the Doff Integra.
The Doff III has an improved, lighter, fully integrated pump requiring 50 per cent less power usage, a remote power control, an electronic temperature control system to reduce water consumption, and increased maximum hose length of 45 metres, while still achieving a steam heat of 150 degrees C at the end of the nozzle.

Stonehealth, which is based in Cam, near Dursley, is now targeting overall sales growth of more than 30 per cent in 2024. At the same time the company has appointed Angela Southern as business development director.

“We’re delighted with the new machine,” said Brian Crowe, executive chairman and founder of Stonehealth, “and we’re looking forward to introducing it to the market. Over the past 30 years we’ve earned a status as leaders in our field and we’ve got a catalogue of projects, from cathedrals to historic landmarks, to make us proud of what we’ve achieved. However we are always looking to improve what we do, to make our machines even easier to use and more economical. The original Doff went to market over 20 years ago and the principles have remained the same since then. But like the Integra was, the Doff III is a significant upgrade on its predecessor, and we’ll continue to innovate and create new features as time progresses.

“We care about the preservation of historic buildings and so it is important that contractors using our systems are properly trained in the right techniques and maintenance. So we have revised our Rosette accreditation system, which ensures that a community of approved contractors are available to architects and specifiers looking for best in class operators.

“We know that there are many other applications for this technology, in a variety of scenarios outside the preservation and cleaning of masonry. The possibilities for this company are endless, so we’re ready to get moving.”
 

The Biesse Group which designs, manufactures and distributes machinery for processing stone, wood, glass, plastic and metal has announced it is acquiring the entire share capital of GMM Finance S.r.l., (the holding company of the GMM Group) for approximately €72 million (equity value).

Due to complete in February, the deal will see Biesse taking on GMM S.p.A., Bavelloni S.p.A. and Techni Waterjet Ltd – and in addition, its Italian and foreign subsidiaries. In total, the GMM Group has 450 employees across the world and is present in 90 countries. It is being sold by Consilium Private Equity Fund III (managed by Consilium SGR p.a.) with a 75% holding, and FGL Holding s.r.l. (owned by the founding shareholders) with a 25% holding. 

GMM was founded in Gravellona Toce, Piedmont in 1993 and started out designing and assembling bridge cutters for the stone industry. In 2018, it acquired the Australian company Techni Waterjet and, in 2022, took over Italian company Bavelloni.

Financial reports from 2022 reported that the GMM Group had a turnover of €124 million, EBITDA of €12.5 million and net financial debt of €4.4 million. 

The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) is now welcoming applications from talented craftspeople – including stonemasons – who are looking to further their careers.

Applications close on 12 February at 5pm and Individual makers can apply for up to £18,000 in funding for Scholarships, up to £10,000 for Emerging Maker Grants and up to £12,000 for Apprenticeship training.

If you wish to apply but require further guidance, QEST will be running advice sessions via Zoom. These include:

How to Apply for an Emerging Maker Grant
15 January, 1pm-2pm
Registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEucu2ppz0uH9UrRplXAc6vxyTvgAtFrfak#/registration
 
How to Apply for a Scholarship
19 January, 1pm-2pm
Registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpcu2opj0tGddzzEdLacHUDjzCxNWMQ6B0#/registration
 
How to Apply for an Apprenticeship
24 January, 1pm-2pm
Registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpf-usqjstGNy8vbjwePG_hyiHH4AmLfit#/registration
 
Find out more information visit: https://www.qest.org.uk/