Natural Stone Specialist and the Natural Stone Show from London were back in Verona at the end of September sharing a stand at the major European stone exhibition of Marmo+Mac. There is nothing to beat face-to-face meetings and actually seeing and touching stone and equipment, and there were a fair number of visitors from the UK at the exhibition this time, judging by the number we saw.

The show itself was still a little smaller than it had been for many years pre-pandemic but remains Europe’s pre-eminent gathering of the world of stone.

In Verona, the UK agents of the machinery companies exhibiting were all in good spirits and happy to see customers and potential customers from the British Isles, including a delegation from Stone Federation Great Britain and members of the Worktop Fabricators Federation.

The exhibition organisers said the 10 halls that the exhibition filled this time hosted 1,207 exhibitors from 48 countries, including Italy. The number of exhibitors was less than pre-pandemic, especially of non-Italian exhibitors, although exhibitors from outside Italy still accounted for 60% of the total in spite of notably fewer from China, where cities are still being locked down to combat Covid-19, and Russia and Ukraine.

The show never gets many exhibitors from the UK but Portland limestone mining company Albion Stone has become a regular and was back again this time after deciding not to attend last year’s hesitant restart of Marmo+Mac, hampered by Covid precautions at the show itself and on aeroplanes for getting to and from it.

Apart from the stand of Natural Stone Specialist magazine and the Natural Stone Show in London, which has even greater relevance to British buyers and those who want to sell to them now Britain has left the European Union, UK exhibitors were LPE Group (including Laser Products Europe), Integra Adhesives, and slab supplier UK Solmar in conjunction with Italian parent CMP Solmar.

Stone Industry Group (SiG) also had the British-made Trolex Air XS devise that measures levels of crystalline silica in the air in real time on the Turrini Claudio stand (SiG sells Turrini Claudio water recycling and dust suppression systems in the UK and America).

The dates of the show had changed this time so it ran from Tuesday 27 September to Friday 30 September. Previously it has ended on a Saturday, although Saturdays have tended to be for local consumers, bumping up visitor numbers but not adding much, if anything, to most exhibitors' satisfaction.

The organisers say there were 47,000 visitors to Marmo+Mac this year – that’s 50% up on last year with 97% more from overseas at 28,200. That’s not back to the 60,000-plus visitors the shows regularly had before the pandemic, but exhibitors seemed generally satisfied.

Maurizio Danese, CEO of Veronafiere said: "Marmomac this year has witnessed an impressive quantitative and qualitative return of operators from target countries such as the United States, Brazil, India and Turkey."

The Stone Theatre usually in Hall 1, was this time called the Plus Theatre and was in Hall 10, while Hall 1 remained closed. The Theatre shows the concepts of top designers created in stone by Italian stone companies using sophisticated Italian CNC machinery to show what it is possible to achieve in stone when imagination, fabricating skills and technology work in harmony.

Marmo+Mac 2022 also saw the launch of a new green approach for the Italian natural stone supply chain with the presentation of a 10-point plan called (translated to English) the Authentic Natural Stone Sustainability Manifesto, signed by companies belonging to the Pietra Naturale Autentica (PNA) network, which was formed by 60 companies in 2020 under the Presidency of Stefano Ghirardi. Veronafiere is a member of PNA.

Under the slogan ‘no fakes, natural stone is better’ PNA is an international effort to use the collective strength of the participants to get the stone message out to architects and other specifiers, particularly those in the UK and the USA.

The Sustainability Manifesto is an environmental declaration for natural stone products, involving a commitment by companies in the sector to adopt a certified and circular production cycle to ensure increasingly lower environmental impact affecting water use and air pollution, including CO2 emission levels.

Following Marmo+Mac in Verona, the activities of exhibitors will continue to be promoted on the Marmomac Plus virtual portal, developed as a response to Covid in 2020 when the live show in Verona could not be held. Marmo+Mac Plus continues 365 days a year to maintain the momentum of the exhibition until it returns to the Verona fairground next year, 26-29 September 2023.

Pictured below is some of the British (and other) involvement at Marmo+Mac this year, followed by a video summary of the event.

There is a quick tour of some of the highlights at Marmo+Mac in the video below.

The QMJ Group, the company behind The Natural Stone Show, has contracted Joe Simpson as consultant to help drive the development of Hard Surfaces, the show that runs alongside the Natural Stone Show at ExCeL in London, the next of which is 6-8 June next year.

Joe is the Founding Editor of The Specifier’s Guide to Ceramic Tile & Natural Stone, Tile UK, and Tile & Stone Journal. He is also the voice behind www.diaryofatileaddict.com, the world-wide blog that is a must-read commentary on tile design.

Richard Bradbury, Event Director of the Natural Stone Show and Hard Surfaces, says of Joe’s appointment: “I am delighted that Joe has joined the Hard Surfaces team. He has a wealth of knowledge about, and infectious enthusiasm for, ceramic tiles and surface solutions.

“His global network is unsurpassed. And, as we have already discovered, he has a deep pool of ideas to make Hard Surfaces a must-attend date in the construction calendar.”

Joe says of his role with Hard Surfaces: “My mission is to make Hard Surfaces educational, inspiring, and informative.

“This is an extremely vibrant market that has changed beyond all recognition over the past few years. Continuous pressing and digital decoration technologies have driven rapid advances in the technical and aesthetic qualities of porcelain and sintered stone surfaces. New composite materials, advanced concrete formulations, and multi-material laminates have further increased the diversity of solid surfaces on the market.

“All these materials bring unique processing, installation, and maintenance challenges. My role is to curate a series of seminars, masterclasses, and live demonstrations that truly reflect this diversity. I want every visitor to leave the show having had their preconceptions challenged and their curiosity piqued.

 “I have enormous respect for the QMJ team. They truly understand their industry and are key contributors to its success. QMJ has shown that it is willing to really invest in Hard Surfaces and to listen to the market. I have been given a very free rein and I am already in discussion with experts from Canada, Australia, USA, and Germany who can offer insights on everything from high-tech antibacterial panels through to intricate hand-decorated tiles.

“There will be something for everyone in the supply chain at ExCel in June 2023 – architects, designers, fabricators, contractors, distributors, house builders, developers, and the public sector.

“The speakers will also cover all the hot topics, such as sustainability, energy usage, health & hygiene, transport costs…

“Hard Surfaces is going to be a truly energising event.”

To exhibit at Hard Surfaces contact David Fisher on [email protected] +44 (0) 115 865 8283 or Charlotte Stacey on [email protected] +44 (0) 115 945 3897.

From today (3 October), a starting assumption of a small business is deemed to be one that has fewer than 500 employees, rather than the 50 it has been.

The government also intends to consider extending the threshold to businesses with 1,000 employees once the impact of the current extension has been reviewed.

The change was announced yesterday (2 October) during the Conservative Party Conference by Prime Minister Liz Truss. She said the change would exempt some 40,000 companies from reporting requirements and other restrictions.

Some fear it will make it easier for more companies to hide more details about themselves, especially their financial condition. Small businesses are exempt from many regulations that apply to larger companies, particularly regarding their financial reporting.

However, many medium sized businesses with between 50 and 249 employees report that they are spending more than 22 staff days a month on average dealing with regulation. According to the department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy's Business Perceptions Survey in 2020, more than half of all businesses consider regulations to be a burden.

The exemptions are intended to be applied in a proportionate way so they do not impinge on workers’ rights or reduce the impact of standards relating to health & safety and product quality.

The changed threshold will apply to all new regulations under development as well as regulations under current and future review, including retained EU laws.

The government says the move is the first step in a package of reforms to ensure UK business regulation works for the benefit of the UK economy. Environmentalists, human rights campaigners and unions are concerned the changes will be at the expense of human rights and the environment.

At the same time, the Economic Crime & Corporate Transparency Bill currently before Parliament is intended to make it harder to launder money through bogus UK companies. It aims to strengthen the powers of Companies House to investigate directors' identities and stop companies being used as a front for crime or foreign kleptocrats.

The reforms to Companies House proposed in the Bill will see its biggest changes in 170 years. It is intended to arm Companies House with new powers to check, challenge and decline incorrect or fraudulent information, making it a more active gatekeeper over company creation.

The investigation and enforcement powers of Companies House will be strengthened, enabling it to cross check data with public and private partners, as well as reporting suspicious activity to security and law enforcement agencies.

The Bill also aims to help prevent the abuse of limited partnerships – including those registered in Scotland for money laundering and other nefarious purposes – by tightening registration and transparency requirements for these entities.

The government says law-abiding businesses and investors across the UK will benefit from simplified filing requirements and a more reliable companies register to inform business and lending decisions. The reforms proposed are being presented as protecting small business owners, consumers and the public from fraudulent use of their identities and addresses.

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg says: "We want the UK to be the best place in the world to invest and start a business, but we must not allow this openness to be exploited by fraudsters misusing the identities of innocent people, or corrupt elites attempting to disguise their dodgy dealings."

Robert Merry has joined up with ‘One Million Mentors’ and is helping a youngster achieve their ambition of becoming a designer. He has been surprised by what he has learnt helping someone else to learn.

Earlier in the summer I joined the government education initiative ‘One Million Mentors’.

It’s a scheme that, according to its literature, has been devised to help “accelerate life opportunities for young people in some of the most deprived areas in the UK”.

There’s training and seminars to help get you up to speed, providing a sound framework for becoming a mentor.

It's not the whole package. You have to keep learning through the process. But the training provides you with the initial ‘wings to fly’.

Once you’re paired with a ‘mentee’, the mentoring lasts for a year, meeting monthly at their school.

I was paired with a 14-year-old who wants to be a designer.

I don’t think they knew what sort of designer they wanted to be exactly, but their passion had been fuelled by watching endless TV programmes on house refurbishments, transformations, new builds, Worst House in the Street, Location, Location... you get the picture. The pandemic left lots of time for school kids to fill.

At first I was unsure if the mentoring idea would work. I mean, there are 46 years between us. How was I going to relate to this person. Or them to me? What could I possible say that would be of any use? Stone talk, sure. Ask me anything and if I don’t know the answer I can usually make something up that sort of sounds credible. But design? Have you seen my office?

But once I got over the self-doubt, I applied the knowledge I had acquired during the training and some experience of a previous mentoring relationship and we started on the journey.

“The way’s deep and the weather sharp,” as T S Elliot wrote. But it’s amazing how concentration on someone else’s passion and a need to assist them heightens awareness and accumulates knowledge.

It’s not entirely true to say design is an alien world to me. I had exhibited at Decorex in the past and at the Surface Design show.

When I first started out in the interior stone sector all our work came through designers – Kelly Hoppen, Nina Campbell... people like that. Old names now, I guess, but highly respected.

I’ve started to notice information about design shows through emails and advertisements. I even began to watch those same TV programmes my mentee had drawn inspiration from. I’ve seen most at some point before, but now I have a reason to indulge, other than just passing time.

And the more I dig into design the bigger shovel I need.

It’s become apparent I can travel the world visiting design shows. Here’s a few for this autumn: Design London, 21-24 September (boasting a ‘jam-packed programme of engaging content and a highly curated selection of sought after design brands from around the globe); Decorex, 9-12 October (‘the interior design show for professionals’).

And between the London exhibitions you can visit Helsinki Design Week, 1-11 September (‘…looks to the theme of openness… and aims to explore questions surrounding sustainability, curiosity and transparency...”); Stockholm Design Week, 5-11 September; Maison & Object, Paris, 8-12 September; Light+Building in Frankfurt, Germany, 2-6 October (‘the world’s largest trade fair for lighting and building services engineering’).

Then a quick train to Eindhoven in the Netherlands to come together with ‘over 2,600 designers and creatives... to showcase the latest in design and innovation’ at the Dutch Design Week, 22-30 October.

And if your design itch is still not fully scratched by the end of November, you could try Design Miami 30 November-4 December (‘…bringing together designers, curators, critics and gallerists in the Florida sunshine’).

The mentor/mentee relationship has to be allowed to grow and develop. Small things like being on time and not missing appointments are key to building trust and showing the relationship is important.

But the biggest challenge for me is learning how to listen. I mean, really listen.

And not to judge. No jumping in to give an answer or my solution. But just being there in the moment, as a critical friend.

It’s a great experience so far and I feel very humbled to be involved.

If you’re interested in using your knowledge and experience to help a young person and you’re up for learning something new, go to www.onemillionmentors.org.uk.

Go on. The Florida sunshine in November? Who’d have thought.

www.stoneconsultants.co.uk

Baca, the American-based maker of a saw and waterjet on a robot arm that was being sold by British company LPE Group in Europe and the UK, is now represented by KMT Waterjet.

KMT Waterjet has centres in America, Germany and China and says it is establishing a new company called KMT Waterjet UK. The current contact for the UK is Marketing Director Wolfgang Emrich on [email protected] / 0049 170 452 2669.

KMT Waterjet is now the single point of contact in Europe and the UK for all Baca Systems’ parts, price quotations and sales orders. Many spare parts are immediately available.

The Robo SawJet is a six-axes programmable saw and abrasive waterjet cutting system. It incorporates lean industrial machine technologies and an intuitive operator interface, where cutting paths are generated with a few clicks of a mouse.

Its compact footprint requiring less space than many saws and its combination of a 20kW direct-drive circular saw for straight cuts and the precision of waterjet cuts for angles and arcs, including tap holes, has attracted attention among worktop fabricators. Baca also has a water filtration and recycling system called Pure.

Baca Systems President Kevin McManus says: “We are excited to be able to provide our customers in the United Kingdom and Europe with the ability to get the spares and service parts they need more quickly.

“Affording our customers easier access to parts and shorter lead times by working directly with KMT Waterjet will enable them to better maintain and support their Baca Systems equipment over the long run.”

KMT Waterjet Systems is a manufacturer of UHP waterjet pumps and components that are integrated into complete waterjet systems through partnerships with a global network of Original Equipment Manufacturers of waterjet machines.

Jeremy Sweet, President of KMT Waterjet, says: “KMT is pleased to support Baca Systems with navigating the Brexit rules in the United Kingdom as we have an established regional office offering our customer service team, aftermarket parts, and field service engineers to provide assistance to end customers.”

Kevin McManus says Baca’s technicians can log into customers’ computers to troubleshoot any issues arising. He says Baca has “highly skilled field service technicians that can be dispatched as necessary to help our customers avoid costly downtime”, although he adds: “We’re proud of the fact, however, that the great majority of customer service requests are resolved remotely, without requiring a site visit.”

Carl Sharkey, who heads the LPE Group previously representing Baca, told Natural Stone Specialist magazine he had probably sold as many of the robot saws as he was likely to.

Following the success of a meeting of Women in Natural Stone (WINS) at The Counting House in London in June, there is to be another meeting at the same venue on 2 November.

More than 70 women attended the previous meeting and Stone Federation Great Britain, which acts as the secretariat of WINS, hopes the next meeting will be no less successful.

The 2 November event will be from 6pm until 8.30pm.

WINS was formed to create an opportunity for women in the natural stone industry and wider architectural and construction sectors to connect and support each other and to encourage the next generation of women into construction.

Any women involved with natural stone, architectural and design are welcome to attend the 2 November meeting, which it is hoped will once again be an opportunity for networking and forming new working relationships.

The Counting House is at 50 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3PD. There is no charge to attend and drinks and nibbles will be provided.

If you want to attend, please email Sara at Stone Federation ([email protected]) in advance, so the group knows how many to cater for.

Nominations are invited for the The Duke of Gloucester Gold Medal for outstanding achievement in the craft of stonemasonry and the natural stone industry.

The Medal was introduced in 2010 by the Masons Livery Company and Stone Federation Great Britain. It is awarded periodically to honour and recognise an individual in the craft of stonemasonry or the natural stone industry whose lifetime achievements are of considerable merit and the excellence of their contribution is acknowledged by their peers.

Previous recipients have included industry stalwarts John Bysouth and Peter Harrison.

The Duke of Gloucester Gold Medal Nominations Committee is now seeking nominations for someone who deserves the medal in 2022; someone who has made a notable difference to the craft or the industry, whether as a mason, architect, surveyor, designer, employer, manager or trainer.

Nominations can come from any field, but those nominated should have:

• achieved national recognition in any aspect of the craft
• created change within the industry through entrepreneurship, vision or innovation
• designed, restored or developed outstanding buildings using stone
• provided opportunities for or supported the training and development of craftsmen
• been a mentor to those in their field
• enhanced the reputation of, and demonstrated dedication to, the craft or the natural stone industry
• earned the respect of their peers

There is a PDF nomination form below. Nominations will be considered by the Nominations Committee, which consists of representatives of The Worshipful Company of Masons, one of the City of London’s oldest Livery Companies, and Stone Federation Great Britain, the trade association for the natural stone construction industry. The Committee is chaired by HRH The Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO.

The closing date for nominations is 5pm on Friday, 18 November 2022. Once the form below is completed, return it to: The Clerk of The Worshipful Company of Masons by post to 8 Little Trinity Lane, London, EC4V 2AN, or by email to [email protected].

Iain Kennedy, a former President of Stone Federation Great Britain, has left Blockstone to set himself up as a stone consultant under the company name of Knightsbridge Stone. He talks about the move.

After 36 years working full-time in the stone industry, Iain Kennedy has left Blockstone, the British stone supplier that became part of the group of businesses centred around specialist contractor Grants of Shoreditch, to set himself up as a consultant under the name of Knightsbridge Stone.

“I had reached the point where I thought the work-life balance needed a little bit of addressing,” says Iain, adding: “I’ve been very fortunate in my time in the stone industry, it’s time to put a little bit back to help other people.”

The Knightsbridge Stone name is a nod to Iain’s grandfather, Jimmy Kennedy, who had a company called Knightsbridge Music. Jimmy wrote Hang out Your Washing on the Siegfried Line when he was a captain in the British Expeditionary Force during the early stages of the Second World War. He went on to write the lyrics to Red Sails in the Sunset (there is still a Red Sails Festival in Portstewart in Northern Ireland where Jimmy lived), The Hokey Cokey, Teddy Bears Picnic and My Prayer, which was in the American Top 10 five times.

There has been no shortage of people seeking the benefit of Iain Kennedy’s experience since he decided he wanted to spend less time on the road and a bit more with his grandchildren, but he says he is being selective about the work he takes on. He wants to be involved in projects that interest him and can benefit most from his experience.

“The difference between me and a lot of consultants is that many came up through the design side of the business. My experience is more practical – getting stone on to a wagon and on to site, whether that’s in the UK or abroad.

“Usually what I do is under the radar, carrying out research, visiting quarries, selecting block.

“Most companies don’t have an excess of people. There are times when you need someone you trust and know has the experience to lend a hand. I can do project management from quarrying to delivery of the stone on site.”

One of the people he has been working with is his own son, Jason, who formed a natural stone rainscreen cladding company called Stone Cladding Systems in 2016.

Iain’s career in the stone industry saw him become Managing Director first of Farrar’s and then Realstone before moving with Blockstone when it became part of the Grants Group. But it all started at Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, with its world-class combined geoscience and mining department. “I wanted a job that didn’t involve sitting behind a desk, and studying mineral processing and mining engineering was a good starting point,” says Iain

After graduating, he went first to west Africa for diamond mining and then east Africa to work in the gold mining industry. He then joined a concrete company before moving into the natural stone industry with Waterhouse Denbigh (part of Ennstone) in Bradford. Waterhouse Denbigh had interests in aggregates and dimensional stone.

“I didn’t know much about stone per se at that point – I was employed to manage the business. But I joined the Stone Federation Technical Committee, which was run by John Long at the time, and that’s where I really started learning about stone and how to use it.”

Eventually the Waterhouse Denbigh quarry was exhausted and the land was sold for housing. Iain moved to George Farrar (Quarries), first as Sales Director, then Managing Director. From there he moved to Realstone and Blockstone, first as Marketing Director and later Managing Director.

“During the journey I was fortunate enough to be elected President of Stone Federation Great Britain for two years from 2012 to ’14.”

Blockstone extracts block from 13 quarries in the UK, but most of the stone used in the UK is imported, and Realstone used whatever stone was specified for any project it was working on, although that included stone from the group’s own quarries where appropriate.

Iain: “Because stone is an international commodity, pre-Brexit and pre-pandemic I travelled abroad a lot, including going to China and India. When I first went there they hadn’t see many foreigners.”

Iain says the stone industry has been kind to him and “I have met some wonderful people in it”.  But, he says, it is dominated by SMEs [small & medium sized enterprises], “with more Ss than Ms”.

“That means you’re dealing generally with the principal of a company, or very close to it, rather than some faceless organisation. It makes life more difficult initially, but eventually, as you get to know people, it makes life easier. The people you are dealing with are in a position to make decisions without referring to anybody else. They’re clever people and you can learn a lot from them. But it means the industry as a whole doesn’t have the collective fire power to market its products that other building supply sectors have.

“Brick, concrete, steel: they have a lot of cash behind them to present their credentials, which the stone industry doesn’t. Small companies tend to be concerned with the immediate requirements of their businesses and don’t necessarily look to the longer term.”

The stone industry in the UK has grown phenomenally during the 36 years Iain has been involved with it. He has seen the machinery used move on from manual Anderson Grice saws and jenny linds to six axes CNCs. He remembers the first faxes before the internet introduced email. People sent letters in the post. “Everything was slower, which gave you time.”

It was the new millennium that convinced a lot of people they needed to enter the computer age, just as Covid has convinced them to make more use of it for communications, including video conferencing and marketing with social media.

Iain does not dislike CNC machinery and computer technology. He says: “It’s a pleasure seeing a CNC making a scroll or hood in two-or-three days that would have taken masons two-or-three weeks 30 years ago.”

But it increases time pressure and companies have become time poor. “Main contractors don’t seem to understand – or we haven’t got it across to them – that stone is a bespoke item, made to order. You have to leave time for design, selection and production.

“With emails, everyone expects a response immediately. If they don’t get one, you get a telephone call. Companies employ fewer people – and lately haven’t been able to find the people they do need... although finding the right people in the stone industry has always been difficult. It isn’t a sexy industry; it’s not a highly visible part of construction.

“Because time pressure is much greater now, I think someone like myself can usually find work. There’s always someone who needs help because there isn’t any excess labour.”

The speeding up of stone processing has meant the price of stone products has come down – even though it might not seem like it just at the moment due to the price increases resulting from high levels of demand worldwide, rising commodity prices, disruption of supplies due to the pandemic, huge increases in the costs of shipping, containers and transport, and now rising fuel prices as a result of the war in Ukraine.

But when it comes to something like sandstone walling from British quarries, Iain says it was £30-35 a square yard when he first came into the industry and it is not much different now. And he thinks it is too cheap. “You’re getting an awful lot more from stone than you get from some other building products and that’s not necessarily reflected in the price.”

Iain says he is optimistic for the future of the stone industry, but he would like to see more collaboration to market stone as a low carbon, sustainable product. “It’s a very simple message, it’s getting it out there that’s difficult.”

He says there will always be man-made products competing with natural stone and they all want to compare themselves to natural stone, so “we have to spread the message of the obvious benefits of natural stone that we all know about. People don’t hear that message often enough and in the right way. It’s one thing visiting someone and telling them but another having a marketing set up to continually reinforce that message.”

He hopes that by working with companies to supply stone to major projects he will have the opportunity to help get that message out to clients and professionals in the broader construction market. 

www.knightsbridge-stone.co.uk

Lancashire-based Stone UK, a specialist supplier of newly quarried and reclaimed natural English stone for building and paving, has received £100,000 follow-on investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

NPIF is an initiative launched by the government-owned British Business Bank, supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme and the European Investment Bank.

NPIF is a key part of the government’s ‘Northern Powerhouse’ plan to increase prosperity in the North of England. It aims to achieve that by providing finance to support small and medium sized businesses through the NPIF. The British Business Bank operates through intermediaries, and in the case of Stone UK that was NPIF–FW Capital Debt Finance, which is managed by FW Capital.

Stone UK, in Preston, has worked with many high-profile clients, including providing reclaimed Yorkstone for both the Sandringham Estate and Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.

Stone UK will use the NPIF–FW Capital funding to support ongoing growth, including new product lines and the creation of four new jobs.

The investment is the second round of FW Capital funding for Stone UK. It follows on from a £250,000 loan in 2017. The deal was facilitated by FW Capital Portfolio Executive Alistair Igo, who says: “Stone UK is a long-established business with an impressive turnover and client list and an unparalleled reputation for quality. Since our first investment in the business in 2017, Stone UK has continued to go from strength-to-strength. We are delighted to have been able to offer this follow-on funding to continue to support Stone UK’s growth ambitions and create new jobs.”

David Evans, Stone UK Director, says: “Our team of skilled stonemasons use their expertise to create a wide range of stunning, timeless pieces. We love seeing the visual impact our stonework can have on a building project and are proud to be able to offer a natural material that stands the test of time.

“The funding from NPIF-FW Capital will allow us to create four new jobs and continue to grow our business. We have found NPIF-FW Capital to be an extremely helpful funding partner, with a straightforward and efficient process in place to help us get the investment we need. We are really grateful for the support we received.”

Sean Hutchinson at the British Business Bank, says: “We are pleased to see NPIF continuing to support business communities in the North with vital funding. This latest round of investment will make a measurable impact to Stone UK’s services, helping to grow the team and meet market demand. Supporting ambitious growing businesses like Stone UK with the correct financial support is key to bringing economic growth across the region.”

Debbie Francis, OBE, who chairs the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, a collaboration of businesses, universities and local authorities aiming to direct economic growth and create jobs in Lancashire, comments: "It’s fantastic to see another Lancashire-based company will be able to realise its growth goals and create more jobs in the region thanks to the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. Stone UK is a successful business with an impressive client list and high-quality product sourced from our stunning Lancashire landscape. I wish them the best of luck with the next stage of their growth plans.”

FW Capital provides loans of between £100,000 and £750,000 to businesses based in the Northern Powerhouse region, with a focus on the North West, Cumbria and Tees Valley.