Judging by the numbers enrolled at the three colleges involved in delivering the new English Trailblazer apprenticeship in stonemasonry, it is proving popular with the industry.
That’s not altogether surprising as companies from the industry were instrumental in creating the apprenticeship, as the government intended they should be when it came up with the idea of standardising apprenticeships through the Trailblazer scheme.
The idea of putting employers in the driving seat of training was given a further boost in April when the Skills & Post 16 Education Act 2022 (generally referred to as the Skills Act) finally completed its passage through Parliament and received Royal Assent.
The Act introduces new duties on colleges to review and publish how their education and training offer is meeting the skills needs of industry. And the Secretary of State gains new powers to intervene if providers are considered to be failing in this duty.
The government says the idea is to level up opportunities, making it easier for people to train and obtain the skills they need to secure well-paid jobs in industries with skills gaps, which construction consistently says it has and many stone companies complain of.
The Act requires all school pupils to be made aware of the wide range of career options open to them through apprenticeships, T Levels and other training, not just academic routes. And it makes student loans available for higher-level education throughout a person’s life so skills can be upgraded at any age.
Trailblazers
The development of the Trailblazer apprenticeships has been overseen by the Institute of Apprenticeships & Technical Education. Details of the Stonemasonry Trailblazer, with its six routes covering different specialities within the industry, can be viewed on the Institute’s website at bit.ly/StoneTrailblazer.
There are still some grumbles from the colleges about the level of funding the government has allocated (£11,000 a year, although the colleges hope this will be increased when it is reviewed); the fact it is a two-year Level 2 qualification (they wanted it to be a three-year course and say they have ended up with a level two-and-a-half squeezed into two years) and the fact that the final assessment will be carried out at the firms the apprentices work for rather than at the colleges.
The government insisted when it gave itself a monopoly on apprenticeships and set up the Trailblazer scheme that there had to be a final assessment. The original idea was that it should be some kind of exam, but as exams do not suit everyone the stone end-point assessments will take the form of a discussion about what the trainee has learnt and a review of a portfolio they have kept of the work they have carried out.
The aim is to have the final assessments carried out by skilled people from the stone industry familiar with the various routes that can lead to successful completion of the apprenticeship.
Those routes are:
Heritage Mason
Façade Preservation
Exterior Fixer
Interior Fixer
Banker Mason
Memorial Mason
End Point Assessors
The people assessing the apprentices are called End Point Assessors (EPAs). The stone industry is likely to need a fair number of them because stone companies are widely spread around the country. A call by Claire Wallbridge, the Training Officer of the Natural Stone Industry Training Group (NSITG) in May for people willing to take on the role brought forward six people. Anyone else willing to train and take on the role should email Claire on [email protected].
In order for the assessments to be fair and equitable, the EPAs will be required to ask the same questions of each student during a discussion element of about an hour. Those questions are currently being formulated. If anyone wants to make suggestions about what should be included, again they should email Claire.
Assessors have to be trained, and are paid during their training, just as they are paid for carrying out the end point assessments, typically over two days, although it is possible for some of the assessment to be carried out by video conference rather than face to face.
How much EPAs are paid depends on how much they have to do, says NOCN, which is the Stonemasonry Trailblazer awarding body that trains, appoints and pays for end point assessors. It does not quote a figure for how much it pays, but considers it generous.
The colleges involved with the Trailblazer apprenticeship in stone are Bath, the Building Crafts College in London, and York. Moulton College in Northamptonshire says it will be joining those offering Trailblazer training, but has not yet done so as this is written. The websites of the colleges are listed right, along with some other websites that might be useful.
The colleges are so far offering only some of the routes to the Stonemasonry Trailblazer. The Memorial Masonry route presents particular challenges for colleges, but the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) might be able to develop this route itself.
Another requirement the government has placed on apprenticeships is that apart from the knowledge, skills and behaviour (KSB) requirements of the job, anyone who has not obtained English and maths qualifications at school will have to achieve a Level 2 qualification in the subjects during their apprenticeships.
For those with an education, health and care plan or a legacy statement, the apprenticeship’s English and maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3.
Without English and maths, apprentices will not be able to enter what is called Gateway, which comes at the end of the apprenticeship and means the apprentice is considered ready for their end point assessments.
The assessments will determine whether the apprentice fails, passes or gains a distinction in their Apprenticeship. Sharon Street of NOCN says: “We’re not going out to fail anyone. We want to get to Distinction if we can.”
If an apprentice fails any part of the assessment, they will be able to retake just that part as long as they do so within three months. If they are not ready within three months, they will have to re-take the whole assessment – and the assessments have to be paid for by the company if the apprentice fails.
In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the apprenticeships are different. In Scotland you can obtain a Foundation Apprenticeship at school that can lead on to a Modern Apprenticeship and possibly higher education and a Graduate Apprenticeship. There’s a lot of useful information on www.apprenticeships.scot.
Wales also has various levels of apprenticeship, again starting with a Foundation Apprenticeship, then an Apprenticeship, then a Higher Apprenticeship and up to a Degree Apprenticeship. There’s more information on careerswales.gov.wales/apprenticeships.
In Northern Ireland apprenticeships are available at Levels 2, 3 and Higher Level Apprenticeships (Level 4 and above). There are Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeships in stonemasonry available. Information can be found at www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/occupational-profile-stone-masonry.
There is a cost involved in training people, although firms registered with CITB, whether or not they actually pay a levy, receive a grant (currently £2,500 a year) for each apprentice, plus £3,500 when an apprentice successfully completes an apprenticeship.
Other routes to training
Although the long-awaited Trailblazer apprenticeship has unblocked a log-jam of training caused by firms waiting for it to be adopted, apprenticeships are far from the only training route available. The colleges themselves, as well as a range of other training providers, offer courses leading to certificates, diplomas and NVQs.
Among the alternatives are those offered by Priestman Associates LLP, which has been a trusted trainer in stonemasonry for decades, helping to qualify the workforce. Mark Priestman, one of the partners, writes this magazine’s regular Training column and his father, David Priestman, was influential in the development of many of the qualifications available to the stone industry’s workforce.
Priestman Associates provides:
Short courses in conservation, heritage skills, facade preservation, stonemasonry and contracts supervision, and leadership. As a CITB Approved Training Organisation, Priestman Associates’ courses attract an attendance grant for CITB registered employers
CITB Specialist Applied-Skills Programmes (SAPs) in Level 2 Stone Fixing (exterior and interior) and Level 2 Façade Preservation (stone cleaning and restoring)
Priestman Associates provides employers with a route to qualifying their workforces by combining work-based mentoring, off-site training (20 days spread over a year to minimise disruption) and NVQ Level 2 assessment.
Both programmes are fee neutral to CITB registered companies.
CITB SAP in Level 3 Heritage Stonemasonry. Priestman Associates has specifically been supported by the Natural Stone Industry Training Group (NSITG) and Stone Federation GB in both its tender and delivery of this SAP
This programme is again fee-neutral for CITB employers. Learners must be employed for the duration of the programme and their employer must mentor them so they can produce a portfolio of evidence for the Level 3 NVQ in Heritage Construction Skills Mason.
Priestman Associates can support this programme throughout the four nations of the UK if interest is sufficient.
On-site assessment
On-site assessment is popular among experienced workers needing an NVQ to obtain a CSCS card appropriate to their level of skill. On-site assessment consists of the learner building a portfolio of competency, undertaking a recorded professional discussion and being observed at work.
Priestman Associates offers the following on-site assessments:
Level 6 NVQ, suitable for black CSCS Manager card applicants, in:
Construction Site Management: Building & Civil Engineering
Construction Site Management: Conservation
Construction Contracting Management
Level 3 NVQ, suitable for gold CSCS Supervisor card applicants:
Construction Contracting Operations General
Occupational Work Supervision Construction
Level 3 NVQ, for gold CSCS Advanced Worker card applicants:
Banker Mason
Heritage Skills Facade Preservation
Heritage Skills Mason
Level 2 NVQ, for blue CSCS SkilledWorker card applicants:
Mason: Banker
Mason: Cladder
Mason: Cutter
Mason: External Stone Fixer
Mason: Internal Stone Fixer
Facade Preservation: Cleaner
Facade Preservation: Restorer
Modular Pavement Instalment
Anyone who registers on a construction NVQ can apply for a red CSCS Trainee Card so they can get access to sites for the work covered by their NVQ.
Priestman Associates also offers training for using dichloromethane (DCM)-based paint stripper. It is illegal in the UK to buy or use DCM-based paint stripper unless the purchaser and user holds a Health & Safety Executive (HSE) certificate of competency, obtained by taking a one-day course followed by an HSE online test.
York Minster plans to develop and extend its craft skills training facilities by creating a world class campus for research, education and training in craft skills.
York Minster is one of England’s 10 cathedrals with their own stonemasonry department. The 10 cathedrals work together on training through the organisation they have established called the Cathedral Workshops Fellowship, although its foundation degree course is now also open to masons working outside of the cathedral network. And now, York Minster plans to develop and extend its own craft skills training facilities by creating a world class campus for research, education and training in craft skills on the Minster’s 15-acre site.
This Centre of Excellence for Heritage Craft Skills & Estate Management came a step closer following a community referendum of residents in the Minster Precinct Neighbourhood Area, which showed a majority in favour of the Minster’s proposed £5million fully funded project that is being co-ordinated by the York Minster Fund.
As well as the training centre, the project includes new visitor facilities, a new public square, enhanced public realm and green spaces, and a discovery and learning centre and museum.
Following the referendum, the Minster’s neighbourhood plan is being adopted by City of York Council as part of the statutory development plan for the city, and a planning application has been submitted for the work in the Minster Precinct to progress. A decision is expected before the end of the summer and, if consented, the work is expected to be completed in 2024.
The scheme, designed by the architectural practice Tonkin Liu, will provide new facilities for craftspeople, including York Minster’s stonemasons, and house and deliver training in modern techniques and processes to apprentices and students in York and further afield, working with cutting edge digital facilities alongside the ancient craft skills for which the Minster’s stoneyard is renowned.
Existing buildings within the Precinct will be re-ordered, re-purposed and renewed to provide new workspaces and associated facilities, enable greater engagement and interaction with the public around key crafts and trades, and facilitate improved links with education. The Centre of Excellence for Heritage Craft Skills & Estate Management will bring benefits including continuing the craft of stonemasonry and encouraging global learning and knowledge sharing, as well as being a shining example of best practice in managing complex heritage estates.
The vision for the Centre of Excellence is a key element of a plan that sets out a policy-led approach to creating a sustainable future for the Minster and its estate.
Alex McCallion, Director of Works and Precinct at York Minster, says: “It takes a multidisciplinary team of skilled heritage craftspeople and experts in their field to maintain and care for the ongoing cycle of repair, restoration, conservation and development of York Minster, its ancient buildings and monuments. Our existing stoneyard houses the complete range of craft and trade skills that are vital to achieve this.
“Yet despite this, the facilities available to our skilled workforce are constrained and inadequate, set against a backdrop of declining craft skills. We also recognise the need to keep pace with innovations and modern processes such as digital technology, data scanning and computer-aided design (CAD).
“The creation of a Centre of Excellence for Heritage Craft Skills & Estate Management will, therefore, not only enable the preservation and development of the ancient craft skills that have sustained the Minster over the centuries, it will also secure the long-term environmental, financial and heritage sustainability of it for future generations to enjoy as we do today.
“It will position York Minster as leading the charge for the preservation of ancient craft skills on the international stage, facilitating knowledge sharing and exchange programmes with partner cathedrals worldwide, including Washington, Milan and Trondheim, and will also have immediate economic and tourism benefits for York and the wider region.”
Student Jemima Finch-Darling on the newly released Masons’ Craft Fund video says she would ‘really struggle’ financially without the help of the Masons Livery Company.
Scholarships and bursaries
There are routes to training that provide financial support and can be beneficial as a status throughout a person’s career.
The Prince’s Foundation Building Crafts Programme, for example, is a fully funded eight-month course with a full scholarship covering the course fees and a monthly bursary of £1,000 to cover travel and living costs.
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) offers three or four William Morris Craft Fellowship places each year. There are no course fees and Fellows receive a bursary of £6,500 to cover basic travel and living costs. The York Consortium for Conservation & Craftsmanship also provides support to Fellows on application.
Both the above are for those who already have skills and want to progress them.
The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) does not provide the training but offers to fund those who can make a convincing enough application for a bursary. Again, this is to help those who have already been through basic training to advance their skills. QEST continues to support its Scholars throughout their careers. It is often approached to invite its Scholars to contribute to other endeavours, such as the John Smedley Craft Prize won by Zoë Wilson, pictured below. The Prize, worth £15,000, was open to QEST Scholars only.
Another source of bursaries for stonemasonry students is the Masons’ Livery Company, the Worshipful Company of Masons. It supports trainers, including those just starting out on a career in stonemasonry, through its Craft Fund charity. It has just released a video about the charity, which you can watch at bit.ly/WCMcraft.
Stone artist Zoë Wilson is to feature on TV as part of a Sky Arts programme called The Prince’s Master Crafters: The next generation.
It is a seven-episode prime-time reality series fronted by Jim Moir (Vic Reeves) featuring six different crafts. It started on 18 May at 8pm and Zoë’s contribution, with her student Charlie Gee, was aired on 15 June.
The final episode will see the crafters from the previous episodes, including Charlie Gee, visit Dumfries House, in East Ayrshire, home to The Prince’s Foundation, before taking part in a graduation that involves presenting their work to His Royal Highness Prince Charles at his home, Highgrove House.
All the work produced during the series will then be displayed at the new training base of The Prince’s Foundation at Highgrove.
Zoë says she did not get to meet the Prince, although she enjoyed meeting Jim Moir.
The TV appearance came about through Instagram. One of Zoë’s 77,000 followers drew her attention to an advertisement calling for craftspeople to apply to take part. So she applied – and admits she was excited to be included.
It could even be the start of a new career as there is now talk of another TV appearance. And Zoë admits she would encompass it enthusiastically “as long as I can continue to carve stone”.
Her TV appearance follows her success as the winner of the inaugural John Smedley Craft Prize, that meant some of her work was exhibited and went on sale at the John Smedley store in Jermyn Street, London, as part of this year’s London Craft Week (9-15 May).
John Smedley promotes itself as ‘the world’s finest knitwear clothing brand’. It regularly takes part in London Craft Week and this year approached Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) to ask it to invite its Scholars to present works for the new John Smedley Craft Prize.
Zoë became a QEST Scholar after being supported by QEST during her study of stone carving at the City & Guilds of London Art School.
The whole John Smedley prize is worth £15,000, including £5,000 in cash and a £5,000 commission from John Smedley, as well as exhibitions in the John Smedley store in London and, later in the year, in a new store the company is opening in Kyoto, Japan.
There were plenty of QEST Scholars bidding for the John Smedley Craft Prize, from which five involved in various crafts were shortlisted. Their work was shown on the internet and the public was invited to vote, which about 8,000 did. The result was close, but the winner was Zoë. Her work in the exhibition included original works in British stones – Welsh Slate, Corsehill sandstone and Portland limestone – as well as casts in Jesmonite.
The commission from John Smedley will involve the geometric patterns that are a hallmark of Zoë’s work being produced as coasters or place mats, with Zoë’s designs reproduced on Lincolnshire limestone by a CNC at Cranbourne Stone of Stockbridge, Hampshire. John Smedley will package the items and sell them from its stores.
Genie UK, which makes mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), has been fined £270,000 with £165,175 costs following the death of a man when one of its platforms fell over on to the M25.
Reading Crown Court heard on 27 June that the man who died was Rick Jeager-Fozard, an employee of Kimberly Access Ltd. He was carrying out a routine pre-delivery inspection on a MEWP on 5 June 2013. He was on the platform of the MEWP when it extended to an unsafe angle and fell on to the motorway.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that the device had become unsafe because of a miscalibration of its secondary boom angle sensor. The boom started to extend even though the boom had not been raised to the necessary angle. It was found that the MEWP’s secondary boom had raised to an angle around six degrees lower than required. The boom extended beyond its safe working limit and the MEWP tipped over.
The miscalibration occurred through incorrect data being manually manipulated and uploaded to the machine via a laptop using password protected WebGPI software.
The carrying out of warranty repairs on the machine during this period, including granting access to the WebGPI software, fell within the conduct of Genie UK Ltd’s undertaking.
Genie UK Ltd of Grantham, Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.
HSE inspector Stephen Faulkner said afterwards: “This was a tragic and harrowing incident. Modern high reach MEWPs rely on accurate data to ensure they extend and operate safely and steps should be taken to ensure the process of calibrating sensors is correctly followed.
“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”
The latest phases of refurbishment at Harrods, one of the world’s best-known stores, saw stoneCIRCLE fabricating and fixing marble flooring, wall panels and display furniture.
Art Deco provided the inspiration for the latest part of the refurbishment of Harrods that has included the consolidation of its menswear department on to the whole of the second floor, rather than being spread across three smaller areas on different floors as it had been previously.
Part of a wider refurbishment project, the Menswear move was overseen by Simon Longland, the Head of Menswear for the store, and David Collins Studio, which designed the floor with one over-arching concept to create consistency throughout its various rooms.
The Art Deco theme was felt to have a traditional stylishly masculine feel of men’s tailoring, with Carrara and Bardiglio marbles used to create the chequerboard floor, bordered by Nero Marquina throughout the department for the walkway floors.
Elsewhere, the same marbles were combined in various geometric patterns with Katuba Sodalite adding the occasional touch of blue.
All the marble was supplied and installed by stoneCIRCLE from its workshops in Basingstoke, Hampshire. It has been contributing to the refurbishment at Harrods for the past five years, starting with the fine watch department. The Harrods team had previously gone to Italy for its marble processing and installation but liked the speed and ease of working with stoneCIRCLE, which smoothed the way for the company to secure subsequent work at the store.
The first part of the Menswear move was Footwear, where Bardiglio is used to create columns for the shoes to rest on, sometimes combined with bands of Carrara with Nero Marquina detailing.
The next two stages, each covering some 250m2, were both part of the Men’s Contemporary area. Concentric and exocentric squares formed of Bardiglio, Carrara and Nero Marquina were used in some areas, with Katuba Sodalite substituted for the Bardiglio in others.
Walls are panelled with Nero Marquina, with Bardiglio in a mixture of polished, scratched and sandblasted finishes.
Then came Men’s Outdoor. Here the panels on the floor saw squares of Nero Marquina and Bardiglio inserted into Carrara marble. Nero Marquina was again used for the wall panels.
Currently, stoneCIRCLE is working on the final Menswear area of Accessories.
Marble for the new Hermes boutique was also supplied and installed by stoneCIRCLE. The floor has Namibian White in the centre with parallel strips of Thassos running width-wise from it. There is Brown Stone marble at the sides of the corridors. Brown Stone is also used on the walls as skirting and edging for some of the display panels. Selected areas of the walls and some plinths are clad in Tarahumara marble panels.
All the stones were sourced in Italy during visits by the client team accompanied by Steve Vanhinsbergh, one of stoneCIRCLE’s Directors. Much of it was due to be delivered just as Italy went into its first Covid lockdown, shortly followed by the UK.
StoneCIRCLE’s Italian agent defied the lockdown long enough to get the stone shipped. When it arrived, the UK was in lockdown and Harrods was shut, but stoneCIRCLE continued working, even though some of the staff were furloughed.
Steve Vanhinsbergh continued to go into his office each day to oversee the work and says it was one of the few times in his life when his workload actually went to plan because he did not receive any calls from sites or customers with matters that required his immediate attention. “It was lovely,” he says.
The stone was cut on stoneCIRCLE’s GMM Brios (soon to be joined by a GMM Litox to take advantage of the ‘super allowance’ on capital expenditure announced in the Spring Statement) and its Techni five-axes waterjet, helped by an older waterjet, to produce the floors as panels of 1m square, finished on the Denver face polisher with a bit of assistance from the company’s manual Jenny Lind.
Slabsmith photo station also played a major part in the process. It creates dimensionally and tonally precise digital versions of slabs that were used to create pinpoint matching of the veining in production for perfect results. “David Collins Studio designed the floors and we made them work,” says Steve.
With the stone manufactured during lockdown it was ready to go straight to Harrods when contractors TC&D and Jaysam re-opened the site.
Keeping up with the programme at Harrods has always required careful planning because of the lack of space for storing materials on site. It requires just in time delivery, all the materials being unloaded at a building opposite Harrods and pushed up a ramp under the road into the store – and pushing 800kg of marble uphill on an A-frame was just one of the challenges of this project.
Another part of the Harrods refurbishment was the extension to Harrods’ Shoe Heaven.
It continues the themes of the shoe department that opened in 2014, giving 4,000m2 dedicated to shoes and continuing stoneCIRCLE’s work on the refurbishment of this prestigious retail store.
Commissioned by contractor Jaysam for this phase of the project, all fabrication was once again carried out by stoneCIRCLE in its Basingstoke workshop.
Crema Martel was used on the floors with Grigio Stardust inlaid in interlocking geometric patterns with Nero Marquina borders. The floor joints are resin filled and the whole floor was ground to a honed finish after installation.
The walls are clad with vein-cut Silver Travertine tiles and fitted with Nero Marquina plinths to match the existing walls. New columns are also clad with Silver Travertine and finished with Nero Marquina detail-ing to match the columns in the existing department.
Part of the Men’s Contemporary area.The pictures above and below show Shoe Heaven, with its Crema Martel and Grigio Stardust floors, Silver Travertine walls, and Nero Marquina detail.
David Coster, Director of Advanced Stone & Masonry Supplies, which sells Stain Proof and Tenax products, talks to Daniel Waters, the Managing Director of The Waters Group, the stone equipment, tools and consumables supplier to stone companies in the UK and Ireland.
David: As a supplier of tools and equipment it probably doesn’t matter to you which materials your customers are using, but do you have a preference for natural stone, quartz, sintered stone/ceramics?
Daniel: Personally, I have three kids, so I would go for quartz because it’s scratch resistant and doesn’t stain. As far as selling tools is concerned, probably quartz as well because it’s consistent. You can specify which tools will be best for a range of products. When the kids have eventually left home I will be having natural stone in my kitchen.
David: As a tool supplier, do you think finishes are better straight off a CNC or do they need hand finishing?
Daniel: If it were my kitchen top – and I’ve said I would choose quartz – I would want it straight off the CNC because it’s clinical. It has clean lines. But if it was natural stone I would go for a hand finish because you’re not so bothered about a clean line.
David: When it comes to templating, do you think it’s best to make a physical template or use digital templating?
Daniel: Having sold both digital templaters and materials for physical templating in the years I have been at Waters Group I would say digital templating is best these days when most people are using CNCs. I have trained people on digital templating and it’s so accurate for going straight on to the CNCs we have in the industry now.
David: It’s more environmentally friendly.
Daniel: Yes. And it’s more cost effective.
A question I always ask the fabricators is whether they love or hate their customers. Your customers are those fabricators. So do you love your customers or hate them?
Love some. Hate some. They can brighten up your day or make your day a little bit duller.
Is there anything you are currently investing in to improve your business?
We have invested in the Zoller digital tool measuring machine to use alongside our ADI tooling offer. It enables us to measure the diamond tools on their cones and send the measurements to customers with the tools, whether they are new or after redressing, so they can put the tools straight on to their machines. And we are offering that service free of charge to our customers, the fabricators. The benefit of having tools measured is that you don’t have do any setting up when they arrive at your factory. You can run them straight away from the measurements we provide. Because they are accurate you can run them at higher speeds and they have longer life. We also sell the Zoller machine for customers’ factories with ADI’s unique software for the stone industry, available only through Waters Group in the UK.
The government has committed the country to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. It says businesses are going to have to be greener if that target is to be achieved. Do you have a plan in place to cut your carbon emissions and help your customers cut their carbon emissions?
Yes. It’s always on our minds.
And ethical sourcing; making sure there is no modern slavery or other human rights breaches in your supply chain?
The same. We keep on top of it and make sure we are buying products from ethical sources.
As an importer of equipment that you sell on, were you hit by first Brexit and then the Covid pandemic?
The cost increases of products and transport have obviously impacted us. Shortages of raw materials have been a bit of a headache. But because we had already prepared for Brexit, we were also pretty well prepared for Covid. We had increased stock vastly – actually by three times. So we were prepared for Brexit and that had a knock on effect with Covid. We were prepared for Covid because we were ready for Brexit, if that makes sense.
Are you finding it hard to recruit skilled people?
Finding new staff is incredibly difficult; finding good staff, that is even more difficult at the moment.
Do you have any plans in place for more development of your business?
We have introduced repair kits for worktops. Damaged quartz and ceramic worktops can be an expensive problem for fabricators, so we have introduced these kits to overcome that problem. One of them is Quartz Renew from America. And it was obviously needed because it is selling really, really well. It saves our customers a lot of money repairing slabs that have dull patches or fine scratches. They can renew the surfaces on-site and in the factory. The next big product is called Surface Renew, which is for repairing ceramic and porcelain materials, doing exactly the same as Quartz Renew does for quartz in repolishing the surface.
Do you think the future will be better, worse or the same?
Than the last two years! I think it will be better by far.
DBR, one of the UK’s leading stone and conservation construction specialists, has been named as principal general contractor for the Houses of Parliament Restoration & Renewal Delivery Authority’s intrusive survey of the Palace of Westminster.
DBR (London) Ltd, to give the company its full name, has been working on repairs and maintenance at the Houses of Parliament for many years, including the renovation of Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben).
The Authority called for submissions to carry out £80million-worth of inspection contracts last year (read more about that here).
DBR is one of seven contractors that will be carrying out the latest £4.23million-worth of surveying work awarded.
The work is due to begin next month (July) and will last 12-18 months. It includes digging 23 boreholes, some reaching 70m deep, to assess ground conditions around the Parliamentary Estate. These will subsequently inform decisions on restoration work required to preserve the 150-year-old building.
Archaeologists from Museum of London Archaeology will be on-site as each hole is dug to record any finds of historical significance. Previous ground investigations in recent decades have uncovered a centuries-old sword and buried fragments of King Henry III’s high table.
DBR will also oversee the inspection of 160 rooms across Parliament, with floorboards being lifted, walls sensitively drilled and ceiling panels removed to explore issues such as wall cavities, the material makeup of the building and the weight-bearing of historic flooring.
Specialist teams will continue to inspect the hundreds of miles of interconnected power cables, gas, water and heating pipes as well as outdated water and sewerage systems.
Small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) are benefitting in particular from the latest contracts, with five of the seven winners being classed as SMEs. The various surveys are planned to begin in July and will continue during the following 12-18 months.
David Goldstone, CEO of the Houses of Parliament Restoration & Renewal Delivery Authority, says: “Our experts are carrying out the most detailed ever surveys of the Palace of Westminster, which will be critical to informing decisions about the essential restoration to preserve our historic parliament buildings.”
DBR’s successful bid, following its appointment to the Survey’s Framework in February, will see the contractor undertake a wide range of work, including the protection of heritage assets during works as well as the careful dismantling and replacement of historic fabric to allow the intrusive investigations to be carried out.
The project team will also support other framework lots, delivering the project objectives without damaging the structural integrity of the building.
DBR’s Executive Director, Adrian Attwood, says: “We already have a long association with the Palace of Westminster, having recently completed two of the site’s most far-reaching conservation programmes: the renovation of The Elizabeth Tower and the decade-long restoration and replacement of the Estate’s 50,000 encaustic tiles.
“This has given our team a deep understanding of this treasured landmark’s specific requirements, meaning they have the unrivalled knowledge and experience to oversee such a complex task, which requires maximum care, lightness-of-touch and attention-to-detail.”
DBR will be working alongside others that are also among the most respected names in conservation construction, including AECOM, Ductclean, Concept Engineering Consultants, Alan Conisbee & Associates and James Fisher Strainstall.
The seventh contract is to the Museum of London archaeologists to record any finds of historic interest.
Highlighting the significance of the appointment, Adrian says: “We can’t wait to get on-site and start working with some of the best and most respected specialists in the business to conserve this unique landmark, helping to return it to its former glory.
“In short, we are honoured to be appointed by the Houses of Parliament Restoration & Renewal Programme, building on the reputation we have established through our previous work on the estate as a leading heritage contractor.”
To find out more about DBR, and its conservation work across the Parliamentary Estate, click here.
A pavement in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has been cordoned off, after a piece of stone fell from an unused hotel on 21 June.
Masonry falling off a building is not as rare as some might believe. Usually it a small amount and it generally goes unnoticed, or at least unreported. The latest incident of it in Belfast involved a small amount of sandstone masonry falling from the George Best hotel building, which never opened after the developer involved went into Administration in April 2020. Aine Groogan took a picture of the fallen stone and posted it on Twitter (take a look here).
Police closed off part of the pavement outside the Bedford Street building and warned pedestrians to be careful if they were in the area.
A spokesperson for Belfast City Council told the BBC: “Our building control team have been at the site since early morning and are assessing the site under our dangerous structures legislation. We are working with police and the owner to have the building made safe."
Z House from Barratt Developments claims to be the first zero carbon house by a major builder to substantially surpass the Future Homes Standard. And one of the materials it incorporates is Cosentino’s Silestone quartz (although Cosentino prefers to call Silestone a ‘hybrid mineral surface’).
At the same time, Cosentino has launched a social media campaign in 21 countries, including the UK and Ireland, to emphasise the sustainability of Silestone with its HybriQ+ formulation, which has replaced some of the quartz with pre-consumer recycled glass.
Last year Barratt announced all its new homes will be zero carbon by 2030, and to help it achieve this goal it is using Cosentino’s Silestone Cincel Grey surface, which claims to be carbon neutral thanks partly to offsetting, in the kitchen of the Z House.
The Z House has been built with more than 40 industry partners on the main campus at the University of Salford, Manchester, to showcase the future of sustainable living.
It surpasses the Future Homes Standard by delivering a carbon reduction of 125% measured against 2013 ADL1a, but using Future Homes metrics and targets. It will be occupied and monitored to assess its performance over time.
It is an industry showcase home to demonstrate what is achievable by a mainstream, volume housebuilder.
Meanwhile, Cosentino’s Silestone social media campaign was launched this month (June) to get the sustainability message out to a wider audience.
Emphasising Silestone’s sustainability, the campaign presents the vision that big (and small) sustainable choices can originate from the kitchen, so everyone can make small changes that, together, have a big impact.
Damián Granados, VP Global Marketing of Cosentino Group, says: “This commitment to sustainability allows us to send a message of transformation to our clients, collaborators, specifiers and, of course, to end users. A change to build the world we want, to provide solutions to the future issues, and that has its epicentre in the kitchen space.”
Changing The World From The Kitchen has been created by the Cosentino marketing team, Wünderman-Thompson agency and Fight Films producer and director Ida Cuéllar.
Robert Merry heads North from his home in London to revisit a city he has not seen since he was boy. He revels in Northern sandstone, architecture, history and art.
Away the lad.
Someone bought me a weekend in Newcastle, as a present. Not for me to go on my own. They came with me.
It’s a city I had read much about but not visited since I was a child.
In fact, the man who ran the largest department store in Newcastle in those days was my God Father. Who knew!?
Newcastle’s Georgian city centre is the home of sandstone. The Tyne, the home of bridges. Such splendid bridges – The Tyne, Queen Elizabeth II, Edward VII, Swing, High Level, Gateshead Millennium and Redheugh. Victorian mostly, built for railwaymen and their ambitions, with walkways and double decks and cast iron girders and span.
It is a city built on the riches of coal and shipping.
And then there’s those sandstone buildings in Grey Street and Grainger Street and around. It is known as Grainger Town, after Richard Grainger the architect who drew up plans for the transformation of the centre of Newcastle in 1834.
The columns and pediment in front of the Royal Theatre are glorious, chunky, carved sandstone, wearing remarkably well for nearly 200 years of standing in the cooler climes of the North-East.
Some of the stone, around the back streets where no one sees it much, is black with pollution.
But it is a fine city centre. Grainger Market and Central Arcade, with its decorative faience tiles still pristine, as if they were fitted yesterday.
Often described as the finest street in Europe, Grey Street is the jewel in the crown, relatively untroubled by corporate giants, with sandstone façades intact.
Even older church steeples spike the skyline. Inside the Cathedral of St Nicholas, dating from 1091, are fine stained glass windows commemorating the fallen in the South Africa Boar War, and the 1914-18 and 1939-45 World Wars. 20th century stained glass windows, with minimalist, abstract images commemorate industrial pioneers of the city. And all set in sandstone window jambs and cills.
A fine alter rail in an orange/red marble I couldn’t identify. Black and white stone floors, probably Carrara and Belgian black.
And Portland stone. Portland! This far north? It makes an appearance as cladding on the outside of the city’s 1960s civic centre. There is green slate decorative cladding below windows and granite paving and plinths. Arabescato can be seen through the windows, decorating steps and tables. And thin delicate strips of Portland adorn the facade of the circular building on legs at the back, next to the wonderful David Wynne bronze statue of the Tyne River God cascading as a fountain down the civic centre walls.
And the Wren stone, a 500-year-old piece of history set in the wall in the inner space, flanked on four sides by the civic centre buildings.
The story goes that the council decided the city needed to look further than the local sandstone, to reflect a modern, forward-looking Newcastle.
The supplier, Portland Stone Firms, was so pleased with the order that it gifted to the city an original Wren sample stone from St Pauls Cathedral that had been left on the Dorset island that gives its name to the stone.
The council mounted the relic in the walls and carved an explanation of its origin into the new Portland stone around it.
A granite clad plinth by a small pond on the north side commemorates a visit by USA President Jimmy Carter.
At first glance it looks like what it is, I suppose: a rather dated municipal building.
But on closer inspection it is a place of beauty.
The fine sculpture of swans in flight, also by David Wynne, and the bronze seahorses by John Robert Murray McCheyne are more gems.
The building and surrounding streets were empty early on a Saturday morning, leaving us free to wander and stare.
The emptiness was eerie; the stone and sculpture a delight.
Newcastle’s coal and shipping industries are long gone.
Some boat building and ship repair yards still exist further up the river, near Tynemouth, but no more are the heady days of Swan Hunter and the Ark Royal.
We took the metro to Tynemouth Priory and Castle, standing on the top of the cliff above the sea. From there we strolled down through the North Shields quays, past the Corten steel sculpture of a Fiddlers Green Fisherman by Ray Longsdale.
Fiddlers Green is a place in the afterlife for fishermen and sailors lost at sea.
We caught the ferry to South Shields and were interrupted by tug boats pulling and pushing a cruise liner up the Tyne – for repair, I suppose. It was so big it almost blocked out the sun as it passed.
And then back on the Metro to Newcastle Central station, with its sandstone façade and splendidly curved, wrought iron-ribbed arched roof.
I haven’t mentioned The Cluney, The Sage, The Laing or the Baltic Flour Mill (now a contemporary art centre). But there’s simply not enough room for it all here.
A great trip to a great city. Ah yes, it were aareet!
Some of Newcastle’s impressive sandstone architecture.
A new element has been added to the Lichfields website providing the latest analysis and findings around the Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill.
The new resource from planning & development consultant Lichfields will offer quick, easy and free access for local authorities, developers, builders, decision makers and other industry stakeholders to news and coverage of the Bill alongside expert analysis and technical insights.
It will be updated regularly as the Bill progresses and takes shape and the consultations on related regulations and policy emerge, highlighting the implications for planning procedures and certain sectors and regions.
The Bill seeks to change the way powers can be devolved to local authorities and will see reforms to the planning system in England.
The Lichfields web resource will also feature blogs on the crucial issues and expert contributions around the key changes with explanations as to why these are important.
Access to the site’s content will be free and visitors can download and save relevant documents if required.
The web resource has been developed by Lichfields associate directors Edward Clarke and Jennie Baker. They say the Bill is one of most important issues currently in the planning realm, so it’s important for decision makers and stakeholders to keep abreast of the latest developments and changes.
