Restore London is anticipating its best year yet as it celebrates its 10th anniversary, giving it plenty to celebrate and look forward to, says MD John Rushworth.
From a window in Restore London’s offices in Queen Victoria Street you can look out and see St Paul’s Cathedral. John Rushworth, Restore London’s Managing Director and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, believes that location is part of the reason for the company’s success.
Restore London wanted offices in the centre of the city to be close to the projects the company undertakes. Having them has enabled it to establish a reputation for responding rapidly if the need arises.
Although other specialist contractors now also have offices in central London, Restore London is proud of having led the way and is flattered that others have followed suit.
Of course, just being able to do something does not always mean it gets done. A second essential element is having a team that is willing and capable of responding in a way that customers want. And John Rushworth is proud of having just such a team.
“Because we’re not a big beast, the level of involvement from the directors is great. Clients like to have access to the directors and we have a hands-on, personal approach.”
Part of this is a 40-minute CPD presentation that Restore London offers consultants and professional teams. It includes a video of work the company carried out in Bedford Row that received 25,000 views when it was posted on LinkedIn.
John Rushworth (centre) FCIOB, the Managing Director of Restore London, with Operations Director Steve Morgan (left) MCIOB and Contracts Director Ian Tolliday on the roof at the firm’s offices in Great Victoria Street. St Paul’s Cathedral can be seen in the background.
Refreshingly different
It is factors like these that are enabling Restore London to look forward to the next 10 years as it celebrates the successful conclusion of its first decade of trading.
The celebrations will take place in September in Drapers’ Hall, in Throgmorton Street, where a considerable amount of Restore London’s Stone Award-winning work can be seen (see below).
John says Restore London now regularly appears on the same tender lists as companies that have been around a lot longer. He believes that’s because “we’re doing something refreshingly different” which comes from “a team with the right philosophy: that nothing is too much trouble”.
It is a philosophy John has nurtured and developed. “We do develop people to help them achieve ambitions when they see themselves being somewhere. We try to encourage their ambition and train and support them in that. We have two of the guys going through Chartered Institute of Building training at the moment. We are a Chartered Building Company and a training partner of CIOB.”
One of the people on a CIOB course is Arturs Legzdins, who received the ‘Rising Star’ Award in the Stone Federation Great Britain Natural Stone Awards 2020, although the winners were not announced until last year because of the Covid lockdowns in 2020.
John Rushworth said when Arturs received the Award: “He is without doubt a rising star within both our business and the wider industry.” It was John who entered Arturs for the Award in recognition of his contribution to Restore London’s success.
Another member of the team, Gill Parselle, who started in admin, was particularly interested in health & safety and has since become the company’s in-house health & safety officer, having successfully completed a Tech IOSH course.
She carried out risk assessments and developed safe working practices during the pandemic, which enabled Restore London to keep working throughout most of the various lockdowns.
A team ethos
Team is a word that comes up frequently when John talks about the rise of Restore London. “We value our people. Without them the last 10 years would not have been possible. Investing in our people (and technology), employing a dedicated health & safety manager early on (not something all companies would have done) and establishing the right culture is something clients recognise and appreciate. The business continues to actively champion apprenticeships, training and development to bridge the skills gap.”
Restore London was helped to a roaring start by being incorporated in October 2012, when the industry started growing strongly out of the recession that followed the credit crunch crash of 2008.
John had no doubt about how severe that crash had been because throughout the recession he had been a Director of other specialist contractors before starting his own business, the success of which now makes him wish he made the move 10 years earlier, although he admits “it was scary at the time”.
Award-winning projects
In its first year, Restore London, then consisting of five people, turned over about £500,000. It started working as a sub-contractor but John’s background meant he was no stranger to the restoration sector and he had plenty of contacts among clients and specifiers, and before long the firm was working as the principal contractor on projects. There was an impressive growth curve as the company regularly out-performed its business plan... at least until Covid struck.
The first significant project it won was the conversion of the former Liberal Democrats headquarters in Cowley Street into super-prime private residential accommodation (see box right).
It helped establish the company’s reputation and Restore London started to win regular work from major developers and contractors working in London, such as McLaren, CBRE, and ISG.
“The multi-disciplinary team we assembled meant we hit the ground running and delivered a challenging scheme,” says John. As a result of that project Steve Morgan, now Operations Director, joined Restore London.
Steve’s multi-trade background and understanding of M&E led to Restore London being appointed as Principal Contractor at Harrods on £1.5million heritage roof works. Restore London joined the ‘contractors village’ at Harrods that remains a satellite office, although John says it is “not quite as genteel as it sounds”.
Harrods gave Restore London the secured turnover that allowed it to be more selective about the projects it took and the clients it worked for, and it went on to work on other prestigious award-winning projects that further enhanced its reputation – projects such as the London First Award-winning Bow Street Magistrates Court; Camden Town Hall, which was concrete restoration but John says brutalist structures cannot be ignored; Dixon House in the City; and The Royal Academy.
Then came Covid
Covid did take its toll on Restore London’s growth. In 2020 the company looked lined up to break through a landmark turnover level but with projects shutting down and being put on hold, it did not happen.
Restore London itself did shut down for a couple of weeks, but thanks to Gill Parselle’s work, systems were quickly developed to allow the offices to re-open, with three people in at a time in three separate offices. Most of the by now 30 people working for Restore London stayed out on site and everyone got used to Zoom and Teams meetings.
“I think what it taught us,” says John, “was that as a team we had the right people. We bonded even more through the Zoom and Teams meetings. Turnover was certainly affected but we worked leaner and meaner and nobody was laid off. In the end, we had to take on two more people – a contract manager and someone on the pre-construction side.
“The pandemic was just a blip in an otherwise upward growth curve. Our secured turnover for 2022/23 is looking healthy and we would expect to be looking at turnover in excess of £10million in our 10th year.”
And John and his fellow Directors believe the prospects for Restore London’s second decade look bright. John: “The enquiries we get now are for the top, iconic buildings in London. We’ve hit that sweet spot with clients where working together is a pleasure. We have never been happier than we are now.”
Restore London is currently carrying out masonry work at the Grade I listed National Portrait Gallery, in St Martin’s Place, London, removing three northern façade windows to turn the openings into doors to form a new visitor entrance in the East Wing as a £1million contribution to an overall £35.5million redevelopment – the most extensive as well as the most expensive the Gallery has seen since moving to its current home in 1896.
Restore London has been working closely with the delivery team from Gilbert-Ash, the principal contractor, to provide various tooled finishing samples. And while the Restore London masons have been carrying out the initial working back of stone transom sections, other members of the team have been undertaking the removal of original materials prior to cleaning and storage ready for re-use.
The various samples of tooled finishes of the stonework are being prepared for approval by the professional team before the stonemasons hand work the final masonry. Restore London is also carrying out façade cleaning and restoration works throughout, including marble mosaics.
Nick Chantarasak, the Senior Architect from Purcell on the project, says: “It has been a real pleasure work-ing with Restore London at the National Portrait Gallery. I’ve really enjoyed spending time working through the issues on site and it’s already clear they will deliver an incredible result at the end – a project like this requires really skilled and passionate craftsman, which they are. I haven’t worked with Restore London previously, but I will be putting them forward in the future for similar heritage masonry work.”Restore London’s work on Drapers’ Hall, one of London’s Livery Company halls, in Throgmorton Avenue, included the erection of access scaffolding to the courtyard to overcome restricted loading capacity and access issues and ensuring no damage was caused to the building, rebuilt in 1772, or its contents, including valuable oil paintings, sculptures and antiques.
The ornate Portland stone façades were cleaned using a combination of Doff & JOS Vortech methods, coupled with careful poultice application to the ornate mouldings to remove heavy staining caused by historic water leaching.
Stone repairs included the replacement of Portland stone cills and mouldings, indent repairs, repointing and intricate repairs to ornate stonework (pictured above in progress). All repair and pointing mixes were expertly gauged to match existing mortars and were approved by Purcell, the architects on the project, before use. Other works included leadwork and in situ repair and varnishing of hardwood windows to achieve a high gloss finish.
During the project, noise levels were monitored, controlled and documented to ensure minimal disruption was caused to the building’s occupants. The work was completed ahead of programme, on budget and to the client’s delight.
Louise Priestman, Purcell architect, said afterwards: “Restore London have shown exemplary standards when undertaking the cleaning and repair works at Drapers’ Hall. The works were undertaken to the highest standard with attention to detail in both the standards of the repair works themselves and cleanliness and management of the site. Clear and regular communication ensured a smooth operation of all the works.
“Restore London’s attention to detail has ensured and protected the longevity of a very fine internal courtyard, which will be enjoyed and admired for many years to come. We would therefore recommend Restore London to anyone seeking out a strong team that can deliver on time and on budget.”Restore London was the principal contractor for the design, procurement and installation of all elements of this £4million restoration project in Cowley Street, London. It was a project that helped establish Restore London.
It involved a change of use from a Grade II listed office space used by the Liberal Democrat Party to a 7-bed ultra-high-end residential property.
The work included:
Complete new roof and roof terrace
Cleaning and restoration of external stone and brickwork
All new bathrooms, services, electrical, lighting and audio-visual
French polishing of existing woodwork
All internal finishes to timber, marble, stone and decorations
Repair and restoration of all retained internal finishes
Construction of new basement swimming pool
Installation of a lift
Window replacements.
The client’s Project Manager, Colin Davies, was delighted with the project. He said of Restore London’s work: “Fantastic results from a great team – the quality achieved in every aspect of this project is an absolute joy.” Restore London worked alongside Galliard Homes and EPR Architects for this Crown Estates project at 1-5 Great Scotland Yard in Westminster, London. Restore London initially provided samples and technical solutions for external finishes. Its team used a super-heated cleaning system to fully clean the façades, including those of the adjoining buildings.
Restore London repaired and replaced masonry consisting of stone, brickwork and glazed terracotta. Each material was finished and jinted using appropriate pointing techniques, including artisan tuck pointing. Additional works included stucco, render, tinting and mineral paint matching of special bricks (which could not be sourced).
There was Portland limestone renewal and the reinstatement of sections of brickwork, architectural metalwork repairs and replacement, York stone paving and steps and other stone features.
Jim Donnelly from the developer, Galliard Homes, praised the quality of Restore London’s work and added: “Restore London are not only very good at what they do but are a joy to work with.”
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Machinery, tools and consumables supplier D Zambelis was delighted with the enthusiasm among stone companies for its first open days at its new showroom and demonstration area at its headquarters in Essex.
The event was held 19-21 May. It was supposed to have been held last year, but was postponed because of the Covid pandemic. With restrictions now lifted, there was enthusiasm from the trade for getting together at a live event again.
Jasper Zambelis said afterwards: “As it was our first event we were a little unsure if people would be willing to travel great distances to come and see us, and we were expecting more local companies to attend. So we were truly surprised and pleased to see people who had travelled up to four hours to visit us from Leeds and South Wales, even though the weather was not on their side.”
During the three-day event, there was a range of machinery, tools and consumables on show and being demonstrated, giving visitors an opportunity for hands-on experience of the Achilli Gold, four and five axes versions of the Terzago CUTe saw, the Omag CNC Workcentre (DigiMill) and the five-axes Omag Digitale saw.
Also being demonstrated were the latest versions of CAD software from EasyStone and Taglio.
Visitors were able to view the range of tooling the company supplies, with a 10% off special offer during the event for those who wanted to take the tools away with them after having all their technical questions answered.
And, of course, there were snacks, drinks, and a buffet for visitors to enjoy.
Some visitors brought along details of projects they were working on to ask about the machinery and tools (and their settings) D Zambelis would suggest for the successful completion of those particular jobs.
On the Saturday, when the sun finally decided to make an appearance, even more people visited. And as it was the final day of the event D Zambelis drew the raffle.
Polishing Pads – Natural Stone by Safa Ltd (Bedford)
There were orders signed for machinery sales during the event and some customers who could not make it in May because they were too busy are now asking for more open days so they can take part. D Zambelis says there will be announcements about that in the near future.
The winner of the grand raffle prize, the Slab Lifter, Almaz Worktops commented: “The event was extremely well organised and we enjoyed seeing all the newest products from D Zambelis. As always, the Zambelis family were very welcoming and spent their time showing their products and answering all our questions.
“The biggest surprise came on Saturday when we were contacted by Jasper Zambelis, to let us know that we had won the grand prize. We still cannot believe our luck. We will certainly join the next open day event!”
Another visitor, Jamal Faisal from Stone Range, said: “It’s great for D Zambelis to have an open day like this. It’s good to see their entire range and capabilities.”
Engineered stone manufacturer Caesarstone has launched an online health & safety and professional standards training programme for stone fabricators in the UK.
It includes a virtual training centre with topics covering health & safety, professional know-how, and value adding.
You can take a look at it at bit.ly/master-of-stone, although to access the training centre you need to contact your local Caesarstone representative or email [email protected] to receive a company code and ID number.
“We are delighted to launch the Master of Stone training programme in the UK,” says Amir Reske, Managing Director of Caesarstone in the UK.
“Since we set up our UK business more than five years ago we have promoted health & safety industry best practice to our customers, starting with the Caesarstone University.
“As our business has grown, we have moved this training material online in order to make it more accessible to those working in the industry.
“Master of Stone is the next step in this evolution and the e-learning modules have moved the industry forward again.
“The development of the program is an investment in our wider industry, and Caesarstone is committed to establishing a safe working environment for everyone operating within it."
The Master of Stone e-learning modules cover areas such as air monitoring, water with machinery, respiratory protective equipment, and worktop installation safety.
They can be easily accessed on any PC, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. Globally, around two thousand fabricators have already completed the training modules, which can be achieved in under an hour.
Having completed the course you receive a Master of Stone certificate.
By following simple guidelines, stone workers fabricating high silica content quartz and granite worktops and vanities can be kept safe.
Amir: “We have to keep working in such a way that protects and promotes health & safety in the workplace and the long-term sustainability of our industry, which is reliant on the raising of professional standards and the protection of all those working throughout the supply chain.
“A race to the bottom, in any sense, inevitably leads to compromises on health & safety, material quality, craftsmanship, service and industry professionalism, which in turn will set the fabrication industry on a declining path.”
Caesarstone believes there is a real need within the industry for clear, concise information, which is why it decided to provide a platform offering health & safety and professional information for fabricators.
And it is not just for UK companies. Caesarstone is based in Israel and launched its Master of Stone programme for international consumption in 2019, beginning with the publication of a Good Practice Guide that details how people fabricating worktops can maintain a safe environment.
This was handed out to fabricators working with Caesarstone in conjunction with Safety Data Sheets containing further technical and safety information. More than 650 UK fabricators have received these publications.
Since then the Master of Stone programme has evolved and now consists of several components, including a website, online training centre, certification, and educational and awareness material, all of it available free to everyone in the industry, not just those who work with Caesarstone.
The goal is to provide educational information and training, presented in a straightforward, clear and digestible manner. And it is available in 10 languages.
Through Master of Stone, Caesarstone emphasises that safety is a crucial part of a fabricator's professional skills.
The online training centre contains nine training modules, which take about an hour to complete. They can be seen on mobile phones, desktop or laptop computers.
With the right computers, software, CNC machines and attitude you can build yourself a Gothic monastery.
That’s what Carmelite monks in America are proving 2,300m up in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. They couldn’t afford to have the new gothic stone monastery they wanted built by a commercial firm, so they bought themselves a bridge saw and a Prussiani CNC and are building their own.
They have just finished carving the stone for a Chapter House, an ornate chapel where the Roman Catholic monks profess their vows to live a life of obedience, chastity, and poverty. They have created a website with videos of how they worked the stone and tracking their building of the monastery which you can visit at carmelitegothic.com.
The monks had intended to contract the stonework to a commercial company, but Brother Isidore Mary, the 30-year-old monk in charge of construction, says: “When we heard the cost, we almost had a heart attack. There was no way we could afford it, so we decided to figure out how to build the monastery ourselves.”
In 2013 the monks purchased the Prussiani CNC and computers with CAD software for designing the stone and sending DXF files to the Prussiani. After several months of trial and error, they began carving ornate masonry and statues for the building.
Brother Isidore Mary: “Nobody is building authentic gothic buildings anymore. We had to rediscover the architecture principles from dusty old books and then apply them to the digital realm.”
One monk creates digital models of the stone elements and others convert it into DXF files for the Prussiani. Others lay out the blocks of Kansas limestone, sawn on the monks' bridge saw, on the Prussiani’s 4m wide carving table.
Once programmed, the CNC works 24 hours a day until the job is finished, leaving the monks to get on with their strict life of prayer and devotion, although they do finish the stones by hand using pneumatic chisels when the stone comes off the CNC.
The monks say they chose to build in Gothic style because they believe the soaring ornate stonework speaks to the soul and reflects some of the perfection of God.
“It’s our offering to God,” says Brother Isidore Mary. “Even though building in Gothic presents many challenges, we are determined to overcome each obstacle. We believe God deserves to be worshiped in a fitting place.”
Below are scenes from a video the monks have posted on You Tube.
The Hamish Ogston Foundation is continuing its support of the Cathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship (CWF) and is awarding £2.3million over a three-year period from 1 September this year to 31 August 2025.
The CWF runs a foundation degree course for training conservation craftspeople, most of whom have been stonemasons. It was founded for the benefit of the then nine (now 10) cathedrals with their own workshops, but now also accepts students from commercial companies.
The partnership between the Cathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship and the Hamish Ogston Foundation is helping to secure the futures of English cathedrals and the craftspeople who care for them.
The grant will fund the employment and training of 29 stonemasons, carpenters and joiners and one electrician from the 10 CWF cathedrals currently undergoing the training.
The grant forms part of a five-year partnership project between the Hamish Ogston Foundation and CWF in which the Hamish Ogston Foundation is contributing £3.5million to expand heritage craft training and maintain the flow of skilled craftspeople at English cathedrals, despite the devastating impact of Covid-19.
The funding means heritage skills continue to be passed from one generation to the next through the CWF’s wide-ranging and comprehensive training programme.
The Workshop Fellowship gives trainees the opportunity to learn their crafts from the best heritage professionals in cathedrals across the country as they help to conserve and maintain these magnificent buildings.
Frances Cambrook, The CWF’s Executive Director, says: “The funding and support we have received from the Hamish Ogston Foundation over the past two years has enabled our cathedral craft training scheme to withstand the shock of the pandemic.
“With this new round of funding from the Hamish Ogston Foundation cathedrals will be able to plan ahead and recruit new craftspeople for at least the next three years.
“We are incredibly grateful for this support from the Hamish Ogston Foundation and the opportunity it gives our cathedrals to continue to develop the specialist craft and conservation skills they need.”
Robert Bargery from the Hamish Ogston Foundation says: “We are delighted to continue working with CWF to help ensure that England’s finest buildings are properly conserved for future generations.
“Our cathedrals may look immortal but they require constant care and that can only be delivered if we maintain a flow of people with the necessary craft skills.”
Jordan Cliffe from Canterbury Cathedral, who will shortly complete the first year of his CWF foundation degree course, says: “The best part of the CWF degree programme is visiting different cathedrals and experiencing how differently the workshops operate. This helps to apply new techniques to our own workplace. This experience is only available to me due to the funding opportunities provided by the Hamish Ogston Foundation.”
The Hamish Ogston Foundation is a UK registered charity that provides strategic support for heritage, health and music initiatives, with the objective of securing long-term viability for projects and promoting sustainable employment.
There's more about training in stonemasonry in the next issue of Natural Stone Specialist magazine. Don't miss out, subscribe and receive every issue... click here.
Cosentino City London, the Silestone, Dekton and Sensa company’s architecture and design flagship showroom, is hosting events, workshops and talks throughout Clerkenwell Design Week (24-26 May).
Cosentino City is at 28-32 Old Street, in the heart of the Clerkenwell architectural and design community – and the festival.
Throughout the three-day event, Cosentino’s ‘Dekton Drop Boxes’ will be sited around Clerkenwell and visitors will be asked to dispose of their maps of the event in them so they can be recycled into an artwork by Emmely Elgersma.
The drop boxes are letterbox style bins clad in Dekton Trilium. They were designed in conjunction with Clerkenwell Design Week. Cosentino is encouraging visitors to post their used event maps into the bins so they can be re-purposed as art. Visitors will also be invited to post their business cards for automatic entry into a prize draw with a meal for two worth £200 at Maison Bab as the main prize.
The point of the bins is to emphasise Cosentino’s commitment to sustainability, promoting what the company claims to be carbon neutral Dekton. The position of the drop boxes will be shown on the maps.
After Clerkenwell Design Week, Cosentino is collaborating with sustainable artist Emmely Elgersma to turn the maps collected into a papier mâché sculpture that will be displayed in Cosentino City throughout the summer before moving on to the Museum of London.
Olivia Ashley, the Manager of Cosentino London, says: “We are really proud to be sponsoring this year’s festival, and our Dekton Drop Boxes illustrate what Cosentino is all about – not just during this festival – but in everything it does and looking way into the future.”
During Design Week Cosentino London is hosting a talk about the company’s commitment to sustainability on Tuesday 24 May, presented by Vice President Global Product Valentin Garcia. Talks will take place at 12pm and 7pm, with the evening event including a guest appearance from Lee McCormack from sustainability software company MyGlobalHome. Lee will be sharing his insights about what constitutes a smart home.
Cosentino’s Global Head of Retail & Innovation, Cristina Mariaca, will give a presentation about a new digital platform, C Top, created specifically for interior designers on Wednesday 25 May at 2.15pm and 6pm.
Cosentino is also hosting terrarium workshops alongside Leafage on Wednesday and Thursday. Leafage is running the workshops that will explain how terrariums are known to improve wellbeing through nature.
And to show how Dekton can be used for building façades, demonstrations will be running alongside German-based Kiel at the Cosentino showroom using the latest Dekton Slim 4mm thick surfaces. They take place on each of the three days at 11am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm. Keil will explain what undercut technology is all about in ventilated facades and demonstrating its drilling technique for an undercut anchor.
For a bit of fun, Cosentino has teamed up with Pedibus to clad a 12-seater bar bike with Dekton. The bike will be available each day from 12pm until 3.45pm to take groups of architects and design professionals on a tour of Clerkenwell.
And at 6pm on Thursday, the final evening of Clerkenwell Design Week, Cosentino City will be hosting an end of festival party with The Bar Guys using sustainable ingredients to create imaginative cocktails, Spanish-themed canapés by Chef Elliot Johnson Paul and music from guest DJ Millie Cotton.
To book a place at any of these events, talks or workshops, email Olivia Ashley at [email protected]. Spaces are limited, so it’s first-come-first-served.
Cosentino City London, 28-32 Old Street | Clerkenwell | London | EC1V 9AB
This showroom is a space for architects, designers and trade professionals to meet, be inspired, and see how Cosentino’s product range of surfaces can be used. Dekton, Silestone and Sensa by Cosentino natural stone decorate the space, offering visual and tactile aids. A hands-on sample room uses touch screen technology so the slab display interacts with screens to show how different colours and textures look, both in detail and in applications. Colour palettes can be selected using clever sensor technology, creating a 3D mood board. Cosentino City London can be used as a workspace for inspiration, meetings and project planning.
Hard landscaping product supplier Talasey has moved into new head offices in Scunthorpe that it intends should become ‘a UK centre of excellence in the landscaping industry’.
Talasey came into being as Natural Paving Products, selling a range of natural stone that it took care to ensure was ethically sourced. It is still proud of its ethical sourcing and still sells natural stone, but with its product range expanding into other areas came the name change in 2018.
Now it says its move to the new four-acre site in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, follows strong and consistent sales growth over several years that meant it had outgrown its head office near Doncaster.
The new site not only accommodates the company’s increasing headcount but is also intended to facilitate the company’s ambition to create a UK centre of excellence for the landscaping industry.
The new premises are called St Vincent House and include conference facilities seating more than 70 people, spaces for entertaining and nine en-suite rooms so visitors can stay overnight.
Outside, the site includes about 1.5acres of mature landscaped gardens that showcase Talasey’s portfolio of landscaping products.
CEO Mark Wall says: “We have very fond memories of the site in Doncaster because that’s where our business – which started as Natural Paving Products (UK) Ltd and evolved into Talasey Group – became established as a leading UK supplier of quality, ethically sourced natural stone landscaping products.
“As part of our move to the new site, we had a vision that St Vincent House would be an amazing space that all of our customers can use for business meetings, training and development – or even to send their customers to us to look around the display areas.
“I’m very proud that everyone at the Talasey Group feels that we have achieved that."
Talasey Group today has five core brands: Natural Paving (natural stone landscaping materials); Vitripiazza (porcelain paving and cladding), Pavetuf (installation and maintenance products), Luxigraze (artificial grass and accessories) and Piranha (composite decking, fencing and cladding).
Mark: “The business has grown significantly, and we needed a site that could not only accommodate the next stage of our development but also be somewhere where we could realise wider ambitions – both for our business and for making a positive contribution to our industry.”
Talasey initiatives include the Talasey Training Academy (TTA), and with the new training facilities at St Vincent House it will resume running accredited landscaping courses for a wide range of industry professionals, including students, installers, designers, landscape architects and builders merchants, through both classroom-based and practical training.
Mark says the new headquarters will be the platform for the company to realise its ambitions, because it will be at the heart of building a better culture at Talasey Group.
