The National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) have decided they do not need a national executive officer, leaving Barri Stirrup, appointed to the post in 2001, redundant.

In a letter to members, NAMM\'s Management Committee say they and the General Council decided to make the move to save the Association more than £30,000 a year, "which we feel can be better used to serve our members".

The Management Committee will now run the organisation with the NAMM office staff, one full-time and three part-time, sharing some of the duties of the executive officer.

Barri Stirrup, with a background in sales and marketing and who had been a consultant and intermediate manager prior to his NAMM appointment, did not have an easy time as NAMM\'s executive officer. Some of the senior members of the organisation felt he rode roughshod over them.

NAMM President Barry Pymer said after the announcement of Barri Stirrup\'s redundancy: "He and I liaised quite well, but he was quite an abrasive man. He was dealing with ordinary masons and some of his points did not quite gell."

He was given a hard time by some members at last year\'s annual general meeting, hastily reconvened in Hinckley, Leicestershire, after a new style conference in Essex had to be cancelled due to lack of support.

Members also failed to support a new deal he had arranged with an insurance company on headstone insurance. NAMM had had an arrangement with insurance company Bridge whereby members were paid a commission to sell insurance to customers against vandalism or other damage to headstones. NAMM also received a commission. When the arrangement was swapped to another company many members preferred to stay with Bridge.

The President points out that decisions were made by NAMM committees, not just Barri Stirrup. Barry Pymer says about the change of insurance company: "I was on Management and we didn\'t get the message over to members properly."

Barri Stirrup\'s task was never going to be easy, replacing Theresa Quinn, who had been the executive officer for 12 years and had worked for NAMM for more than 20.

Under Theresa\'s guidance NAMM had grown considerably in stature and influence and saw some increase in membership in later years, bucking the trend of falling membership of trade associations in general.

Under Theresa Quinn the NAMM Code of Working Practice was developed and was increasingly adopted by burial and cremation authorities. It now forms the basis of BS8415, currently being developed for memorials. Some authorities have even made NAMM membership a condition of working in their cemeteries.

NAMM fought for the right of the bereaved to have more choice about the kind of memorial allowed in cemeteries and for areas to be devoted to the memorialisation of cremated remains.

Theresa worked long hours for NAMM. As Andrew Hawley, NAMM President when Theresa handed in her notice, acknowledged at the time: "Nobody else would devote that amount of time to NAMM."