Robert Merry, an independent Stone Consultant and Project Manager who ran his own company for 17 years and now also runs training courses on project management, gives his personal slant on the stone industry.

I was in Italy at the start of this month (April) to select stone. The meet and greet at the airport with the team – designer, main contractor and project manager for the client – goes well enough. No forgotten passports and everyone on time.

Having organised a civilised time to fly on a half decent airline, where my knees don’t end up tucked behind my ear lobes in economy class, we all arrive relatively relaxed and, in my case anyway, un-creased.

Off to the stone yards to photograph and discuss the material with our Italian host. He’s great on the phone to London, full of promises of wonderful stone, just like the pictures he sent. When we arrive the smile I remember from previous visits is there, the hospitality and food are excellent, but the materials are not.

After selecting some ok-ish alternative stone, I escort my guests to the airport, deposit them at the check-in desk and stride to car hire.

For the first time in my career I have a free day in Italy before other clients arrive. I decide to head for the hills.

I want to try and find one of those winding mountain roads where the corners are all hairpins and the drop off the edge is fatal. You know the ones I mean, like in the ‘Italian Job’ with Michael Caine (“you’re meant to blow the bloody doors off”), when they drive the bus off the edge, with the gold at one end and the men at the other – finely balanced. I have often tried to work out how I would get out of that one.

The car hire company have a two seater sports car, soft top, manual gear box. Perfect. Don’t ask the price – it’s a treat.

The car grumbles out of the car park and I’m off. Soft top down, jacket collar up – well, it is the start of April. Proper driving gloves, soft leather with the holes that let your hands breath. All I need is a polo-neck sweater, meerschaum pipe and brown brogues and it could be the 1960s. Yeah, man!

After I have calmed down I head in the general direction of the mountains and reach the bottom of what appears to be a winding road to the top. Here we go. Couple of revs of the engine and I start the ascent. Sharp hairpins, no barriers – exhilarating.

Half way up I sense there is another car coming down the same road. I can hear the straining engine as it approaches the corners. Finally we are on the same straight heading towards each other. The other car is also a two-seater soft top. As we slow down to pass each other I notice the other car is being driven by an attractive, sun-tanned women wearing dark glasses .

As our cars pass, we look at each other and I smile. The women shouts “pig” and drives off at speed.

Shocked, I slow down even more. What did I do? I know I’m living some sort of male fantasy, but is that so obvious from my smile?

Slightly irritated by the accusation I accelerate out of the next corner at speed and drive straight into a pig standing in the middle of the road!

Things are not always what you expect them to be and even though you think you heard or saw something, somebody else may have heard or seen the same thing completely differently. Sometimes it pays to listen harder and think more – for instance, about the date I was driving in Italy.

Robert Merry ran his own stone company for 17 years and is now an independent Stone Consultant and Project Manager. He also delivers training programmes on all aspects of Estimating and Project Management – details and dates on the website (address below).

Tel: 0207 502 6353 / 07771 997621