As the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) prepares to hold its own stand-alone exhibition for memorial masons again this year, NSS previews the show and considers how the exhibition reflects changes and challenges in the death care sector.

The National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) has decided to hold its Tradex exhibition as a stand-alone event this year. It takes place in Warwickshire Exhibition Centre in Leamington Spa on 19 & 20 June, open 9.30am to 4.30pm each day with free entry and free parking for memorial masons (and if you are using SatNav to find the venue the postcode is CV31 1XN).

You can see from the floorplan below that the exhibitors include memorial wholesalers and suppliers of equipment and accessories used by memorial masons, such as fixing and handling systems, blast cabinets, bronzeware and photographs, paint and more. And many of the exhibitors are promising special show offers, so it is well worth a visit.

The exhibition comes as the memorial masonry sector once again faces the prospect of direct competition from the councils that operate the cemeteries memorial masons rely on for much of their business. But this time councils seem to have been given carte blanche by the Government through the Localism Act to compete with their local business rate payers (see ‘Councils encouraged to sell memorials’).

So far, mainstream memorial wholesalers supplying retail memorial masons have declined invitations by councils to supply them directly. But it is clear they are all nervous that one of their number will break ranks. And if councils do become major distribution routes for stone memorials, none of the wholesalers wants to be left out of that chain.

It is already relatively easy for anyone to buy memorials directly from China and/or India to circumvent the established supply chain or set up in competition to existing wholesalers, all of which are importing memorials.

It is why some of the wholesalers taking the opportunity to exhibit at Tradex will be emphasising their ability to add value in the UK.

Among those doing that is Welsh company Cerrig (Cerrig is Welsh for stone), which will be highlighting its memorials made in Welsh Trefor granite, Cwt-y-Bugail slate and Anglesey limestone.

Hugo Were, Managing Director of Cerrig, says memorials made in British stones tend to be too expensive for many people. “There’s space in the market for British stone memorials in the £1,200 to £1,400 price bracket.”

He is hard hitting. He told NSS: “There are 100,000 headstones put up in the UK each year, 98% from India and China, mostly India – where they use child labour. It doesn’t get much of a mention in memorials and it’s something that gets my goat a bit. Cemeteries all over the country are being filled with lumps of India, quarried using child and slave labour, which makes them very cheap but not necessarily what you want to bury Aunty Ethel under. It is peculiar that we are more concerned about the origin of the T-shirts we buy from Primark than the origin of the headstones under which we bury our nearest and dearest.”

Hugo concedes that the market for headstones made of British stones is small but says it accounts for 10% of Cerrig’s business and has the potential to grow.

“We have made headstones from Portland and other English stones but, being Welsh, we’re very keen to use Welsh materials.”

He concedes that the memorials Cerrig makes are more expensive than Far Eastern imports but says the company employs people over 18 and pays them a living wage.

“I’m keen to tell the story,” says Hugo. “I’m sure some people will say very interesting but not for me. But some will go back home enthused with the idea of actually selling indigenous memorials.”

There will also be more Welsh slate on show from Wincilate, a specialist in the manufacture of bespoke Welsh Slate products.

J Rotherham Memorials, part of J Rotherham Masonry in East Riding, the major granite worktop and stone fireplace company, also wants to enthuse the sector with the idea of selling memorials in British stones. It is launching a collection of Portland limestone, York stone and slate memorials made in its factory with its significant array of CNC machinery, including a robot arm.

“We use British stones for fireplaces and we think we have a unique advantage for producing memorials in the same way,” says Adrian Buckley, in charge of the memorial side of Rotherham’s business.

Rotherham’s has a memorial masonry business in York cemetery that has supplied York stone and Portland limestone memorials for the city. Now the company has decided to supply a range of these memorials to other memorial masons. “We thought we would put our toe in the market,” says Adrian.

The plan is to have a standard range intended mostly for churchyards, as is explained in a new brochure. Carvings on them were produced initially by hand then digitised for the company’s CNC machinery to reproduce.

Prices to the trade start at about £450 and go up to £5,000 for a Celtic Cross.

The more established wholesalers will all have some new designs on show and those that manufacture in the UK are emphasising their ability to accommodate requests for alterations to their standard ranges.

It is an element of the business Frank England is keen to emphasise since it was bought from Pisani by its management in 2013 – you can read more about the changes at Frank England here.

Odlings will be showing some of its 50 new designs in its updated brochure.

The new brochure keeps most of the existing designs but adds more, taking the publication up from 48 pages to 72.

When Duncan Reynolds took over the management of Odlings in 2008 he said he thought it ought to be possible to produce memorials from UK stones at the same price as they are available from the Far East, especially as prices of Indian and Chinese memorials rise with the increasing prosperity of those countries. He has revised his opinion. Now he says he cannot see British-made memorials competing on price with imports for at least another decade.

George Willcox (Granite) says it will be showing 15-20 memorial designs that have not been seen before and have been made possible by the company’s investment in CNC-based relief carving.

And Director Simon Bellamy is particularly excited about new computer developments for memorial masons that Willcox is launching at Tradex. It will devote a significant part of its substantial exhibition space at Tradex to its new programs.

One is to help memorial masons manage their ordering. It is so new it does not even have a catchy name yet (although it might do by the time the show opens). It is a program that enables masons to manage their ordering and supply of memorials – wherever they buy them from. It is not a program for orders placed with Willcox alone, but a management tool for masons to use wherever they source their memorials. And each user has the software specifically tailored to their particular needs.

Another new computer development from Willcox is an online memorial site for linking to QR codes on memorials, so those visiting the memorials in cemeteries and churchyards will be able to use tablets and smartphones to view a presentation celebrating the life of the deceased.

Many Willcox customers will already be familiar with the company’s online ordering and tracking system that it launched at Tradex in 2009. In that first year 3-4% of orders came from the website. Now the company gets 35% of orders that way and customers are much more likely to use the site’s tracking facility for checking what stage the stone is at in the Willcox factory and when it will be delivered.

As Simon says: “People are far more familiar with the technology now. They are used to using it in other parts of their lives.”

The A & J Robertson (Granite) stand will focus on the company’s manufacturing capability within the UK and the advantages this brings to its customers – such as not having to wait a couple of months for a boat to arrive if a bespoke product is coming from India. A faster turnaround time can be achieved by manufacturing the memorial in Aberdeen.

Robertson’s will also be promoting the Strassacker Bronze memorial attachments it sells and QR memorial tags.

Robertson’s launched two new memorial brochures last year (see NSS 06 2014), one for lawn memorials and one for traditional full grave memorials with kerbing. They are a handy and distinctive size of just under A5 (190mm x 125mm) and contain what Robertson’s believe is just the right mix of modern and traditional designs, all of which were new to the brochures and some of which will be exhibited for the first time at Tradex, including some manufactured from block in the company’s own factory.

“They have proved very successful so far and we plan to heavily promote this on our stand at Tradex,” says Sales Manager Neil Robertson.

Strongs Memorials has taken as its theme ‘Quality Matters’. The company says it has invested a lot of time and money over the past year researching suppliers and the quality of granite used in the industry. It says it has some extremely interesting findings that it will be sharing at the exhibition, along with some never-seen-before video footage. No previews, though. If you want to find out what that is about you will have to visit the company’s stand.

Strongs will also have new urns to show you along with many of its most popular sellers, including the children’s Teddy Bear memorial pictured on the left.

CJ Imports and Memorials & Rock Produce UK are both proud of their factories and quarries in India. CJ Imports has been in the monument trade for more than 30 years and Memorials & Rock for 17 years.

Both say they have the support of Indian manufacturing companies and a consistent supply of premium Indian jet black stones.

Memorials & Rock have a UK stockyard in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, while CJ Imports are in Manchester.

CJ imports says it has its own quarry of Khammam Black Ebony and ensures the standard memorials in its catalogue are always kept in stock in Manchester for immediate delivery throughout the UK, while delivery time on Indian import orders is eight weeks. The service offered includes laser etching, refacing and coloured designs. CJ also supplies polishing pads, core drills and drill bit, and fixing systems.

To round off this preview of the Tradex exhibition, here are some of the other products that will be shown by exhibitors.

Tools and equipment supplier Combined Masonry Supplies is highlighting some of its handling products under its extended offering from the Weha brand – products that make life a little easier and more efficient for the monumental mason.

The products on show will include the Monument Truck pictured on the right of this page. It has 400mm pneumatic tyres, is positioned at just the right angle for stability and ease of lifting and transporting memorials and can be laid down completely flat to act as a work bench onsite if needed.

Other key selling points:

•  short blade (55mm) to ensure picking up one stone at a time when they are stacked together
•  Correct angle blade to frame – not too reclined so the stone doesn’t fall backwards but not too vertical so it won’t fall forwards either
•  At 640mm wide it can fit through narrow aisles but is wide enough for stability
•  It is substantially made – it weighs 32kg and can carry 750kg.

The Blast Shop is offering a cement-free fixing system for kerbs, allowing you to remove them easily without the risk of damaging them.

There will be a new etching machine (as long as it arrives in time!) capable of working closer to the edges of a memorial and twice as fast as the previous version sold by The Blast Shop without reducing the quality of the finished designs.

You will have an opportunity to create and blast your own photoblast stencil and try out the automatic washing out system for the stencils.

You will see a new hand drawn font input into the latest version of Signum, the CAD package designed solely for memorial masons, as well as mobile and workshop-based Goldmann dustless sandblasting machinery.

Davis Memorials will be showing the ProTec Arts memorial paint, which it helped develop, with its 10-year warranty against losing its lustre or finish, whatever the weather may throw at it.

Matt Lowe of Davis Memorials says this three-part paint solution beats enamels hands down. It is manufactured in the UK and available in a variety of colours, including gold (called Memorial Gold).

And Davis Memorials has taken it international this year, showing it at Stone+tec in Nuremberg last month and the MB&A exhibition in America in February. It is even on a corner of the Odlings MCR stand at the National Funeral Exhibition this month, as well as having its own stand at the NAMM exhibition.

And although Odlings MCR is at the National Funeral Exhibition at Stoneleigh Park 12-14 June, it will be at NAMM Tradex. It is showing blast cabinets; the new CNC engraver capable of producing photographic artwork on to polished granite quickly and effectively that it introduced last year; its back-of-the-van mobile sandblasting system for adding second inscriptions onsite; the new dustless sandblaster and the perennial range of lifting elevators and stone carts.

Core of the Odlings MCR process is the Masonart software, developed and improved by the company over the past 20 years. Practical demonstrations will be carried out during Tradex so you can see the latest modifications for yourself.

There is more memorial paint from RS Colorbond of the USA being shown by Pollard Memorials, which has been sole distributor of the system in the UK since April last year. Like ProTec, its comes in three parts (two parts plus colour) and has a 10-year guarantee.

RS Colorbond has been used around the UK on football stadiums, sports grounds such as Twickenham, and public buildings including the Liverpool Library. It has survived on paving that has been walked over by hundreds of thousands of feet, so Jim Pollard has no qualms about the 10-year guarantee offered for the paint on memorials.

As well as the materials, the set normally includes gold, silver and black colours (although there is now also an all gold set with three tins of gold paint), scales to weigh out amounts of materials to mix, 50 mixing trays, 50 pipettes and a set of brushes all in a carry case.

There will be various ground anchor fixing systems on show, including some from the companies already mentioned such as The Blast Shop and others from suppliers including CCA Fixings and Nettlebank. There will be concrete foundations from Thomas Cakebread, blast tape that will include the new S63 transparent tape from Doro Tape, and stand alone memorial sculptures, pots and pictures from Monumental Additions and Fotoplex Grigio.

There is even one major machinery manufacturer exhibiting – French company Thibaut, which has launched an edge polisher capable of polishing all four edges of a memorial, even if one is an ogee top or a bullnose on a slab 350mm thick. The machine itself will not be on show but there will be brochures of it and other Thibaut machines.

To register to attend NAMM Tradex go to www.namm.org.uk/tradex-2015.