Roccia Machinery, the company based in Derbyshire that sells stone processing machinery in the UK and Ireland, took more than 30 customers to Italy to see where GMM saws are made and to see them being used by processors in Italy.

 

 

 

The customers said they found the visit useful, interesting and beneficial, not just for seeing GMM and how the Italians are using the machines, but also from what they learnt from each other. As one said, just putting faces to names was useful. And they talked long into the night about issues of common concern – not just the use of the machines but also on topics such as late payments, health & safety inconsistencies, environmental issues and a lot more.

See report in the next issue of Natural Stone Specialist magazine.

 

The Italians regard Friday 17 in much the same way as the English consider Friday 13, and it certainly proved unlucky for some of those in the Roccia group making their way home to Manchester airport on Friday 17 March. The aeroplane they were due to take at 15.30 had a technical fault and was replaced by a smaller plane that left some of the group stranded in Milan waiting for a flight to Birmingham at 20.30 and then a bus ride to Manchester to collect cars. With roadworks and motorways closed, the bus arrived in Manchester at well past midnight to collect their cars for what was for some a drive of several hours.