Earlier this week the Stone Federation announced the sudden passing of Chris Kelsey, immediate past president of the federation. Further to this news, the organisation has released a tribute honouring his commitment to the stone industry. At the time of his death, Chris was on holiday in Spain with his wife, Mae.

The tribute is as follows:

"Chris was a longstanding supporter of the Federation and, as well as serving as Stone Federation president from 2021 - 2024, he was also chair of the Interiors & Surface Materials Focus Group as well as an integral part of the creation and development of our Stone Academy, involved in writing many Stone Federation technical documents and speaker at countless CPDs and training courses.

He was instrumental in researching and formulating the training that went on to form the basis of the The Stone Academy. It was one of the things he was most proud to be involved in and will be a lasting legacy to him. Chris had initially planned to be an architect, but instead, decided to work on the construction side of the industry and started as a Trainee Draughtsman at Shackletons of York in 1980.

After progressing to running various orders in the company, Chris joined Doncaster and Sons Masonry Ltd as Project Manager and continued to manage various large and small supply and fix installations. He then took an opportunity to work in sales and marketing for Thomas W Ward Ltd, a construction group owning various quarries including De Lank Granite and Ann Twyford Stone and he progressed to sales manager running the sales team for the supply only products from the quarries and imported granite kerbs and setts.

From here, Chris was asked to join Pisani Ltd to develop the project sales for the company, he then joined Geoffrey Pike Ltd to develop the sales side of the business and improve both enquiry and order levels. Moving on, Chris joined MI Group for a short time before going to J Rotherham Masonry as project manager for the supply and installation work, mainly in London and the South. He left J Rotherham to work directly for the client to manage the whole natural stone package on what was then the largest private house in London where he was project manager for the interior marble. Chris also started the project management of the marble and inlay package for the marble to the largest mosque in Kuala Lumpur.

Chris then moved on to be the UK Manager for Miller Druck International Stone Ltd, based in Canary Wharf, continuing the design, manufacture and installation of all natural stones, mainly for commercial buildings in the city.

An opportunity arose for Chris to leave London and return to his native North in 2000 and he joined Natural Stone Sales Ltd to move the business forward from a paving and stone agency. The company developed a granite worktop business, stonemasonry manufacture and acquired a dimensional limestone quarry, The Mandale Stone Co Ltd. This continued for 10 years and then Chris decided to develop the high-end residential installations and started Christopher Kelsey Ltd where he worked on a number of prestigious projects and also project managed additional projects for other marble companies.
Whilst working for other companies, the Marble and Granite Centre Ltd approached Chris to undertake some sales and marketing work for them with new materials.  This developed into a full-time role and Chris worked with them until his untimely passing."

Jane Buxey, Stone Federation chief executive said: "The loss of Chris Kelsey has been felt right across the natural stone industry, which serves as a testament to the impact that he had. Chris was truly one of a kind, a committed, reliable supporter of the Federation and an incredibly kind, caring and funny colleague and friend to so many of us.

"His willingness and eagerness to pass on his knowledge to the younger people entering the industry truly demonstrated the kind of person that he was, always willing to help and encourage.  We will, over the coming days look to find a fitting way to mark Chris' legacy and impact on the stone industry, but in these early moments of processing his loss, I would like to publicly thank him for his friendship, his mentorship and his kindness. He will be sorely missed.

"We have been overwhelmed by the number of tributes we have received from members for Chris, and these will be passed on to his widow Mae. Funeral arrangements have not yet been decided, but as soon as we have this information, we will circulate it to members."