Stone Federation has been successful in a bid for Growth Fund finance from ConstructionSkills to enable it to offer training in sustainability management awareness.

The project is called ‘Natural Stone – The Sustainable Solution’ and is to help stone companies to market their products to clients by promoting the sustainability of using stone.

The aim is to show contractors how to make their businesses more sustainable and to get the message over to clients about just how sustainable natural stone is.

The training accommodates collaborative working between contractors and their supply chains. It will include four, half-day workshops – the first two at BRE in Watford on 19 April and the second two on 27 April in York.

The workshop material will cover basic background issues of sustainability and, in addition, the more complex details of carbon footrpint calculations and life cycle assessments.

The course will also provide practical guidance on how to prepare a sustainability statement and how to prepare the necessary information required by pre-qualification questionnaires that are required as part of the bidding process for contracts.

There will be a Sustainability Guide produced by BRE especially for stone contractors to use with their existing and potential clients. The guide will be available in hard copy and as a PDF that it will be possible to download from the Stone Federation's website.

The course is being organised by Nigel Stubbins, who manages the Stone Federation’s StoneTrain training arm.

The contractors attending the workshops will also be able to take part in an online ‘Principles of Sustainability’ course and a post-workshop web seminar that includes a question and answer session with the speakers.

Ian Major, who works with Nigel Stubbins on StoneTrain, is producing a training module on marketing that, again, will be available online.

For more information about the course contact StoneTrain by telephoning the Federation headquarters on 01303 856123 or emailing stonetrain@stonefed.org.uk