The stamp duty tax breaks were originally intended to end with March this year, which inflated prices in March as buyers rushed to complete ahead of the deadline. But the deadline was extended, and although prices fell in July they were rising again in August and September as the next deadline approached.

Monthly property transaction statistics published by HM Revenue & Customs show the seasonally adjusted number of transactions in September (when the last of the stamp duty holidays finally ended in England) increased to 160,950, which is 67.5% higher than in August and 68.4% more than in September 2020.

Hence the tailing off seen, as had been expected, in October.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme also finished at the end of September. It presumably helped stimulate demand, as it was intended to, by making people feel more secure and protecting their income. Without it redundancies would probably have been high. People would have defaulted on mortgages, increasing the supply of property and decreasing the price, which would not have encouraged builders to complete more houses.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) speculates that the full impact of the end of the furlough might not yet be felt because of redundancy payments and people working out notice periods. On the other hand, many did return to work and companies are finding it hard to recruit people.

The unemployment rate has fallen to 4.3% and the average number of job vacancies notified in August to October hit a new record high of 1,172,000.

Interest rates rise

Inflationary pressures are beginning to be felt. The Bank of England had accepted the inflation is temporary until this month (December) it has responded to another rise in the inflation rate, this time to 5.1% (the Bank of England target is 2%), by increasing the base rate from 0.1% to 0.25%.

Expectations are it could go as high as perhaps 0.75% next year. That is still historically low, but would increase the repayments on floating rate debts. Not that many mortgages have floating rates these days. Most are fixed for some years and some mortgage lenders say the level of floating rate new mortgages is now only 7%, so at least any increase in mortgage interest rates would impact gradually over several years.

Of course, new mortgages will now be more expensive, adding to price of houses already pushed up by the level of demand and inflationary pressures on the building material supply chain.

Against that background, the Office for National Statistics says there were 49,470 homes completed in the UK in the first quarter of this year – the highest figure in more than 20 years and 4% more than in the final quarter of 2020. There were also 46,010 homes started, the highest number in nearly 15 years and a 7% increase on the previous quarter.

Figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC) for the third quarter of this year (to the end of September) show that new home registrations were up by 14% to 33,779 compared with last year.

The figures relate to new homes registered with NHBC for its 10-year warranty, normally considered to be 70-80% of all new homes built in the UK.

The greatest increases were in the East Midlands (103%), North East (86%) and Yorkshire & Humberside (63%). The only falls recorded were in London (-78%) and the South West (-1%).

NHBC says new home completions were down 5% to 31,908 in the third quarter this year, although it says this reflects the post-lockdown recovery seen in the third quarter last year rather than a major drop in completions this year.

As has been widely noted, people spending more time at home tend to want nicer homes, and NHBC says detached houses now make up the largest proportion of new home registrations in the UK as demand for more space increases.

NHBC Chief Executive Steve Wood says: “With new home registrations up by a healthy 14%, the market remains buoyant. There is confidence in new homes despite the significant supply-chain disruption presently being experienced.”

The supply chain disruptions relate to products such as timber and bricks and a shortage of labour, both on-site and for transport.

Steve Wood: “Housebuilders are responding swiftly to shifts in consumer demand for detached houses that offer more space. The move away from apartment blocks is affecting London... but this is only one quarter’s data.”

According to property tax advisor Cornerstone Tax, and based on its own research, the price of property in rural settings has increased 10.8% during the pandemic compared with  8.9% growth for city property as a result of people deciding to move into more rural areas. Cornerstone says 4.3million people (about 14% of the working population) will no longer commute into urban areas for their jobs post-pandemic as a result of what it calls ‘Zoom shock’, referring to the video conferencing platform.

In rural areas where stone has traditionally been used for housing, planners are more likely to want to preserve the local character by insisting that future developments use matching materials.

BDW Trading v Lantoom

Unfortunately, a fly has been thrown into stone’s ointment by a legal dispute known as BDW Trading v Lantoom, relating to a development in Cornwall where pieces of natural stone started to fall off external walls before the stone was replaced with an alternative British stone.

A claim of more than £5million to cover the cost of remedial work has been made by BDW Trading, a house builder, alleging it had been supplied substandard stone from 2012 to 2015 by the defendant, a supplier of stone extracted from its quarries in Cornwall.

The case was heard by the Technology & Construction Court and a judgement had been expected in the summer. But to date, a judgement is still awaited.

It is a case nobody wants to talk too much about in public, especially before a judgement is known, but which some quarries say is being used by developers as an argument for using cast concrete instead of natural stone when they present their planning applications.

At Lantoom Quarry, Dan Angwin, a graduate of the Camborne School of Mines who is Trainee General Manager, says: “We’re very, very busy here. We have about 7-8-week lead times on walling products.” He said rustic slate from Lantoom quarry is selling well.

Stone is better

Even though British quarries that supply building stone are busy, they still complain about the principle of developments that would seem to be ideal for the use of natural stone not actually using it.

Geoff Pool, who looks after building stone sales at Lovell Stone Group, for example, says there is a development close to the company’s Lias quarry in Langport, Somerset, that is not using stone.

In another location where all the existing buildings are Blue Lias, a 150-house development was approved using concrete bricks rather than stone. Geoff called the planning authority to question the decision. He was told they would rather see bricks laid well than stone laid badly. Geoff hopes the rapidly rising price of cement will help put stone on a more equal footing. At a 7,000-house development near Exeter, Lovell has supplied stone for just six of them.

Changes to planning regulations proposed in the Government’s White Paper Planning for the Future were met with enthusiasm by the stone industry. Stone Federation Great Britain has retained Sam Thistlethwaite, of planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore, to champion its case for stone in its response to the public consultation on the White Paper. Even so, the proposals in the White Paper for the use of indigenous materials wherever possible are already being watered down.

In November, the Building Back Britain Commission published its first report, reiterating the need for more housebuilding to meet demand, although the Conservative election pledge of building 300,000 houses a year by the mid-2020s is now generally forgotten and was described by one stone supplier as “cloud cuckoo land”. 

Levelling up

Nevertheless, the Building Back Britain Commission report says hundreds of thousands of new homes will be needed across the North of England and the Midlands if the ‘levelling up’ areas are to deliver the promised increase in jobs.

The Commission’s analysis projects an annual shortfall of up to 67,000 homes in cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford and Liverpool. It says that a “radical rethink” on housing delivery is needed, with between 86,000 and 140,000 homes having to be built every year outside of London and the Home Counties. That is 13,000 to 67,000 more homes every year than the Government’s current estimates, which are based on historical levels of growth and take no account of the levelling up investment expected.

The Building Back Britain Commission is a group of business leaders from Barratt Developments, Legal & General, Mace, NHBC, The Riverside Group and Thakeham. Its report is based on research it instigated, authored by former Treasury economist Chris Walker. It assumes that during the next 20 years employment levels will increase in areas the government has identified as most in need of levelling up.

The report also argues for the creation of at least one ‘Construction Cluster’ in every region of the UK by 2030 to foster innovation and help train up workers in the latest methods of construction. It proposes the first of these should be in Leeds, where the HS2 train is no longer going.

Terrie Alafat CBE, Chair of the Building Back Britain Commission, said: “Our results have profound implications for policy. The Government’s current housing strategy simply does not fit the levelling up agenda. It is based on past growth trends and will not be dynamic enough to meet future demand. The increase in demand in levelling up areas should reduce the pressure for new homes in other areas that are already economically developed.”

Robert Boughton, CEO of Thakeham Group, added the ‘sustainability’ and ‘Net Zero’ considerations. “Sustainability and Net Zero are at the core of this five-point plan for Building Back Britain. This report is proposing that every new build home across the UK must be net zero by 2030, to be able to pave the way for a green recovery. It’s great to be part of collaboration on this key issue and we call upon the entire industry to make their commitments to a greener future.”

That again sounds like good news for the use of inherently low carbon indigenous natural stone, although the concrete product manufacturers are lobbying hard to present themselves as carbon-reducing champions and the stone industry needs to lead the way on that discussion.

Busy across the UK

The story does not change much throughout the UK. At Denfind Stone in Angus, Scotland, Claire Findlay says: “We are the busiest we’ve ever been.”

She says the demand is not just for housing, although housing is an important part of the story, both from developers and individuals building their dream homes. “There’s money out there,” says Claire, and especially with the stamp duty holiday people had decided to make the most of it. When they contacted Denfind they already knew stone would be more expensive than render (which is how a lot of houses are finished in Scotland) but had decided that was what they wanted.

She had just a note of caution that most of the projects currently in progress had got under way before the pandemic hit and the test would be what would follow them. “Time will tell,” says Claire. “Architects tell us they’re busy so hopefully the bubble will not burst.”

At Tradstocks in Stirling and Livingston Peter Stewart said there was always a steady demand for stone for one-off houses but lately there had also been an uptick in top end developers looking to use natural stone, not so much for walling, which would tend to be rendered, but for door and window surrounds. “They elevate the appeal of the house by using stone and can recover the cost of it.”

He said there had been a big surge of demand for his stone coming out of lockdown, which had specifically closed building sites in Scotland. That had steadied but “most of us have decent order books now” – and not just for housing but also landscaping and other uses. Peter: “We cover all areas of stone use because there’s not so many of us in Scotland.”

As the stone restoration work on the Elizabeth Tower (what many people call Big Ben) at the Houses of Parliament reaches its conclusion, Rory Smith, the Stonemasonry Foreman of DBR Ltd (which is currently celebrating 30 years in business) talks about the work carried out.

Most people reading this will be familiar with the Elizabeth Tower, the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. Some people refer to it as Big Ben, although that is actually the name of the 13.7-tonne bell that strikes the hours. The Clock Tower was constructed as part of Charles Barry’s rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster after the old palace was devastated by a fire in 1834. It is constructed of 850m³ of Anston stone from Yorkshire, Clipsham stone from Rutland and Caen stone from France, which covers 2,600m³ of brick.

Elizabeth Tower is a central feature of the Parliamentary Estate and this national icon is undergoing major restoration work that, in my capacity as DBR’s Stonemasonry Foreman on the project, I have been fortunate enough to witness first-hand.

Due for completion next year (2022), this unique structure presents a whole host of challenges for traditional stonework, particularly operating within relatively confined spaces and at high elevations.

However, the nature of the work, particularly some of the fine detailing, serves as a fantastic showcase for the skill, precision, and artistry of this time-honoured profession.

Here I want to take the opportunity to give Natural Stone Specialist readers a guided tour over the work DBR has undertaken and delivered on this exciting project. I will also explore some of the specifics around the stonework itself, and why this conservation project should serve as a platform to encourage more young people into the profession.

Monumental Challenge

Although Barry oversaw the rebuilding of the palace after the 1834 fire, what became the Elizabeth Tower was designed by renowned architect Augustus Pugin in a Neo-Gothic style. It was completed in 1859. Standing 315ft tall, as measured in those days (96m), it has always occupied a prominent position in the London cityscape. But, alas, after 160 years of wear and tear, including bomb and weather damage, essential repairs were needed to return the structure to its original splendour.

Unusually the tower was built from the interior outwards, without an external scaffold. Granted, it’s a clever and efficient construction method but it doesn’t lend itself to modern conservation work.

Along with repairing significant areas of damage from World War II, there have been several other conservation projects carried out to Elizabeth Tower over its lifetime. Examples of palliative repairs could be found across the entire building and a large amount of Clipsham Stone indents are spread over the Tower.

Some of these repairs were failing by the time we arrived on site. Many more, particularly the Clipsham work, had not aged well, and while they were structurally sound, they were far from sympathetic to the building as a whole.

Working round the clock

In 2017 DBR was brought on to the project by principal contractor Sir Robert McAlpine and, with the entire building requiring restoration, the company’s stonemasons, stone cleaners and conservation specialists knew they had their work cut out to deliver a project with such an extensive and sensitive range of masonry needs.

The scope of work ranged from delicate indents through to full stone replacements; from new cantilever stairs treads to finely carved panels. Not to mention a replacement floor to the belfry, where we had to lay over a hundred slabs of Hopton Wood limestone weighing up to 110kg each without hitting our heads on the various rather large bells that make the space so special. The bells were, of course, silenced while we carried out the work or we would have been deafened.

The damage we found was largely typical for a building over 150 years old. A lot of very fine work has been considerably eroded, although we were only able to see this once the scaffolding was up and we were able to get up close.

The project started off with in the region of 250-300 indents. That rapidly increased to 900-1,000 indents as we surveyed the full extent of the deterioration and disrepair.

The effects of rain, cold weather, salt and pollution had all taken their toll. Issues such as delamination, cracked pointing and heavy carbonation were common across the whole façade.

We knew it would present a massive test of skill and expertise for our on-site team.

Addressing inconsistencies

One of the most obvious inconsistencies resulting from previous restoration was discovered when we went through the process of identifying the type of stone to be used for the conservation work.

From archive records we knew the original material was Anston Stone, a sandy coloured limestone from a quarry in the village of Anston in South Yorkshire. Unfortunately, as a large housing estate now sits over the original quarry site, it is impossible to get any more stone from that site.

Restorations in the 1980s had used Clipsham, however, there’s a tonal contrast between this and the original Anston. Furthermore, the texture and the effects of age also differ significantly.

As such, when DBR started on The Elizabeth Tower, we were committed to using a stone as close to the original Anston as possible. Returning to the North Derbyshire / South Yorkshire area, we were able to follow the same geological seam until we found a suitable quarry with a similarly profiled stone: Cadeby, specifically Cadeby bed one.

The quarry is near Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The stone there has been quarried for hundreds of years. It is a fine and consistent limestone that can hold a sharp crisp arris and fine detailing for masonry work. The bed height available meant that, with only a few exceptions, we were able to work details to the original dimensions.

DBR and the project design team would regularly visit the Cadeby quarry to select the best-looking stone. The chosen blocks were then sawn six sides and sent from Yorkshire to the site in Westminster.

Of course, before we do any working, we record every part of the project, down to the minutest piece of detailing. From there we draw to a one-to-one scale and create plastic templates to work the stone to size.

On The Elizabeth Tower, each and every bit of the restoration is unique. You are not looking to create identikit pieces, so hand finishing is essential. We still work with predominantly traditional methods, mostly using mallets and chisels. The extensive amount of ornate and decorative stone, a signature of the Elizabeth Tower’s Neo-Gothic vernacular, required a degree of finesse and a delicate touch.

Some of the panel work and tracery produced for the repairs to Elizabeth Tower. What had originally been expected to be 250 indents turned out to be about 1,000.

Some of the stones required high levels of detailing and advanced masonry techniques, all worked on site in the banker shop set up there by DBR. On some of the stones, such as the example below, weeks, if not months, worth of work has gone into them.

Of course, it is then about getting the stone to its allocated spot, not an easy task when working hundreds of feet up on a narrow scaffold.

For the smaller stones, we manhandle them in. For the bigger stones we use block and tackle to hoist them into position.

We then secure them, bedded on a natural lime mortar and secured with mechanical fixings, such as stainless steel dowels and resin. They are then grouted and pointed.

Finally, ahead of architectural sign-off, the masons in the banker shop come up to the scaffold and dress their stones in situ, getting the last couple of millimetres trimmed, chiselled and rubbed down so they align perfectly.

We’ve almost finished on site, with the final touches and checks to our work being undertaken. The fact that this has been delivered to deadline is a testament to the experience of our team.

I also feel that the work on the Elizabeth Tower truly showcases the breadth of the stonemasons’ craft, as well as how the ancient skills practiced by stonemasons still maintain relevance and purpose in modern society.

The Year of the Master Craftsperson

Currently, the profession is at a crossroads. While we have enough hands to deal with current levels of work, there’s an expectation the number of projects coming online will spike over the next decade. With specialist skills shortages exacerbated by world events and a lack of home-grown talent coming into the industry, we potentially face a squeeze on skilled resources.

DBR Ltd, is looking to work with industry bodies, including Stone Federation Great Britain, on a skills and talent focused campaign being called ‘The Year of the Master Craftsperson’.

Launching in the new year, this campaign will address the looming skills shortage head-on and help to preserve our unique social role, so that we can continue to conserve our heritage buildings for future generations.

As it gains more awareness, I hope the work we have carried out on the Elizabeth Tower both educates and inspires others to consider a career in this rewarding profession that is hugely important in retaining the built heritage of the nation.

Below. A major contribution to the restoration of the tower has been the analysis of the paint originally used on and around the clock face and the repainting and reguilding of metalwork and stone by Cliveden Conservation. Analysis of original paint flecks was undertaken by Lincoln Conservation at Lincoln University to ascertain the colour scheme and was used to transform the clock from the black of recent painting regimes to the original bright, colourful scheme envisaged by Charles Barry in 1834.
Picture: ©UK Parliament – Jessica Taylor

The current project is a major and ambitious restoration of an important Wren church in its own right.

The exterior works include specialist masonry cleaning, starting with a Doff clean, nebulous spray and chemical poultices in areas of particularly difficult accumulations of dirt. Repairs to the Portland stone elevations and the restoration of 11 striking stained-glass windows originally made by the celebrated artist Christopher Rahere Webb (1886-1966) will also be carried out.

It is unusual to see a building of this stature in London in such a relatively neglected state these days. “It’s been unloved for so many decades,” says Andrew Coles, the Associate at Julian Harrap Architects in charge of the project.

One of the reasons it has been neglected is because of a long-standing dispute between the City of London Corporation and the Church of England over who should pay for it. With water starting to penetrate the fabric a resolution was starting to become urgent and in the end it is the Corporation that is paying for the external work of Phase One and the Church of England that will pay for the internal works of Phase Two.

The Church is remaining open during phase one of the project, which involves the cleaning and repair of the masonry and carved stonework, renewing, structurally reinforcing and thermally upgrading the lead-clad hipped roof over the Nave, re-roofing the Commonwealth Chapel, the Vicarage Apartment that was added in 1957 and the roof to the south-west of the tower.

The timber framed, lead-clad cupola and spire will be renovated and the lead gutters and downpipes replaced. Lightning protection will also be replaced and fibrous plaster ceilings will be repaired and structurally strengthened.

Phase Two is due to start next year. It will involve all internal works, including full electrical re-wiring, replacement of all water pipes and the heating system, and an upgrade of fire safety.

The layered history of St Lawrence Jewry Church, which is adjacent to London’s Roman Amphitheatre, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, makes it one of the City’s most valued heritage assets.

The site has been used as a place of worship since at least the 12th century, when a medieval church was founded there in 1136, although the discovery of burials dating from 1040 in Guildhall Yard suggest a church or chapel was already on the site by this date.

In 1666, when the Great Fire swept through London, the medieval church was largely destroyed and Sir Christopher Wren was tasked with designing a new church. The rebuilding was completed in 1677.

St Lawrence Jewry was the most expensive of the 51 churches rebuilt after the fire.

In 1940 the building took a direct hit from an incendiary bomb dropped during an air raid of the World War II Blitz. The interiors were incinerated but the Portland stone of Wren’s walls and tower, and one of the obelisks on a corner of the tower, survived.

A temporary chapel was created within the ruins, where services continued to be held. A bell was installed, which is today on the north-west roof and is still rung every Wednesday before services.  It bears the inscription EECE POST IGNE, VOX (after the fire a voice) from Kings 19:12.

Temporary stabilisation work was carried out immediately after the war, which included filling the crypt with concrete that now prevents access to the remnants of the 12th century church that was on the site.

The City architect of the time, Cecil Brown, oversaw the rebuilding of St Lawrence Jewry in 1954-57. Many of the finishes to the roofs, gutters, cupola and spire date from then and are, therefore, at the end of their service lives, as can be seen by the water ingress that Bakers of Danbury says has become an increasing problem in recent years.

The surviving Wren masonry suffers from heavy carbon staining and discolouration as well as ‘corrosion jacking’, a problem familiar enough in conservation caused by concealed iron cramps rusting due to water ingress, expanding and cracking the stonework. It has resulted in some quite sizable pieces of stone falling off the building.

For his reconstruction, Cecil Brown used quite shelly Portland limestone, so in order to match it a similar looking Whitbed is being used now.

Cecil Brown referred to detailed survey drawings of the church produced by John Clayton in 1848, which were instrumental in producing a faithful Wren reproduction.

Julian Harrap Architects also referred to a measured survey drawing of the church by Hubert Bateman dated 1909 and photographs from the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, as well as a new measured survey using scanners and drones carried out by chartered surveyor James Brennan Associates.

Andrew Coles says they did contemplate creating a digital twin but the nature of the work was expected to be small scale initially, even though it has since snowballed, and the digital twin idea was not pursued.

A revelation about the building following the cleaning has been that one of the Wren Portland stone ashlar walls was removed and replaced shortly after World War I.

It had been thought the wall was medieval, roughly built of a mix of materials because it was originally hidden in an alleyway. But Andrew Coles discovered it had in fact been Portland ashlar like the rest of the church.

The ashlar appears to have been stolen in the 1920s and replaced with whatever was to hand, which includes clunch, brick, ragstone, coursing tiles and ironstone. The insult was increased in the 1950s when the wall was repointed using hard cement.

The Diocesan Advisory Committee (DIA) did raise the question of replacing the wall with ashlar to match the rest of the building, but as the brief was to make essential repairs only it has been decided simply to remove the hard cement, gallet where necessary to fill large gaps and repoint using NHL3.5 lime mortar and coarse sharp sand.

Cecil Brown’s only major variation from the Wren original was the addition of a vicarage apartment in the north-west corner, where a highly ornate vestry was originally located.

Andrew Coles says: “St Lawrence Jewry Church, together with its historic setting, is a microcosm of London’s endlessly fascinating story, from Roman Gladiators to the Great Fire of London, Wren’s rebuilding and the destruction caused during the Blitz. It’s a privilege to undertake a project which will safeguard such an important building.

“Through meticulous archive research and inspection of the historic fabric we developed a deep understanding of the evolution, chronology and history of Wren’s St Lawrence Jewry. Repairs are considered on a stone-by-stone basis and intervention is justified with established conservation philosophy.”

Keith Bottomley, the Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Projects Sub-Committee, says: “We take our role as the guardian of some of London’s most prestigious historic settings incredibly seriously. We look forward to seeing the St Lawrence Jewry Church fully repaired and conserved to ensure it continues to be appreciated by generations to come.” 

This first phase of the project on the exterior of the church is due to finish at the end of next year. Budgeted at £4million, it is designed to return the Church to a sound state of repair and safeguard it for future generations.

Because the factory was laid out from scratch in a big empty space, the workflow follows a natural progression from primary sawing to finished stone. Some of the stone has to go to the banker masons’ workshops – like the huge new fireplace that was being made from a 17.3 tonne block of Portland limestone when NSS visited.

It is for a private residence in Windsor which was originally built by Meister in 2017/18. The fireplace was inspired by a similar one seen in a French château. Martyn Cuff describes it as a “massive statement”, especially when the frieze that goes above it is completed next year.

The original fireplace was marble and made from five pieces. Meister has produced its version from the single block of “really clean” Portland Broadcroft stone, supplied by Portland Stone Firms. It started off at 5m long, from which has been produced a 3.5m long head and two jambs. The intricate carving has been carried out by hand, with the moulding produced on the five axes CNCs.

Richard Heather, the founder and owner of Meister, says the company’s Catbrain Quarry site is still not quite finished because he wants to lay some more concrete where the blocks are kept outside the factory ready for primary sawing. The blocks currently sit on the old limestone quarry floor, which is dusty when it’s dry and muddy when it’s wet. There are also plans to build a completely new banker shop and next year or the year after Meister would like to install a complete ashlar line. Richard says he is currently talking to Breton about a line that could produce 180m2 of ashlar per shift.

A timely investment

If the expected move towards a greater use of indigenous stone as the result of environmental concerns takes place, it could be a timely investment.

Richard: “We have just tendered for a private residence. The spec is Mocca Crème from Portugal. We have costed it in Bath and Portland stone and, surprisingly enough, it’s less expensive.”

Richard’s interest in stone started at an early age. “I was cutting my teeth on stone at the age of 11,” he says. His father was the head verger of Gloucester Cathedral and Richard liked to visit the masons working at the cathedral. Eventually he joined them, starting a stonemasonry apprenticeship in the masons shop and attending Bath College in 1987.

In 1991 he branched out on his own as a jobbing mason, staying on the tools until 1997 and working from small premises in the centre of Gloucester.

In 1999 Catbrain Quarry became available and Richard snapped it up. It was a mess and took until 2001 to get it habitable. It had previously been used by a salvage company and 2,300 tonnes of waste stone, metal and plastic had to be removed from the site before Meister could move in. Nevertheless, it was an ideal site for a developing stonemasonry business and by 2013 the former TA store had been erected in the quarry and the first saws installed.

Richard incorporated Meister Masonry in 2005. He chose the name because he had reached the status of ‘meister’ as conceived by medieval stonemasons, who saw a progression from apprentice to ‘geselle’ (someone who had skills) to ‘parlirer’ (who had skills and knowledge) and finally to ‘meister’ (having mastered skills, knowledge and creativity).

The investment in machinery was eased by measures the government put in place after the credit crunch of 2008, which meant 20% of the cost of the investment was met by the Regional Growth Fund. “The downturn came just as we finished a successful project, so we were cash rich and in a strong position. Putting the machines in probably would have cost 30% more if it had not been for the recession,” says Richard.

“I decided to invest in the factory because I felt the growth we had achieved up to 2012 wasn’t sustainable without further investment. We had to do something.”

The Meister philosophy is to offer a complete turn-key solution to any stone project, including stone selection, design, manufacture and, if required, installation, although the company is just as happy supplying masonry to other contractors, who it says have confidence in the company because it produces masonry for its own projects and knows what is required on site.

As Martyn Cuff says: “We produce everything to a 3mm joint – our tolerances are pretty much zero. We have a good reputation for supplying stone that can be used straight from the pallet. You start losing money out of a job if what you supply isn’t right.”

Geographical expansion

As Meister’s processing capacity has increased so has its geographical spread. “It evolved,” says Richard. “There wasn’t a conscious decision to expand geographically.”

But having done so has given Meister a good spread of masonry supply only and contracting. As Mike Thomson, the Financial Controller, says: “We hope it gives us an advantage.”

Meister’s contracts vary from residential to commercial and the company has worked with developers such as the Size Group in London, which specialises in high quality residences, and Walter Lilly in Windsor.

Projects have included such prestigious developments as those pictured above – the award-winning Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre at Worcester College, Cambridge, where Meister supplied the Clipsham limestone to Szerelmey, and Hope House in Bath, where Hartham Park Bath Stone and Purbeck were used. And Meister is currently supplying Portland stone for a large redevelopment project in Bayswater, London.

A project just starting at Meister involves the supply of 200m³ of Portland limestone from Stone Firms’ Broadcroft Quarry for a Vetter project. It will be supplied at a rate of 10m3 a week because that matches the rate at which it can be fixed.

Most of the stone Meister works is limestone and 60-70% of that is Portland. However, the company is happy enough to work in sandstone, as it did for PMJ Masonry when it supplied Cove Red from Block Stone for a mosque in Birmingham this year.

The stone originally specified had been Indian, but the Indian factory was quarantined and the stone could not be shipped. At the 11th hour Meister was asked to step in. Cove Red was available from Block Stone’s Block Store and PMJ Masonry asked Meister to turn it round ASAP, which it did.

The Covid pandemic has once again helped Meister with its investment in its latest two Zedas through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Super-deduction on capital allowances. “We perceived the opportunity to invest and hopefully growth will come from that. We are well positioned to take on pretty much anything, manufacturing or contracting wise,” says Richard.

He says business was not interrupted too much by the pandemic. “Enquiries diminished, but the contracts we were working on continued, apart from the brief initial shut-down. The difficult thing was that what would ordinarily be easy, like ordering materials, seemed to take 10 times longer. And if it’s taking longer it’s costing more and margins are hit.”

This year Meister has been back up to full steam and is now looking for two more people to work in the saw shop and three more on the banker to join the 16 people currently employed in the factory and workshops. It would also like to find more fixers, but so would a lot of companies.

The company does its bit to add to the skills pool by always having an apprentice, who is currently Richard’s 21-year-old son, Max. “I would be thrilled if he keeps the business in the family,” says Richard.

As well as Covid making life more difficult, so has Brexit. This year Meister was supplying Caen limestone for one project. Because of the difficulty with transport it considered using its own lorries to collect the stone from the French quarries, but gave up in the end because “the paperwork was ridiculous”, says Martyn Cuff. Eventually a company that was in and out of Europe on a daily basis was able to deliver the stone, albeit at a cost of £2,500 rather than the £1,400 it used to cost.

Nevertheless, Richard Heather believes that whatever difficulties have to be overcome, in general the future is rosy. “I have been in this industry for more than 30 years. It’s got easier. The stone industry has matured. I’m optimistic for the future. It would be great if some of these projects really gave the UK stones a fair crack of the whip. That’s one thing that Brexit and the increase in transportation costs might help.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t bring in any foreign materials – after all, all our machinery comes from abroad because we don’t make it here – but where a UK stone can be used it should be considered, even if it doesn’t quite fit the budget. Perhaps other aspects should be considered, not just finance.”

The pictures below show Meister Masonry’s factory and workshops in Catbrain Quarry, which is surrounded by SSSIs and a golf course. In the pictures are one of the two new GMM Zeda 1600s; the Benetti Fast belt primary saw; the lathe of the Marchetti Axco cutting balustrade bottles; and some of Meister’s 30 employees in the factory at the headquarters near Gloucester with large chimney caps they have just produced.