Dorset-based Albion Stone has opened a new state-of-the-art production facility to launch its innovative natural brick range – Heritage Portland. The mining and manufacturing business – which has supplied stone to prestigious buildings including Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral – will use surplus Portland stone to produce naturally sourced bricks as a low-carbon solution for construction. The process involves cutting blocks of stone into slabs and then into bricks and produces 75% less embodied carbon than manufacturing traditional clay fire bricks. One million bricks per year will be made thanks to the new production line.

The company was supported by a £450,000 asset finance package from Lloyds Bank and, as a result of the new facility, the business has employed an extra five team members and is on track to grow turnover by 20% to £10m in 2025.

Albion Stone’s new facility and Heritage Brick range will mean it can process an additional 8,800 tonnes of Portland stone, which is the equivalent weight of 20 747 jumbo jets. The business also has plans in place to open a second Heritage brick range manufacturing plant to increase production capacity.

Founded in 1952, the fourth-generation family-owned business also lead the sector’s switch from quarrying to mining Portland stone. 

Cliveden Conservation has been appointed to conserve the Fritz Steller artworks and other heritage building material as part of the redevelopment of a major project in the Grade II Listed former Queensgate Market building in Huddersfield. 

The conservation company has been subcontracted by BAM – the principal contractor for Kirklees Council’s Our Cultural Heart project in Huddersfield. The artworks incorporate 10 decorative panels and were created by German sculptor Fritz Steller (1941-2015). Titled, 'Articulation in Movement', Cliveden recently carried out a survey which will inform a programme of conservation repair works to the panels on the eastern elevation of the Queensgate Market building. The works will be carried out in 2025.

Conservators will carry out the work to Steller’s ceramic art in situ. Each panel will be carefully cleaned, consolidated and repointed by Cliveden Conservation’s experts. Structural and reconstruction repairs will also be carried out to restore some of the missing elements of the panels.

Specialist techniques will be employed to take down Steller’s black metal relief sculpture called ‘Commerce’ which features semi-abstract figures representing agriculture, trade and products, from the north wall of the hall. The sculpture will be carefully divided into individual pieces and sensitively cleaned before being packed away.

To enable building works to commence Cliveden Conservation will also be removing the sandstone coat of arms and terrazzo panels from the hall over the next few months. Custom designed and built storage solutions are being used to transport these objects and the metal sculpture into safe storage.

David Bloxam, head of architectural projects, Cliveden Conservation, comments: “It is an honour to be entrusted with Queensgate Market’s most precious artefacts and to be part of the Our Cultural Heart project team. This is a delicate operation which requires careful planning and immense skill. We look forward to working in collaboration with BAM and Kirklees Council as a specialist contractor in heritage conservation and seeing this new cultural hub evolve.”

David Shepherd, Kirklees Council’s strategic director for growth and regeneration, added:

“Our Cultural Heart may be an exciting regeneration project for the future, but it also builds on the strong heritage and identity of everything that has gone before.

“By smartly respecting and enhancing the existing heritage buildings and character across the site, the new scheme will provide a tangible sense of place that retains the emotional connection felt between local residents and their town centre.

“The Fritz Steller panels are a fundamental part of this ambition, so it’s great to now have Cliveden Conservation on board to work alongside the main contractor. They are experts in their field and will help us to safely refurbish the artwork so it can remain a celebrated feature within Kirklees for decades to come.”
 

ISO-certified manufacturer of Precision Diamond Tooling, DK Holdings Limited is celebrating its 65th Anniversary this month.

Speaking on the anniversary, chairman Brian Salter said: “I am extremely proud of our achievements over the past 65 years”, Brian Salter told the team in an interview to reflect on how it all began, how it is going and what the future holds in store. It all started in Marden, just a few miles from where we are now. John (known as Jack) Dawkins, a true entrepreneur, set out to produce electroplated diamond/CBN coated cutting tools principally for the engineering sector."

Brian credits a number of factors for the company’s continued success: “I must start with our greatest asset; our staff. A talented, creative and flexible team that has been willing and able to rise and adapt to all the challenges we have faced over the past six decades. Secondly, our longstanding relationships with customers and suppliers with shared values of honesty, decency and respect, build trust and goodwill.”

The company is to launch several initiatives to coincide with its anniversary and Brian concludes, “I look forward to the future with excitement”.

To read the full interview with DK Holdings Chairman, Brian Salter, head to DK Holding's website.
 

Tooling and machinery specialists, D Zambelis are joining forces with the Worktop Fabricators Federation (WFF) to host a special day focusing on worktop fabrication. Taking place on 16 May from 10am-3pm at D Zambelis' Essex premises, it promises to be a packed day with live demos, the chance to chat with experts and networking opportunities.

The line up will include:

• Welcome from the team at D Zambelis
• Introduction from Worktop Fabricators Federation
• Official opening from DDX Training – providers of CAD/CAM software for CNC machinery
• A talk on Lean Management from Gavin Walley of London Stone
• Focus on CNC Machinery from Marco Cavalleri, managing director of OMAG Spa
• Cutting Solutions from Marco Patelli of Terzago Macchine srl
• CNC tooling solutions - Marco Nicolai of Nicolai Diamant
   

The event is free of charge and includes lunch. To register, please visit:
https://dzambelis.co.uk/discover-the-future-of-worktop-fabrication 

Fabricators and their colleagues are invited to this informal event. You do not need to be a member of WFF to attend but can find out more about the federation on the day. 
 

Welsh Slate products will feature on the Terrence Higgins Trust Bridge to 2030 garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year. Designed by Matthew Childs who grew up in Wales and supported by grant-giving charity Project Giving Back, it will celebrate the work of the Terrence Higgins Trust and its 2030 vision of there being no new HIV cases, where people with HIV are supported and live well and there is good sexual health for all.

The garden is inspired by rejuvenated slate quarry landscapes, which are said to be used as a metaphor "for resilience and how much things have changed with HIV in the UK since the 1980s."

A monolith Welsh Slate stepping stone bridge and steps produced from custom cuts and bi-product of Ffestiniog slate will be a key focus of the garden. Supplementing this will be a textural path produced from Type 2 pillared, rustic and narrow pillared walling, all from the Ffestiniog quarry. A contemporary dry stone wall produced from reclaimed Ffestiniog walling slate will complement the path, in addition to planting in crevices created by Ffestiniog primary off-cuts - sawn offcuts from slate blocks before they are split. 

Boulders from Welsh Slate’s Penrhyn Quarry will also feature throughout the garden - one as a balancing sculpture, one as part of Welsh designer Swyn Anwyl Williams’ furniture design, and another will become a water feature.

Reclaimed Ffestiniog roofing slates will clad the interior sides of the tiered garden pond at the front of the garden, and paths and garden mulches will be formed from Welsh Slate aggregate - Grey Blinding 14mm to dust and Grey 10mm to 20mm.

Of the garden, Matthew said: “I decided that the idea for a garden that I’d had 10 years ago was something I wanted to make happen and the generosity of Welsh Slate has been instrumental in helping me achieve my vision for the Bridge to 2030 garden.”

Welsh Slate own and operate the Penrhyn, Ffestiniog and Cwt-y-Bugail quarries in North Wales and is part of the Breedon Group.

CITB (The Construction Industry Training Board) will hold its Constructing Skills – CITB Skills & Training Conference at the home of Manchester City Football Club, Etihad Stadium, on 6 June.

The event is aimed at businesses in the construction sector and is free to attend. Those who attend will be able to learn about topics such as, the building safety act and the procurement act and also receive guidance on how to apply for and access funding.

There will be a range of workshops on offer and businesses will be able to choose those most relevant to them and provide feedback to the CITB executive team. CITB advisers, industry federations and training groups and training providers will also be present.

During the conference, there will be the opportunity to address the skills shortage and hear about plans to help training providers and construction companies work together.

Interested parties can register here – there is also the option to enjoy a stadium tour after the event.

For the past five years the message has been the same – but have you been paying attention? 

It is easy to think that deadlines are years in the future but suddenly they are upon us within months. That is where we are with the withdrawal of the CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) cards issued under Industry Accreditation (IA). IA cards issued from 1st January 2020 will not be renewed after 31st December 2024. It is now time to take action to ensure your card continues.

It has been an issue we at the Natural Stone Industry Training Group (NSITG), have been working with members on for five years and still it will come as a surprise to many when they are told their cards can not be reissued as in previous years.

We know it causes anger in some, confusion in others and indifference in many but as a sector we need to work to ensure anyone who requires a CSCS card to carry out their work has a relevant and current scheme card. December is not too long away.

Industry Accreditation is also known as Managed Industry Accreditation (MIA) and Grandfather Rights. 

CSCS have information to guide and support on its website. It gives a comprehensive guide to the way to gain qualifications via OSAT (On Site Assessment and Training) and other ways of ensuring the card is re-issued. However, before you look at the routes there are things to consider.

Since the issue of your IA CSCS card have you gained qualifications in your trade? CSCS tell us that many IA card holders — Gold Advanced Craft, Blue Skilled Worker card and Gold Supervisor cards — have the current qualifications for the card to be issued under the revised December 2024 onward criteria. So, check the qualifications that you have gained since your IA card was issued. 

Also, IA card holders often have apprenticeships or membership of professional bodies that qualify holders for the revised criteria. One problem is that many apprenticeships were carried out years ago and paperwork has been lost over many years. This is where an appeal can be made to CSCS. They will work on an individual case by case basis to help ensure apprenticeships are recognised. You may have old indenture papers in a brown envelope hiding in “that” box that also holds your swimming certificate or cycling proficiency test. Go though your documents. Is your original employer still in existence and able to give a written statement that you undertook an apprenticeship with them? All these things can be dealt with via an appeal if you can not find your original apprenticeship or qualification documents. 

Contact CSCS via email initially at customerservice@cscs.co.uk and write ‘CSCS appeal’ in the subject line. 

NSITG can also help members with appeals and have already been able to support the issue of new criteria cards for members with IA cards. It is worth noting that there are many websites claiming to help with this process for a fee. The appeals process via CSCS is free as is any help offered by NSITG.