Brazil is an important source of stone for the British market, with its quartzites (in particular) having revived demand for natural stone in interiors, where engineered quartz has dominated.

Brazil's Vitoria Stone Fair has become one of the world's major stone exhibitions. It was held this year from 7 February to 10 February and Simon Chan was there for Natural Stone Specialist magazine. His report will be in the next issue of the magazine. In the meantime, there is a short overview of the exhibition in the video below.

Held in Vitória, the capital city of the state of Espírito Santo, the 20th Vitória Stone Fair opened its doors to much excitement and fanfare in February following a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Presented and organised by Veronafiere do Brasil (Veronafiere Group) with their partner Milanez & Milaneze, the normally annual trade extravaganza is supported by a number of key industry organizations, including the Brazilian Center for Ornamental Stones Exporters (Centrorochas) and the Brazilian Trade & Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).

As with previous shows, this year’s Vitória Stone Fair was well-received and, once again, brought together all of those who have a keen interest in the design and use of Brazilian stone as a building material for spectacular architectural projects. 

More than 300 exhibitors took part in the exhibition, to promote their natural stones, machinery, equipment, and technologies and, according to Centrorochas, the 2023 edition of the Vitória Stone Fair was one of the most popular and best-attended shows in the event’s 20-year history. 

With 1,000 varieties of natural stones on show (the largest and most diverse collection on display in Latin America) under one roof and a highly successful conference programme featuring a packed schedule of high-calibre speakers – not to mention a host of networking opportunities for show attendees to share knowledge, ideas and make crucial industry connections – Vitória Stone Fair 2023 was a huge success.

Speaking to Simon Chan of Natural Stone Specialist magazine following the grand opening ceremony of the Vitória Stone Fair on 7 February, Fabio Cruz, vice-president of Centrorochas, commented: “Brazil has the largest natural and geological diversity in the world, and there is simply no better trade show in the Americas to showcase the strength, versatility, and beauty of Brazilian ornamental rocks than the Vitória Stone Fair. 

“There continues to be fantastic support for the event from exhibitors and the wider public and private sectors, and we are really thankful for that. As part of our ‘It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone’ initiative [in partnership with ApexBrasil], we have strong ambitions to encourage and increase exports of Brazilian stone materials and products to the global market.

“At this year’s show, we welcomed more overseas developers, contractors, architects, and designers than ever before, and international interest in the trade fair was the strongest it has ever been, drawing in visitors from far and wide.”

Indeed, the annual Vitória Stone Fair has firmly taken its place among the world’s top-tier stone exhibitions / conferences and continues to be a significant event for exhibitors to do business and showcase the magnificence of Brazilian quartzites, marbles, granites, and slates after all the constraints of the past two years.

David Coster, Director of Advanced Stone & Masonry Supplies, which sells Stain Proof and Tenax products, talks to Adam Reuvany, Sales Manager of stone wholesaler BloomStones London, which is currently settling into new premises.

Dave: Quartz, sintered stone / porcelain or natural stone?

Adam: For me, I would go all day long for natural stone. You can’t beat the depth in the colours and the way that they look. But for what’s relevant, it’s got to be quartz every day of the week because that’s what the market knows. And porcelain is coming, whether anyone likes it or not, and will be a thing that, if it isn’t already, will happen.

Dave: Are you an advocate of straight off the CNC or hand finishing?

Adam: I have worked on the tools, so I will always say that anything not finished by hand doesn’t feel right to me. But that’s because I was a mason, and the quality coming off the CNC has changed a lot since I came off the tools. The finishes now are a lot better than they used to be, so I’m probably going to say the CNC should be there if people are working in the right way.

Dave: What have you looked for in the materials that BloomStone, as a wholesaler, has chosen to offer to its customers?

Adam: Our specialised range is quartzite. I love quartzite. I like the weird and wonderful. You get colours that are a bit special. I have spent a lot of time looking into finding the right quartzites and I would say where a lot of people go wrong is that they don’t actually understand a lot about the products. They don’t know how to identify a true quartzite or distinguish it from something like a dolomite. They’re misinforming people and buying the wrong products.

Of course, we also do sell a lot of quartz. It’s the market relevant product and we sell loads of it. We sell granite and a little bit of marble, although we might do a bit more marble in the future.

And, yes, we sell porcelain. We represent ABK Stone, with matching floor tiles if needed, and we sell Prime under-surface induction hobs, which have a good place in the market once you get people to have a bit more knowledge of the product.

How do you deal with ethical sourcing?

We try to buy ethically sourced products as much as we possibly can. The problem is there’s certain parts of the supply chain where you’re never going to know really what you’re buying. You can try. You can do your best and just hope for the best really.

Are you working towards energy saving and Net Zero in 2050?

Here, literally in the last week or so we have bought an electric fork lift to help us contribute to going in the right direction.

Before that, the only relevant thing we did was bought LED lights. And I have just bought a Mitsubishi Outlander, which is a plug-in hybrid. We’re looking at ways we can improve our fleet, but what’s available is a bit limited for commercial vehicles at the moment.

You have obviously just invested in new premises, but do you have plans for further investment?

Yes, our investment at the moment is the premises we’re in. We have moved from premises that were in a pretty terrible location, being quite honest about it, although we did quite well there over the years. We have now moved on to this industrial park with businesses wrapped round us that are hopefully going to bring some passing trade.

We are investing heavily in having a show space here with a yard that is nice and open and people can come and see the stock. After that we’re getting a crane in place, so we can put more investment into our stock.

Are you doing that because it’s good for the business or because logistics demand it?

I would say a combination of both. One of the good things about the move here is that we are right on the doorstep of the M25, so logistics should, if anything, have become easier because we used to be a little bit further out. In terms of business, we have been growing year on year, so to come to somewhere bigger in a bit of a cleaner area with brighter premises is going to be nothing but a benefit to us.

Are you still suffering any fallout from Brexit or Covid?

One of the main things we noticed from Covid was how busy we got and I kind of think a lot of that’s going to fall off a bit now. I think anyone who says that they’re not seeing that workload levels have gone down a bit would probably be telling a couple of porkies. We’re far from struggling, we’re doing OK as a business – it’s going well – but it’s gone back to where it was pre-Covid, I would say.

What do you think the trends will be in the next year to 18 months as far as products are concerned?

I’m hoping we are seeing the back end of white with grey veins for a starter. I’m sick of seeing it. Anything with glitter and shimmer seems to still be a thing as well, but, again, I hope we are seeing the back end of it. That’s what I would like to see. We are seeing people going more for natural stone because they’re understanding that they’re spending a lot of money on a kitchen.

The kitchen industry theory is backwards because they go out and buy the drawers first, even though nobody’s going to walk into a kitchen and go: awf, look at your drawers! That’s why things like natural stone are having a good rise up at the moment. They offer more of a wow! factor. A lot of people now seem to understand that has to happen in their kitchen space.

You told me you plan to exhibit at the Natural Stone Show in London this year. What will you be doing for the exhibition?

Hopefully we will be able to put in something a bit special that I don’t think anyone has seen happen at the Stone Show before. We will be having… the best way I can put it is that it’s a live display, something that will get people’s taste buds fired up and get them ready for a new product we are bringing out on to the market.

To finish off, can you gaze into your crystal ball and tell me what the future is like?

In terms of business for the future we are probably in for a rough ride for the next 12-18 months, but anyone who doesn’t realise that is not keeping up with current affairs. The market is a bit volatile, which shows in the dollar exchange rate that has affected a lot of businesses. I’m hoping, though, we can just keep pushing forward from where we’re already at, getting our materials in people’s faces and trying to inspire people to do something a little bit different with their kitchens, which is something we have always encouraged people to do.

You have these nice new premises, will you be having an open day to invite people in to see them?

We haven’t fully moved in yet. Until we get the crane in we’re going to hold off from having anything in terms of an open day, but we will definitely be looking at doing something like that once we’re fully settled in here. There will be a bit of free food and alcohol, so everyone can pop along when it happens.

This is stonemason Beatrice Searle’s story of her 1,300-mile journey to Trondheim Cathedral pulling a 40kg stone she calls the Orkney Boat on a converted sacktruck she names Marianne.

Her journey has been inspired by the stories she is told of Magnus Erlendsson, the Patron Saint of Orkney, by her stonemasonry college tutor, and a mason’s banker mark found on stones in both Lincoln Cathedral, where Beatrice is an apprentice, and Nidaros Domkirke (Trondheim Cathedral), which starts a conversation between the masons at each.

She visits Orkney, chooses a stone, carves footprints on it and sets off for Trondheim in Norway dragging it behind her, inviting people she meets along the way on the ancient Gudbrandsdalen pilgrim path to stand in the footprints and experience what they will.

It may sound a bit unlikely, but it is a story everyone can relate to because it unfolds as a metaphor for life, in which the hardest journeys can be the most rewarding.

If you have read and enjoyed Alex Woodcock’s King of Dust, published in 2019, and Andrew Ziminski’s The Stonemason, published in 2020, you will probably enjoy Beatrice Searl’s Stone Will Answer.

There is a review of the book in the Natural Stone Specialist magazine. If you would like to, you can download a PDF of it below. To subscribe to the magazine, click here.

After being closed for more than a decade, Welsh Slate has re-opened Ffestiniog Quarry and it is back in full production, producing the world renowned blue-grey roofing slate.

Welsh Slate says the re-opening is due to a huge demand for Welsh slate in the UK and worldwide.

The slate from Ffestiniog has a smooth riven texture. The majority of the production is focused on the core sizes (500 x 300mm, 400 x 250mm and 300 x 200mm) in three thickness grades: Capital (5.5mm), County (7mm), and Celtic (9mm). The quality of the stone will allow production of roofing slates in excess of a metre long for those who require it.

Ffestiniog Quarry is in the heart of Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales. It was opened for slate production in 1818. The slate from it was formed by the Ordovician slate beds laid down more than 470million years ago.

Ffestiniog Quarry characteristically produces a thin, uniform slate with less texture than the slate from Cwt-y-Bugail, another nearby Welsh Slate quarry. It does not have the immense capacity of Welsh Slate's quarry at Penrhyn in Bethesda but is still able to produce sufficient volumes of roofing slate to meet demand.

Re-opening the quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog will lead to the recruitment of 20 more staff. They will help produce 25,000 roofing slates a week initially and the number is expected to rise quickly to 30,000.

Seven of the new recruits will be based at Blaenau Ffestiniog, extracting and transporting large blocks of raw slate to Cwt-y-Bugail at Llan Ffestiniog, three miles away. Six more staff at Llan Ffestiniog will saw and split the slate for the rivings to be dressed at the company's main Penrhyn Quarry.

Roofing slates from Ffestiniog Quarry were used on such prestigious projects as Kings Cross and St Pancras railway stations, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Westerloo Town Hall in Belgium.

The slate was particularly popular in southern England, south Wales and The Netherlands because the light weight of the tiles meant they were particularly cost effective to transport, mostly by ship, as a shipping duty had been introduced in the UK in 1795.

Ffestiniog roofing slates are blue-grey in colour, generally lighter in shade than Cwt-y-Bugail's dark blue-grey slates and with a finer grained texture, which is what makes it possible to spilt them slightly thinner and in larger formats. Although their colour is different to Penrhyn Heather Blues, the texture is similar.

The re-opening of its Blaenau Ffestiniog quarry will also enable Welsh Slate to re-establish its offering of Ffestiniog architectural products for external and internal applications such as cladding, paving, flooring, window cills, copings and fire hearths. 

Returning the quarry to roofing and architectural slate production has required a significant investment by Welsh Slate, part of the Breedon Group that lays claim to being the largest independent construction materials group in the UK.

Sophisticated geotechnical mapping of the site identified underground chambers from the days when the slate was mined. There was minimal overburden, which meant the existing roof of the mine could be removed to expose the pillars of slate left by mining for extraction, a process that had been started by the previous owners in 1973 but was abandoned. The slate deposits identified by surveyors are expected to last for the foreseeable future.

Commercial director Michael Hallé says: "It's a far cry from its peak in the 1870s when the quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog employed more than 2,500 people and produced around 10million slates a year, but the re-opening of our Ffestiniog quarry will improve the availability of Welsh Slate overall, with total output from the three quarries amounting to more than 100,000 slates per week.

"We are delighted we will now be able to meet the exceptional demand from both domestic and export markets for this high-quality slate. There has been a strong interest from the merchants and roofing contractors in the UK and abroad and we look forward to seeing Ffestiniog gracing roofs again.

"The investment in re-opening this quarry, to allow safe extraction of the material, was considerable, but many skilled roofing contractors, particularly in The Netherlands, where our slate is of far superior quality to local slate, prefer the Ffestiniog slate."

Welsh Slate also applied successfully last summer for planning permission to increase the life of Penrhyn Quarry, the largest of the Welsh Slate quarries that was, at one time, the biggest slate quarry in the World.

If you need help in understanding the precise benefits of the slates from the different quarries, or which grade of Ffestiniog Welsh Slate roofing to choose for your roofing project, Welsh Slate will be happy to hear from you to explain more. Call 01248 600656 or email enquiries@welshslate.com

www.welshslate.com

Francisco Martinez, who owns Cosentino, the Spanish manufacturer of Silestone and Dekton, has agreed to pay €1.1million compensation to five people (although one of them has died) who said they were not provided with adequate warning of the risk of being exposed to silica dust as a result of cutting and polishing Silestone countertops.

The compensation was part of a plea deal in a court in Spain that saw a prison sentence of two years nine months sought by the prosecutors reduced to six months (suspended) for five counts of serious injury due to gross negligence, reports Reuters.

Cosentino immediately issued a statement saying that liability had been admitted for providing insufficient technical information affecting five workers at a specific workshop only, and that the court’s ruling "cannot be generalized to any past or future proceedings". (You can read the full Cosentino statement by clicking here or on the link at the end of this report.)

Reuters says 71-year-old Francisco Martinez is due to appear in court again in July for a separate trial in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao, where prosecutors are asking for two and a half years' imprisonment on six counts of reckless injury.

Cosentino employs more than 5,000 people worldwide and posted record sales of €1.4billion for 2021. It reportedly plans an initial public offering (IPO) of shares that could be worth as much as €3billion.

Cosentino’s statement says "it is the fabrication shops’ responsibility to ensure the safety of their workers by properly implementing and enforcing safety measures".

It also says: "News articles that refer to other admissions made by Cosentino are completely false, including that Cosentino concealed information about the health & safety measures required to fabricate Silestone or that the handling of Silestone has caused the majority of cases of silicosis that have affected 1,856 workers."

It points out that this case took place in a "context where the relevant facts of the case are from more than 15 years ago when the applicable legislation was imprecise, and the science of occupational risk prevention had not yet evolved to today's standards".

According to Reuters, in the ruling on 7 February the judge said Francisco Martinez had failed to provide adequate warning of the danger from the silica content of Silestone despite being aware of the safety and health risks that the processing of the material entailed.

Historic building conservation contractor DBR (London) Ltd has developed a three-year partnership with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) to support the QEST scholarship programme.

Coinciding with this year's National Apprentice Week (6-12 February), the QEST/DBR scholarship enables those involved to further their craft skills in the preservation of the UK’s built heritage.

The scholarship programme is open to anyone looking to enhance their craft skills in built heritage, from stonemasonry and plasterwork to leadwork and joinery.

The successful candidates will receive a substantial bursary funded by DBR, which will go towards specialist training in their chosen field, from traditional college courses to vocational one-on-one training with a master craftsperson or a bespoke programme of short courses.

The scholarship is open to those aged 18 or older who can demonstrate a high level of skill and a strong body of work and experience in their chosen field.

Applications for the QEST/DBR Scholarship will open in July for an award in November 2023. Entries will be judged by a panel of QEST experts.

Adrian Attwood, DBR Executive Director, says: "This is an important development in our commitment to provide opportunities for the next generation of skilled craftspeople. As DBR is a Royal Warrant-holding company, QEST, as a charity of the Royal Warrant Holders Association, was our ideal partner, upholding the values of quality and excellence.

"We are extremely proud of our highly skilled craftspeople and this annual QEST/DBR scholarship will ensure our legacy to continue to support the future development of crafts skills in the UK."

Deborah Pocock, CEO of QEST, says: "DBR’s commitment to developing and sustaining craft skills makes them an ideal partner for QEST. We must all be concerned about passing on skills to the next generation and ensuring that we have appropriately trained individuals to conserve our built environment. We are grateful to DBR for enabling this annual scholarship."

DBR’s scholarship partnership with QEST represents the first step in a wider campaign, The Year of the Master Craftsperson (YMC), which seeks to promote the social and cultural importance of heritage conservation skills.

YMC’s wider aim is to celebrate current industry practitioners and the amazing work they do, as well as encouraging more young people to consider a career in this highly creative and rewarding sector.

Set to launch in the Spring, DBR's YMC campaign will showcase some of the UK’s most impressive conservation projects and the people involved in them, while offering practical guidance and advice for those considering a career in built heritage.

To find out more about the QEST scholarships and to express interest in applying, click here.

Stone Equipment International has had a nice mention in the Italian multilingual magazine Marmo Macchine International, which has carried a report of how the UK agent for Marmo Meccanica edge polishers helped a company taking part in TV programme DIY SOS complete its task.

Stone Equipment International started this year by concentrating on selling Marmo Meccanica machines in the UK (read more about that here), so an international endorsement from satisfied customers is a welcome intervention.

Andrew and Katie Moxon, owners of Phoenix Worktops in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, related the story of how they offered their services to DIY SOS for the Children in Need Big Build.

They take up the story: “We were huge fans of the show so when the opportunity arose we jumped at the chance to make a difference.

“It was quite a long build up to the show and we had to keep everything secret, not even telling friends, family or employees we were taking part until the very last minute.

“However, two weeks before we were due to take part our old 2006 Marmo Meccanica LCV 611 edge polisher died a terrible death. It was one we’d purchased years second hand years before when we first started out as a business. It has been a loyal workhorse but, unfortunately, it was old, well used and obsolete, so we could not find replacement parts.

“It was game over for the machines. We’d purchased our first second-hand bridge saw from from Andy Bell at Stone Equipment International a few years earlier and found him to be helpful and reliable and the machines to be of high quality. Straight away we got in touch with him. Of course, we had to let him into our DIY SOS secret!

“We knew we wanted another Marmo Meccanica edge polisher but as we had grown as a business since we purchased our original second-hand edge polisher, we wanted to go brand new this time. We also wanted to go horizontal as we had done a run of very large islands and had one of the biggest ever booked in for after DIY SOS at 2.9m x 1.9m.

“Andy Bell was amazing!I explained we were signed up to take part in the Children in Need DIY SOS Big Build; that we would have 24 hours from template to fit to turn around the worktops, a large island, bathroom vanity and three cistern tops.

“There was no way we could do this without an edge polisher.

“Straight away Andy jumped into action. He reserved the last Marmo Meccanica LCH 711 he had in stock and within a day he had arranged delivery for the following week.

“He moved his engineers’ work around so the day after it was delivered it was fully installed and up and running.

“Between Andy Bell and Jane, who works in the office with him, the whole process was so smooth and stress free.

“Now down to the amazing machine. As mentioned, we had 24 hours to cut, polish, cnc and install all the quartz required for DIY SOS. The LCH 711 saved us. We literally turned the entire job around in 17 hours (with a four-hour nap). The pieces were coming off perfectly polished and bevelled – no need to hand polish at all. It was so quick and the finish was such high quality.

“Since DIY SOS the edge polisher has definitely become an integral part of our business. It has hugely cut our turnaround times; it has made the fabrication process run even smoother.

“The finished polish – even on the harder to polish black granite and quartz, is coming off perfect. We can’t recommend this machine enough. It’s a real game changer.

“For those other fabricators in the UK, we highly recommend Andy Bell and his team at Stone Equipment International.”

The latest figures from the Department for Education covering the 2021/2022 academic year show that apprenticeship starts fell by 13% compared with 2018/2019, with the number successfully completing their apprenticeships down 7%.

Covid no doubt played its part in that, but nevertheless the decrease in apprenticeship uptake and completion has added to the problem of businesses struggling to find skilled talent, while still apparently being reluctant to hire and grow their own.

Training workers could help close the skills gaps, but with the UK predicted to be heading into an economic recession and business costs having increased rapidly, organisations are less able to afford training, creating even more barriers to skills development and workforce entry.

You might think engaging with the Apprenticeship Levy, which subsidises the costs of training, could be a key solution to this problem, but a new survey has found that just 4% of levy-paying employers have used their full levy funding in the past five years, with 94% reporting at least one barrier to accessing it.

The results of the survey are presented in a report called Levying Up: Delivering Sustainable Skills from City & Guilds and the 5% Club.

The 5% Club was founded by Leo Quinn, CEO of Balfour Beatty, in October 2013 to address the issue of poverty arising from high youth unemployment and a shortage of the right skills for the workplaces of today and tomorrow. The 5% relates to the aim of members to have 5% of the workforce in 'earn and learn' positions within five years of joining the Club.

‘Earn and learn’ describes the routes into and within employment (including apprenticeships, sponsored students and graduates on formalised training schemes) that combine study with practical experience, enabling individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required to pursue their chosen occupation.

Levying Up: Delivering Sustainable Skills reports on the results of research among 1,000 human resources (HR) leaders at apprenticeship levy-paying businesses across the country.

It reviews the apprenticeship system and explores ways it could be adapted to meet the needs of employers more effectively, support industry skills requirements and provide opportunities for individuals involved.   

One of the ways it could be improved, it concludes, is to scrap the idea of reducing funding for Level 2 apprenticeships like the natural stone industry’s Trailblazer, which is something Michelle Turner, who Chairs the Natural Stone Industry Training Group (NSITG), has consistently called for. It was the NSITG which worked so hard to create the Stone Trailblazer.

The City & Guilds and 5% Club survey found that the apprenticeship levy is currently not working as many employers believe it should.

It shows that apprenticeship levy-paying employers are using an average of just 55.5% of available funds, with 94% reporting at least one barrier to accessing the funds available.   

18% of respondents stated that accessing levy funds involves too much bureaucracy and / or administration, with 17% saying they do not have enough time to invest and 19% saying they could not commit to the length of time an apprenticeship takes to complete.  

Most HR leaders did not want the levy scrapped, but 43% said they would prefer to shift towards a 50:50 model, whereby half the levy is ring fenced for apprenticeships and the other half is more flexible, allowing businesses to identify the best way to use the money to meet their skills needs. 

Levying Up: Delivering Sustainable Skills has the following recommendations: 

Introduce a broader skills levy with more flexibility on how employers can spend levy funding.

Cancel plans to reduce Level 2 apprenticeships. Reducing the number of Level 2 apprenticeships excludes a number of young people and people from less advantaged backgrounds from workplace training and opportunities to upskill. As many of these people are not ready for level 3 apprenticeships and not all companies offer level 3 roles as their entry point, if Level 2 apprenticeships were to be reduced, opportunities for these groups would be further restricted.  

Introduce modular learning options. Employers would benefit from standardised, levy-funded bitesize learning. An apprenticeship requires a significant commitment of time, both for the employer and the apprentice, which is not always practical. With a modular approach, leaders could pick and choose more compact qualifications and training to meet skills needs and employees could upskill more easily throughout their careers.  

Use unspent levy to address labour market shortages. Given the UK’s current labour market shortages, the Department for Education and HM Treasury could work together to ensure that unspent apprenticeship levy funding was spent on programmes designed to reduce skills shortages in the sectors that are most affected.  

You can download the 42-page Levying Up: Delivering Sustainable Skills report here or by clicking on the link below.

The Natural Stone Industry Training Group has been selected by City & Guilds to be part of a pilot for its Professional Recognition Award.

The pilot is free of charge to two candidates. NSITG Chair, Michelle Turner, will be mentor for the candidates.

The C&G Professional Recognition Awards offer the opportunity for professionals to gain an accredited award in leadership and management, providing a progression route from Level 4 to Level 7. 

Successful candidates are granted appropriate post-nominal letters: Licentiate (LCGI) at Level 7, Affiliate (AfCGI), Graduate (GCGI) and Member (MCGI) at Level 4.

Anyone interested in taking part in the pilot should contact NSITG Training Officer Claire Wallbridge on claire@nsitg.org.uk / Tel: 07511464346.

She says that as this is bound to be popular, she asks that interest is registered by Wednesday 8 February and places will be given on a first come first served basis.

For more about the Professional Recognition Awards on the City & Guilds website click here.