Robert Merry has joined up with ‘One Million Mentors’ and is helping a youngster achieve their ambition of becoming a designer. He has been surprised by what he has learnt helping someone else to learn.
Earlier in the summer I joined the government education initiative ‘One Million Mentors’.
It’s a scheme that, according to its literature, has been devised to help “accelerate life opportunities for young people in some of the most deprived areas in the UK”.
There’s training and seminars to help get you up to speed, providing a sound framework for becoming a mentor.
It's not the whole package. You have to keep learning through the process. But the training provides you with the initial ‘wings to fly’.
Once you’re paired with a ‘mentee’, the mentoring lasts for a year, meeting monthly at their school.
I was paired with a 14-year-old who wants to be a designer.
I don’t think they knew what sort of designer they wanted to be exactly, but their passion had been fuelled by watching endless TV programmes on house refurbishments, transformations, new builds, Worst House in the Street, Location, Location... you get the picture. The pandemic left lots of time for school kids to fill.
At first I was unsure if the mentoring idea would work. I mean, there are 46 years between us. How was I going to relate to this person. Or them to me? What could I possible say that would be of any use? Stone talk, sure. Ask me anything and if I don’t know the answer I can usually make something up that sort of sounds credible. But design? Have you seen my office?
But once I got over the self-doubt, I applied the knowledge I had acquired during the training and some experience of a previous mentoring relationship and we started on the journey.
“The way’s deep and the weather sharp,” as T S Elliot wrote. But it’s amazing how concentration on someone else’s passion and a need to assist them heightens awareness and accumulates knowledge.
It’s not entirely true to say design is an alien world to me. I had exhibited at Decorex in the past and at the Surface Design show.
When I first started out in the interior stone sector all our work came through designers – Kelly Hoppen, Nina Campbell... people like that. Old names now, I guess, but highly respected.
I’ve started to notice information about design shows through emails and advertisements. I even began to watch those same TV programmes my mentee had drawn inspiration from. I’ve seen most at some point before, but now I have a reason to indulge, other than just passing time.
And the more I dig into design the bigger shovel I need.
It’s become apparent I can travel the world visiting design shows. Here’s a few for this autumn: Design London, 21-24 September (boasting a ‘jam-packed programme of engaging content and a highly curated selection of sought after design brands from around the globe); Decorex, 9-12 October (‘the interior design show for professionals’).
And between the London exhibitions you can visit Helsinki Design Week, 1-11 September (‘…looks to the theme of openness… and aims to explore questions surrounding sustainability, curiosity and transparency...”); Stockholm Design Week, 5-11 September; Maison & Object, Paris, 8-12 September; Light+Building in Frankfurt, Germany, 2-6 October (‘the world’s largest trade fair for lighting and building services engineering’).
Then a quick train to Eindhoven in the Netherlands to come together with ‘over 2,600 designers and creatives... to showcase the latest in design and innovation’ at the Dutch Design Week, 22-30 October.
And if your design itch is still not fully scratched by the end of November, you could try Design Miami 30 November-4 December (‘…bringing together designers, curators, critics and gallerists in the Florida sunshine’).
The mentor/mentee relationship has to be allowed to grow and develop. Small things like being on time and not missing appointments are key to building trust and showing the relationship is important.
But the biggest challenge for me is learning how to listen. I mean, really listen.
And not to judge. No jumping in to give an answer or my solution. But just being there in the moment, as a critical friend.
It’s a great experience so far and I feel very humbled to be involved.
If you’re interested in using your knowledge and experience to help a young person and you’re up for learning something new, go to www.onemillionmentors.org.uk.
Go on. The Florida sunshine in November? Who’d have thought.
Baca, the American-based maker of a saw and waterjet on a robot arm that was being sold by British company LPE Group in Europe and the UK, is now represented by KMT Waterjet.
KMT Waterjet has centres in America, Germany and China and says it is establishing a new company called KMT Waterjet UK. The current contact for the UK is Marketing Director Wolfgang Emrich on Wolfgang.Emrich@kmtwaterjet.com / 0049 170 452 2669.
KMT Waterjet is now the single point of contact in Europe and the UK for all Baca Systems’ parts, price quotations and sales orders. Many spare parts are immediately available.
The Robo SawJet is a six-axes programmable saw and abrasive waterjet cutting system. It incorporates lean industrial machine technologies and an intuitive operator interface, where cutting paths are generated with a few clicks of a mouse.
Its compact footprint requiring less space than many saws and its combination of a 20kW direct-drive circular saw for straight cuts and the precision of waterjet cuts for angles and arcs, including tap holes, has attracted attention among worktop fabricators. Baca also has a water filtration and recycling system called Pure.
Baca Systems President Kevin McManus says: “We are excited to be able to provide our customers in the United Kingdom and Europe with the ability to get the spares and service parts they need more quickly.
“Affording our customers easier access to parts and shorter lead times by working directly with KMT Waterjet will enable them to better maintain and support their Baca Systems equipment over the long run.”
KMT Waterjet Systems is a manufacturer of UHP waterjet pumps and components that are integrated into complete waterjet systems through partnerships with a global network of Original Equipment Manufacturers of waterjet machines.
Jeremy Sweet, President of KMT Waterjet, says: “KMT is pleased to support Baca Systems with navigating the Brexit rules in the United Kingdom as we have an established regional office offering our customer service team, aftermarket parts, and field service engineers to provide assistance to end customers.”
Kevin McManus says Baca’s technicians can log into customers’ computers to troubleshoot any issues arising. He says Baca has “highly skilled field service technicians that can be dispatched as necessary to help our customers avoid costly downtime”, although he adds: “We’re proud of the fact, however, that the great majority of customer service requests are resolved remotely, without requiring a site visit.”
Carl Sharkey, who heads the LPE Group previously representing Baca, told Natural Stone Specialist magazine he had probably sold as many of the robot saws as he was likely to.
Following the success of a meeting of Women in Natural Stone (WINS) at The Counting House in London in June, there is to be another meeting at the same venue on 2 November.
More than 70 women attended the previous meeting and Stone Federation Great Britain, which acts as the secretariat of WINS, hopes the next meeting will be no less successful.
The 2 November event will be from 6pm until 8.30pm.
WINS was formed to create an opportunity for women in the natural stone industry and wider architectural and construction sectors to connect and support each other and to encourage the next generation of women into construction.
Any women involved with natural stone, architectural and design are welcome to attend the 2 November meeting, which it is hoped will once again be an opportunity for networking and forming new working relationships.
The Counting House is at 50 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3PD. There is no charge to attend and drinks and nibbles will be provided.
If you want to attend, please email Sara at Stone Federation (sara@stonefed.org.uk) in advance, so the group knows how many to cater for.
Nominations are invited for the The Duke of Gloucester Gold Medal for outstanding achievement in the craft of stonemasonry and the natural stone industry.
The Medal was introduced in 2010 by the Masons Livery Company and Stone Federation Great Britain. It is awarded periodically to honour and recognise an individual in the craft of stonemasonry or the natural stone industry whose lifetime achievements are of considerable merit and the excellence of their contribution is acknowledged by their peers.
Previous recipients have included industry stalwarts John Bysouth and Peter Harrison.
The Duke of Gloucester Gold Medal Nominations Committee is now seeking nominations for someone who deserves the medal in 2022; someone who has made a notable difference to the craft or the industry, whether as a mason, architect, surveyor, designer, employer, manager or trainer.
Nominations can come from any field, but those nominated should have:
achieved national recognition in any aspect of the craft
created change within the industry through entrepreneurship, vision or innovation
designed, restored or developed outstanding buildings using stone
provided opportunities for or supported the training and development of craftsmen
been a mentor to those in their field
enhanced the reputation of, and demonstrated dedication to, the craft or the natural stone industry
earned the respect of their peers
There is a PDF nomination form below. Nominations will be considered by the Nominations Committee, which consists of representatives of The Worshipful Company of Masons, one of the City of London’s oldest Livery Companies, and Stone Federation Great Britain, the trade association for the natural stone construction industry. The Committee is chaired by HRH The Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO.
The closing date for nominations is 5pm on Friday, 18 November 2022. Once the form below is completed, return it to: The Clerk of The Worshipful Company of Masons by post to 8 Little Trinity Lane, London, EC4V 2AN, or by email to clerk@masonslivery.org.
Iain Kennedy, a former President of Stone Federation Great Britain, has left Blockstone to set himself up as a stone consultant under the company name of Knightsbridge Stone. He talks about the move.
After 36 years working full-time in the stone industry, Iain Kennedy has left Blockstone, the British stone supplier that became part of the group of businesses centred around specialist contractor Grants of Shoreditch, to set himself up as a consultant under the name of Knightsbridge Stone.
“I had reached the point where I thought the work-life balance needed a little bit of addressing,” says Iain, adding: “I’ve been very fortunate in my time in the stone industry, it’s time to put a little bit back to help other people.”
The Knightsbridge Stone name is a nod to Iain’s grandfather, Jimmy Kennedy, who had a company called Knightsbridge Music. Jimmy wrote Hang out Your Washing on the Siegfried Line when he was a captain in the British Expeditionary Force during the early stages of the Second World War. He went on to write the lyrics to Red Sails in the Sunset (there is still a Red Sails Festival in Portstewart in Northern Ireland where Jimmy lived), The Hokey Cokey, Teddy Bears Picnic and My Prayer, which was in the American Top 10 five times.
There has been no shortage of people seeking the benefit of Iain Kennedy’s experience since he decided he wanted to spend less time on the road and a bit more with his grandchildren, but he says he is being selective about the work he takes on. He wants to be involved in projects that interest him and can benefit most from his experience.
“The difference between me and a lot of consultants is that many came up through the design side of the business. My experience is more practical – getting stone on to a wagon and on to site, whether that’s in the UK or abroad.
“Usually what I do is under the radar, carrying out research, visiting quarries, selecting block.
“Most companies don’t have an excess of people. There are times when you need someone you trust and know has the experience to lend a hand. I can do project management from quarrying to delivery of the stone on site.”
One of the people he has been working with is his own son, Jason, who formed a natural stone rainscreen cladding company called Stone Cladding Systems in 2016.
Iain’s career in the stone industry saw him become Managing Director first of Farrar’s and then Realstone before moving with Blockstone when it became part of the Grants Group. But it all started at Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, with its world-class combined geoscience and mining department. “I wanted a job that didn’t involve sitting behind a desk, and studying mineral processing and mining engineering was a good starting point,” says Iain
After graduating, he went first to west Africa for diamond mining and then east Africa to work in the gold mining industry. He then joined a concrete company before moving into the natural stone industry with Waterhouse Denbigh (part of Ennstone) in Bradford. Waterhouse Denbigh had interests in aggregates and dimensional stone.
“I didn’t know much about stone per se at that point – I was employed to manage the business. But I joined the Stone Federation Technical Committee, which was run by John Long at the time, and that’s where I really started learning about stone and how to use it.”
Eventually the Waterhouse Denbigh quarry was exhausted and the land was sold for housing. Iain moved to George Farrar (Quarries), first as Sales Director, then Managing Director. From there he moved to Realstone and Blockstone, first as Marketing Director and later Managing Director.
“During the journey I was fortunate enough to be elected President of Stone Federation Great Britain for two years from 2012 to ’14.”
Blockstone extracts block from 13 quarries in the UK, but most of the stone used in the UK is imported, and Realstone used whatever stone was specified for any project it was working on, although that included stone from the group’s own quarries where appropriate.
Iain: “Because stone is an international commodity, pre-Brexit and pre-pandemic I travelled abroad a lot, including going to China and India. When I first went there they hadn’t see many foreigners.”
Iain says the stone industry has been kind to him and “I have met some wonderful people in it”. But, he says, it is dominated by SMEs [small & medium sized enterprises], “with more Ss than Ms”.
“That means you’re dealing generally with the principal of a company, or very close to it, rather than some faceless organisation. It makes life more difficult initially, but eventually, as you get to know people, it makes life easier. The people you are dealing with are in a position to make decisions without referring to anybody else. They’re clever people and you can learn a lot from them. But it means the industry as a whole doesn’t have the collective fire power to market its products that other building supply sectors have.
“Brick, concrete, steel: they have a lot of cash behind them to present their credentials, which the stone industry doesn’t. Small companies tend to be concerned with the immediate requirements of their businesses and don’t necessarily look to the longer term.”
The stone industry in the UK has grown phenomenally during the 36 years Iain has been involved with it. He has seen the machinery used move on from manual Anderson Grice saws and jenny linds to six axes CNCs. He remembers the first faxes before the internet introduced email. People sent letters in the post. “Everything was slower, which gave you time.”
It was the new millennium that convinced a lot of people they needed to enter the computer age, just as Covid has convinced them to make more use of it for communications, including video conferencing and marketing with social media.
Iain does not dislike CNC machinery and computer technology. He says: “It’s a pleasure seeing a CNC making a scroll or hood in two-or-three days that would have taken masons two-or-three weeks 30 years ago.”
But it increases time pressure and companies have become time poor. “Main contractors don’t seem to understand – or we haven’t got it across to them – that stone is a bespoke item, made to order. You have to leave time for design, selection and production.
“With emails, everyone expects a response immediately. If they don’t get one, you get a telephone call. Companies employ fewer people – and lately haven’t been able to find the people they do need... although finding the right people in the stone industry has always been difficult. It isn’t a sexy industry; it’s not a highly visible part of construction.
“Because time pressure is much greater now, I think someone like myself can usually find work. There’s always someone who needs help because there isn’t any excess labour.”
The speeding up of stone processing has meant the price of stone products has come down – even though it might not seem like it just at the moment due to the price increases resulting from high levels of demand worldwide, rising commodity prices, disruption of supplies due to the pandemic, huge increases in the costs of shipping, containers and transport, and now rising fuel prices as a result of the war in Ukraine.
But when it comes to something like sandstone walling from British quarries, Iain says it was £30-35 a square yard when he first came into the industry and it is not much different now. And he thinks it is too cheap. “You’re getting an awful lot more from stone than you get from some other building products and that’s not necessarily reflected in the price.”
Iain says he is optimistic for the future of the stone industry, but he would like to see more collaboration to market stone as a low carbon, sustainable product. “It’s a very simple message, it’s getting it out there that’s difficult.”
He says there will always be man-made products competing with natural stone and they all want to compare themselves to natural stone, so “we have to spread the message of the obvious benefits of natural stone that we all know about. People don’t hear that message often enough and in the right way. It’s one thing visiting someone and telling them but another having a marketing set up to continually reinforce that message.”
He hopes that by working with companies to supply stone to major projects he will have the opportunity to help get that message out to clients and professionals in the broader construction market.
Lancashire-based Stone UK, a specialist supplier of newly quarried and reclaimed natural English stone for building and paving, has received £100,000 follow-on investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).
NPIF is an initiative launched by the government-owned British Business Bank, supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme and the European Investment Bank.
NPIF is a key part of the government’s ‘Northern Powerhouse’ plan to increase prosperity in the North of England. It aims to achieve that by providing finance to support small and medium sized businesses through the NPIF. The British Business Bank operates through intermediaries, and in the case of Stone UK that was NPIF–FW Capital Debt Finance, which is managed by FW Capital.
Stone UK, in Preston, has worked with many high-profile clients, including providing reclaimed Yorkstone for both the Sandringham Estate and Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.
Stone UK will use the NPIF–FW Capital funding to support ongoing growth, including new product lines and the creation of four new jobs.
The investment is the second round of FW Capital funding for Stone UK. It follows on from a £250,000 loan in 2017. The deal was facilitated by FW Capital Portfolio Executive Alistair Igo, who says: “Stone UK is a long-established business with an impressive turnover and client list and an unparalleled reputation for quality. Since our first investment in the business in 2017, Stone UK has continued to go from strength-to-strength. We are delighted to have been able to offer this follow-on funding to continue to support Stone UK’s growth ambitions and create new jobs.”
David Evans, Stone UK Director, says: “Our team of skilled stonemasons use their expertise to create a wide range of stunning, timeless pieces. We love seeing the visual impact our stonework can have on a building project and are proud to be able to offer a natural material that stands the test of time.
“The funding from NPIF-FW Capital will allow us to create four new jobs and continue to grow our business. We have found NPIF-FW Capital to be an extremely helpful funding partner, with a straightforward and efficient process in place to help us get the investment we need. We are really grateful for the support we received.”
Sean Hutchinson at the British Business Bank, says: “We are pleased to see NPIF continuing to support business communities in the North with vital funding. This latest round of investment will make a measurable impact to Stone UK’s services, helping to grow the team and meet market demand. Supporting ambitious growing businesses like Stone UK with the correct financial support is key to bringing economic growth across the region.”
Debbie Francis, OBE, who chairs the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, a collaboration of businesses, universities and local authorities aiming to direct economic growth and create jobs in Lancashire, comments: "It’s fantastic to see another Lancashire-based company will be able to realise its growth goals and create more jobs in the region thanks to the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. Stone UK is a successful business with an impressive client list and high-quality product sourced from our stunning Lancashire landscape. I wish them the best of luck with the next stage of their growth plans.”
FW Capital provides loans of between £100,000 and £750,000 to businesses based in the Northern Powerhouse region, with a focus on the North West, Cumbria and Tees Valley.
It will be fascinating to get back to a fully functioning Cersaie this year following last year’s diminished event. Held in the shadow of Covid-19, Cersaie 2021 saw its audience fall by around 50% – with few visitors from large tile markets such as USA, Australia, and China – so it could not fully exploit its recent investment in new halls and features.
What’s more, when the show opens for business on 26 September, the impact on the tile sector of the war in Ukraine, the global market changes caused by the Covid pandemic, and the spiralling energy costs can finally be judged at first hand.
In 2021 it was clear that design trends, reinforced by significant advances in tile production technology, had changed Cersaie’s DNA. Over the past three decades, it had become, primarily, a floor tile show, with wall tiles and other tile-related products and services playing second fiddle.
While most exhibitors are, as ever, keeping their cards close to their chests, it is already clear that this year’s Cersaie will be, in effect, four or five tile shows in one.
Italy retains it’s technological and aesthetic leadership in floor tiles, so it is no surprise that Bologna remains the premier catwalk for the latest floor tile fashions. But I am also anticipating this year a host of exciting and exuberant wall tile designs, reflecting the renaissance of interest in small formats, glaze effects, patterns, geometric shapes, and surface relief.
Another key area – and one that seems to grow every year – is 20mm and 30mm tiles for external applications – it is one of the product categories to have benefitted most from the working at home movement.
Many of the recent introductions in this market sector have drawn inspiration from European tile heritage, with faithful reworkings of artisanal tiles from Italy, Spain, and Portugal sitting alongside faux Morocco encaustics and other facsimiles of long-lived favourites.
Cersaie 2022 will also shine a spotlight on the burgeoning porcelain slab market. With a number of tile-based brands now enjoying a growing share of the worktop sector we can expect to see more manufacturers making a pitch for slabs to be used as ceramic wallpaper, bespoke murals, tunnel linings, book- and end-matched stone-effect feature walls, furniture facings, and much more.
With advance publicity hinting at air-purifying and self-cleaning tiles, tile-covered raised access floors, ventilated mechanically-fixed ceramic façades, and adhesive-fixed ceramic cladding, Cersaie 2022 promises to be a particularly diverse event. With sections covering shipping and transport, construction chemicals, display systems, underlays and substrates and installation aids, there will be plenty to keep the anticipated audience of more than 100,000 fully engaged.
Fresh features
Cersaie Upstairs – a walkway connecting Galleries 21/22 and 25/26 – is a new feature this year. Hosting contract design firms, it is intended to offer visitors a new sensorial, relational, and cultural experience, plus the chance to take part in recreational and culinary activities. The space is inspired by the classic elements: air, water, earth and fire.
Gallery 21/22 will host the third edition of Archicont(r)act. Aimed at the world of architecture and contract design, it features six major architecture firms: Lombardini 22, Pininfarina, One Works, Noa, Iosa Ghini Associati, and Handel Architects.
Each is assigned a portal where visitors can explore the firm’s projects and philosophy through augmented reality experiences curated by Vection Technologies.
For those with a more hands-on approach, the 10th Tiling Town will feature professional training events, practical demonstrations, a web radio, and a space devoted to women.
Tiling Town’s technical seminars on slab laying will be held in a permanent conference area and will consist of two hours of classroom sessions and two hours of practical experience in the installation workshop.
Another initiative is Tiling Town Matinées, a series of daily tile installation events organised by Assoposa’s technical partners of Fila, Mapei and Raimondi.
Spotlight on sustainability
I am anticipating this year will see a detailed and fact-led focus on sustainability. Given the all-too evident impact of global warming and faced with an urgent need to reduce energy use and mitigate other environmental impacts, the ceramic tile sector has really embraced the green agenda. Water-recycling, energy co-generation, waste-heat recovery, packaging reduction and lightweight products are to the fore.
We have just seen the launch of ‘The Ceramics of Italy for Sustainability’ communication campaign, with a video created by Milan-based agency Muse Factory of Projects being posted on ceramica.info. The campaign communicates the efforts and achievements in the field of sustainability made by the Italian ceramic industry. The launch video ends with a call to action, an invitation to visit the ceramica.info website to discover Italian ceramics at Cersaie 2022.
Many will be banging an eco-drum!
Company highlights
As I said, few of the leading tile manufacturers are giving much away in the run up to the show, preferring to unveil their latest designs in Bologna. In years past, many factories used Cersaie as a sounding board for outlandish new designs, showing laboratory-created prototypes alongside new, full production ranges. Today, with the shift towards just-in-time production, clay shortages brought on by the war in Ukraine, and rising transport costs, I am anticipating that fewer of these design kites will be flown, with manufacturers preferring to offer a carefully selected array of proven new products.
My selection of new designs includes a new inside-out collection, called Crete, from Cerdomus. This cotto-effect porcelain range comes in seven earth tones: Terracotta, Rame, Bronzo, Oro, Cobalto, Piombo and Zirconio. It is offered in three thicknesses, and 10 formats up to 1200mm x 2800mm.
Crete Bronzo from Cerdomus.
The collection includes a selection of mosaic and decor options for intricate and intriguing floor and wall designs.
From Ceramica Bardelli comes Tiles (R)evolution, designed in collaboration with Seletti. It is a playful and expressive collection from one of the sector’s fashion leaders.
(R)evolution Distortion by Ceramica Bardelli.
Drawing inspiration from water, sky, geometric patterns and mirrored surfaces, the collection is available in five styles: Clouds, Water, Diamond, Black & White and Distortion. They are designed to be mixed and matched to give architects and interior designers free rein in artistic expression.
Entice is a new collection from Atlas Concorde. Inspired by the beauty and charm of oak, with its diverse, natural veins and knots, this porcelain tile range comes in four warm shades and a variety of plank formats. It is ideal for creating contemporary indoor-outdoor designs.
Astrum by Supergres blends classic materials and contemporary design. This striking series is available in six elegant shades and finishes for a fresh, contemporary take on travertine that evokes romantic images of a luxury Italian villa. These porcelain tiles come in four formats up to 1200mm x 1200mm with matt or grip finishes, and 9mm or 20mm thick. Again, Astrum is suitable for indoor or outdoor installations.
Astrum Light Vein by Supergres.
For the contract sector, Ceramiche Piemme presents Opus, which is clearly inspired by cocciopesto, a material that characterises the architecture of the Mediterranean.
Abandoning the classic red shades for more contemporary neutral colours of concrete, ranging from the light Opus Album to the darker Opus Griseo, the typical grain size of the cement agglomerates is faithful to the original to create a texture enriched by glossy inclusions on a matt background.
One of the interior themes I expect to see more of at Cersaie is captured by Memorie by Sartoria, a Terratinta Group brand. This is an exploration of materials, upholstery, and colour, a sort of journey into memory, although the study of 14 bright, bold colours project it towards the future. With a 65mm x 130mm brick format that harks back to the artisan ceramic tradition, the gloss glaze embellishes this vintage vibe, offering new nuances and subtle shading via digital technology. I think this will be just one example at Cersaie 2022 of how new vintage concept tiles can be used in modern design to look forward by looking back.
Cersaie Digital: a virtual venue
The final thing to note about the forthcoming show is Cersaie Digital. With features such as an exhibitor catalogue, a business matching service and a congress centre, Cersaie’s new digital platform allows professionals to meet up and do business remotely. It includes a 3D map of the site and a virtual flight over the exhibition centre.
Online from 19 September to 7 October, it is intended to be an integrated business matching platform that allows visitors to plan the time they spend at the exhibition and find new commercial partners, either with face-to-face meetings or by meeting online.
History comes alive when you can touch it and feel it, and much of what is left to be touched and felt is what our ancestors built in stone. It helps define nationality, which is why the built heritage is culturally so significant.
This year marks the 1,900th anniversary of the 73 mile (117km) long wall built from coast to coast across the north of England by the Roman emperor Hadrian.
It was built from the stone readily available in Northumberland. With its network of forts, it was to protect the northern frontier of the Roman empire.
Even people who have never been north of Watford have heard of Hadrian’s Wall, and lots of people do go north to visit it every year.
That, of course, is one of the reasons heritage is considered important in a world that tends to measure importance by the financial return assets offer.
But it is not the only reason. Heritage also plays a significant role in creating a sense of nation and giving people an idea of belonging to something that stretches back into history.
The various significances of the built heritage, beyond the simple preservation of buildings and remains, are explicitly acknowledged by many of the organisations that lead the way in protecting the country’s heritage.
In 2018, £2million of National Lottery money was allocated to Hadrian’s Wall and the lesser known Antonine Wall, built by Hadrian’s successor as Roman Emperor, Antoninus Pius, to mark what was briefly the northern limit of the Roman Empire as it expanded into what is now Scotland.
The lottery money was allocated to help train a volunteer army to survey and carry out repairs to Hadrian’s Wall and fund a campaign to locate its missing stones, taken from the wall during the 1,500 years after the Romans withdrew from Britain. It has turned up in local houses, farms, field walls, and churches.
The funding was also intended to address a lack of awareness about the Antonine Wall, started 20 years after Hadrian’s Wall, with £980,600 of the lottery cash allocated to a programme of 30 community-designed projects in the five local authorities that the route of the wall now passes through.
This year’s celebrations to mark the 1,900th anniversary since the beginning of the building of Hadrian’s wall sees English Heritage, along with the wider Hadrian’s Wall partnership, celebrating the history represented by the wall, which is now part of the transnational UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
The Hadrian’s Wall celebrations began on Emperor Hadrian’s birthday (24 January) this year and will culminate with Saturnalia (17-23 December). They include events at Chesters and Birdoswald and a new exhibition at Corbridge Roman Town.
On behalf of the Hadrian’s Wall Partnership, English Heritage received a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to distribute to local communities in packages of between £250 and £5,000 to get them involved in the celebrations. The grants programme is administered by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums in partnership with English Heritage on behalf of the Hadrian’s Wall Partnership. Applications for grants are open until the end of September (see 1900.hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/get-involved/community-grants/).
Involving a wider audience
Historic England said in its latest annual report: “The regeneration of heritage assets is recognised as a key catalyst in realising the Government’s Levelling Up strategy. It can address regional inequalities, provide training and employment opportunities, help nurture skills and contribute towards tackling the climate crisis.”
The broadening social and policy-leading role of the sector is redefining it, and the changing face of heritage has also this year seen the National Lottery Heritage Fund engage the wider heritage sector and the public in deciding its future direction.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) invited those in the industry and anyone interested in heritage to give it their opinions on what should be included in its next 10-year strategy.
Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “As the UK’s largest funder of heritage, it’s important that we understand and collaborate with you – those who know the sector and the people it serves – on how we continue to invest in heritage and ensure it is maintained and valued now and in the future.”
The National Lottery Heritage Fund also ran a second UK Heritage Pulse survey, focusing on organisational resilience, sustainability, recruitment, and staffing, in conjunction with Historic England and heritage partners across the UK.
UK Heritage Pulse is a project to collect the views and experiences of the UK’s heritage sector to help influence the Heritage Fund’s work.
If you want to add your voice to UK Heritage Pulse, you can register to see the full results of the surveys, and take part in future surveys and quickfire polls on live topics for the sector at heritagepulse.insights-alliance.com.
The first UK Heritage Pulse survey was carried out in February, when Covid was still very much on people’s minds even though restrictions in England had just been lifted. In Northern Ireland the restrictions were lifted half-way through the month-long survey period, while in Scotland and Wales restrictions were in place throughout.
The Heritage Fund asked the industry about its level of confidence, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, including on staffing, and its strategic priorities. It concluded from the 230 completed and 47 partially completed responses that the sector was resilient to the pandemic, even though Covid had presented economic challenges, largely due to the loss of visitors. Concerns remained over staffing and the uncertainty of the economic climate.
While 9% of respondents said they had not been affected by Covid-19 restrictions, 72% had experienced event, booking and order cancellations, and 75% had had to deal with staff or volunteer absences. Recruitment of specialist staff had been so challenging for 40% of respondents that it had affected their operations during the previous six months.
Diminished risk
However, in a marked change from a different survey carried out in 2020, most respondents (84%) felt the risk from another Covid-19 wave like Omicron would be low or moderate.
Financial and organisational resilience was high among the list of respondents’ strategic priorities, although what came out as most important was contributing to a sense of place and community.
Anne Young, Director of Strategy and Innovation at the Heritage Fund said: “The UK’s heritage sector has faced its gravest threat since the Second World War over the past two years. To know that organisations are emerging confident and with a stronger financial outlook is good news. But it’s also clear that our respondents face challenges to achieving their ambitions in the current economic climate. This survey gives us invaluable insight into those issues and how we might be able to help.”
The views from the surveys are feeding into the long-term organisational strategy of the Heritage Fund.
Although the impact of Covid is receding fast, it was significant for the heritage sector because most sites had to close and even those that didn’t saw visitor numbers decline.
The National Trust put some figures on the size of that impact in its annual report that was published in December.
The National Trust has an annual income of some £600million, more than 50,000 volunteers and 10,000 staff. It cares for more than 500 historic houses, castles, parks, and gardens that between them have more than a million items in their collections. The Trust owns around 250,000 hectares of land and 780 miles of coastline. It ended the year 2020/’21 with 5.4million members, a loss of more than 500,000, in spite of offering payment holidays and not increasing the cost of membership.
However, income from membership in 2021 was £267.6million. That was £2.1million less than in 2020, but £24million more than it had been in 2019.
But because premises closed and the Trust lost its visitors, it was calculated that Covid would lead to a loss in operating income of £200million. It was able to save £41.8million in non-staff costs and a further £114million by immediately stopping many of its projects and all but essential conservation work. The Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (‘furlough’) enabled it to relieve the loss of income while retaining staff members, but there were job losses.
It reduced staff numbers by 1,767 from an overall headcount of 12,389. There were 845 voluntary and 922 compulsory redundancies, reducing ongoing staff costs by £52.7million, although at a cost of £19.8million in redundancy payments. The job losses returned the number of people employed to its 2013 level.
In total, the charity managed to save £197million of its planned spend to mitigate against what turned out to be £213million of reduced income in 202/’21. There will be an on-going annual reduction in costs of £94.5million.
The Board of Trustees said in its annual report: “The actions that we took, alongside the signs of recovery that we have seen in recent months, give us confidence in the long-term sustainability of the organisation.”
In spite of the Covid restrictions, the pay-to-enter Trust sites had 13.6million visitors in 2020-’21, thanks to the rapid introduction of a booking system alongside comprehensive Covid-safe processes. Nevertheless, it was less than half the number of visitors it had welcomed in 2019-’20.
Ahead of the pandemic, in January 2020, the National Trust had announced a goal to reach net-zero carbon by 2030, committing to emissions cuts across its operations as well as ensuring its land maximises its potential to capture and store carbon.
In 2020/’21 it cut its carbon emissions by 30% but Covid played a big part in that.
It was the final year of the Trust’s 10-year energy strategy aimed at reducing overall energy use and switching half of its fossil fuel use to renewables. It fell short of the target (it achieved 44% from renewables)but believes it will reach it this year and continues to strive to achieve its net-zero carbon goal by 2030. The Trust has more than 100 renewable energy projects up and running, including hydropower, solar power, heat pump energy and biomass boilers.
The National Trust is not alone in tackling climate change issues, and the reduction in the use of fossil fuels will only be hastened by the rise in gas oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Less waste
Another National Trust target is a reduction in waste, which includes tackling significant amounts of litter and fly-tipping. Litter takes its toll on wildlife and nature, and is expensive to clear up. Additional support and training has been given to staff to help manage the problem.
The Trust has an ambition to plant 18,000 hectares of new woodland, which is steadily gaining momentum, and in Stroud, Gloucestershire, it worked with partners such as the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the Woodland Trust, as well as 24 local landowners, to create new wildlife habitats and corridors as part of a larger landscape project to increase biodiversity.
It is being supported by the Green Recovery Challenge Fund to deliver £3.8million of projects at some of its estates and this year it has also received £6.2million from the Hamish Ogston Foundation for a new Heritage Crafts Apprenticeship programme.
The Hamish Ogston Foundation Heritage Crafts Apprenticeship Programme, which starts as this issue of Natural Stone Specialist is posted in September, offers 52 apprenticeships in stonemasonry or carpentry & joinery. They will result in either a level 2 or level 3 qualification through the government’s formal Trailblazer apprenticeship scheme and will be followed by a year’s work placement arranged by the National Trust.
The Hamish Ogston Foundation has also given £2.3million to the Cathedral Workshops Fellowship to continue its training in traditional skills.
The story has been similar across the heritage sector. At English Heritage, for example, which cares for more than 400 buildings, monuments and sites that are normally visited by around 10million people a year, saw visitor numbers drop in 2020-’21 to 1.9million. Membership recruitment fell to 182,000 from 372,000 in 2019-20. Its 753,000 membership renewals was 0.5% down on forecast. Income fell to £99.8million from £126.9million in 2019-’20, which included £35.4million from grants, Covid-19 support programmes and a subsidy from Historic England.
For Historic England, which split from English Heritage seven years ago, the Covid period was busy as it helped support the sector.
It adjusted its short-term priorities during the Covid lockdowns and restrictions to divert resources to provide emergency support, with its 200 members of staff distributing relief though the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
It worked with the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver more than £126million to 785 organisations and, through the Heritage Stimulus Fund, awarding almost £53million for capital repairs to over 800 historic sites.
It launched the £95million High Streets Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) programme, supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) in its Culture & Heritage Capital Framework. That is intended to provide one universally accepted standard for measuring the social and economic impact of the nation’s cultural and heritage assets. Historic England convened the Heritage Sector Climate Change Forum, which published a Joint Heritage Sector Statement on Climate Change. It says it is determined to provide practical solutions to assist the custodians of historic buildings to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency.
Information technology
And it learnt that moving training programmes online reached a wider audience than live events, with 10,000 people watching 83 online training events as they took place and a further 25,700 views of recordings of them. As a result, Historic England continues to present training online.
There were also more than 10million visits to its website – its highest ever audience.
The heritage sector continues to be important and influential and the stone industry makes a vital contribution to the preservation of the built heritage and its continuing relevance.
Heritage is about so much more than just preserving existing structures, as the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery ably demonstrates.
The wing was designed as an extension to the National Gallery by post-modernist architect Robert Venturi and built in 1991.
It followed the rejection of an earlier design that was famously described by the Prince of Wales as “a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”. The ‘friend’ was the Portland limestone National Gallery that was opened in 1838 in Trafalgar Square, a site chosen deliberately to be egalitarian – it could be reached by the rich driving in carriages from the west of London and on foot by the poor from the East End.
And now, as part of a project called ‘NG200: Welcome’ to celebrate the bicentenary of the National Gallery in 2024, changes are proposed to the Sainsbury Wing.
Why is 2024 the bicentenary? Because it was in 1824 that Parliament decided to create a national collection of paintings by buying the 38 in the collection of banker John Julius Angerstein. The pictures were displayed in his house at 100 Pall Mall until the National Gallery was built.
Changes to the Sainsbury Wing proposed as part of NG200 are shown in the computer generated illustration on the left. A world-class architectural team led by Selldorf Architects and Purcell Architects has been appointed for the project and a planning application to make the changes has now been submitted.
The proposals include a more welcoming entrance, with queuing brought inside, out of the weather, in a newly configured vestibule with lighter coloured gates.
More natural light is brought into the main foyer by replacing dark glass and removing parts of the dark ceiling to create a better sense of openness. There is clearer wayfinding and access to the main stairs, lifts, amenities and gallery spaces above.
New seating, paving and trees will also be added to the public spaces outside the Gallery on Trafalgar Square and Jubilee Walk between Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square will be made more accessible.
But it was felt more could be done to encourage more diversity. It also wanted to contribute to Net Zero CO2 emissions.
Social inclusivity and environmental objectives are central issues of the heritage sector, and for NG200 this means changing and adapting the buildings to make them easier for more people to access and move around, while respecting the special architectural and historic character of the buildings and reducing carbon emissions at the same time as ensuring the art and buildings are conserved for future generations.
Cumbrian Stone in Penrith, Cumbria, has increased productivity with machinery and computers and is sharing the benefits with staff by reducing its working week to four days.
The idea of Friday POETS days is not exactly new and many companies have condensed a 40-hour working week into four days. But Cumbrian Stone says its employees will be working fewer hours with the company making up their pay so they receive what they would normally earn in a five-day week.
It says it has always had a generous salary package reviewed annually. “All of our employees have benefited from a pay increase almost every year since we started and our current pay rates are, and will continue to remain, well above the national living wage in order to help our employees with the rising costs of inflation,” says Sales & Marketing Manager Sam Morris.
The company employs 10 people in its factory and four in its offices. It says they have always worked long hours – 7am to 5.30pm with half-an-hour for lunch and 15-minute breaks morning and afternoon. But the company felt they were working too much, given the physical nature of stone production, so it decided the best way to combat this was to give them all a three-day weekend.
The new working week begins on 3 October and is introduced for a six-month trial, although Sam Morris says Cumbrian Stone does not expect to go back to a five-day week at the end of six months.
Cumbrian Stone expects to be leading the way in a new way of working that it anticipates could spread throughout the stone industry and to other industries in the years ahead.
In France, when working hours were reduced by the government, productivity and output increased. Cumbrian Stone is hoping for a similar outcome. “We’re quite excited to see how it all pans out,” says Sam.
He adds: “The company wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the work the guys have put in. They built the company up from scratch. It’s a blooming hard industry with heavy materials and they work hard.”
The company was formed in 2006 and some of the people working there have been there since the beginning.
“We like to do things differently,” says Sam, “and always like to put ourselves at the forefront of innovation and change within the natural stone industry.”
Cumbrian Stone concedes that some people will say it’s crazy to cut the working week to four days and will wonder why a manufacturing business would want to pay the same amount for fewer hours worked? Surely, they will say, a four-day week will harm production, put prices up and reduce the level of service? But Cumbrian Stone is questioning that orthodoxy.
During the past decade the company has invested heavily in new technology and machinery, developing its own computer programmes and equipping with GMM CNC saws and a Donatoni Quadrix CNC workcentre, improving processes and efficiency levels.
This has allowed it to drive up production levels significantly without needing to increase the number of people working there. At the same time prices have remained competitive and the company is known for the high quality of stonework it supplies.
Sam: “These efficiency improvements mean we’re confident we can maintain our current production levels in terms of both volume and quality while operating over four days rather than five, meaning there’s no increase in price or loss of service to our customers.
“Our team will continue to deliver an industry-beating turn around on new enquires and we’re 100% committed to ensuring that our lead times for our natural stone products still come in faster than the industry standard.
“So why not simply pocket the additional profits from these efficiency savings and keep operating over five days? The blunt answer is… because our employees deserve the rewards for their hard work!
“We firmly believe that our stonemasons and sawyers are some of the best in the industry, and our team has given 110% to building Cumbrian Stone into the success it is today.
"However, the last few years have shown all of us that there’s far more to life than just work, and with the work-life balance being debated more and more we decided to help our team make the most of their well-earned salaries by making every weekend a three-day weekend (because who doesn’t want a Thursday to be the new Friday?).”
Cumbrian Stone believes longer resting and recovery times during busier periods will increase employee happiness and, combined with job security, should make working at the company an even more attractive prospect to aid recruitment – and many companies are finding it hard to recruit people to the stone industry.
Cumbrian Stone is also keen to explore the benefits the shorter working week will bring to the company’s carbon footprint – a factor that is increasingly influencing developers and designers when specifying natural stone on their projects.
Because everyone is having a four-day week, the showroom on Gilwilly Industrial Estate will only be open Mondays to Thursdays, but Cumbrian Stone says customers can take a virtual tour of its premises on its website.
It showed its level of sophistication with the use of technology at the Natural Stone Show in London last time, when it had a virtual reality headset that allowed visitors to explore its premises in Penrith without leaving ExCeL, where the Show is held.
For more information about how Cumbrian Stone’s award-winning natural stonemasonry is used, opportunities to join its team and how the company can benefit clients, developers, architects and designers, email sales@cumbrianstone.co.uk or call 01768 867867. Or, if you are nearby Monday to Thursday, 8am to 5pm, call into the showroom on Gilwilly Industrial Estate, Penrith.
