Two companies that pleaded guilty in July to health & safety offences in Ireland, which resulted in two men drowning when the cage they were attached to fell into the River Shannon at Limerick City, have been fined €225,000 by the Circuit Court in Limerick.

Directors of the two companies admitted the offences when they appeared before the court in July (read that report here). Judge Tom O’Donnell said then it would be inappropriate to deliver an immediate judgment after hearing a significant amount of evidence and “deeply poignant” victim impact statements. He adjourned sentencing to 7 October.

Now the verdict has been delivered.

The men who died were Brian Whelan, a 29-year-old father-of-two who lived at O'Briensbridge in Co Clare, and Timothy O'Herlihy, 36, from Castleisland, Co Kerry.

The incident that led to their deaths took place on 29 August 2015. They were carrying out maintenance work on Thomond Bridge and were harnessed to a steel cage platform suspended by a crane over the river when the cage fell into river, trapping both men underwater. A third man escaped.

In July the court had heard how a crane was mounted on a flat-bed lorry on the bridge with an extendable telescopic winch that held the cage by a wire cable. A safety mechanism preventing weight overloading on the crane had failed, resulting in “unbearable stress” on the wire cable holding the cage. The cable snapped and the cage fell into the river with the three men harnessed to it.

Luke Carbery, from Palfinger Ireland Ltd, based in Tullamore, Co Offaly, and Nationwide Crane Hire Director Brendan Rainsford, based at Dock Road, Co Limerick, pleaded guilty on behalf of the companies to breaches of the Health & Safety Act.

Palfinger had supplied the winch crane involved in the incident to Nationwide in 2003, but the court heard that the crane’s user manual was missing a chapter on the importance of frequent testing of the crane’s overload protection system.

Palfinger pleaded guilty to having failed to take steps to ensure Nationwide was provided with adequate information about the crane and its operation to ensure it would be safe in use.

Nationwide pleaded guilty to failing to ensure people employed by it were not exposed to risks to their safety, health and welfare.

On 7 October Judge Tom O'Donnell fined Nationwide Crane Hire €200,000 and Palfinger Ireland €25,000. The fines are to be paid during the next 12 months.

Outside the court, solicitor Sean Fitzgerald read a statement from John and Margaret Whelan, Brian Whelan’s parents. They were unhappy it had taken seven years to reach a verdict and said: "While the fines handed down confirm the fatal injuries to our son were caused by the defendants, that is of little consolation for the loss of our son.” They said they would continue with civil proceedings, where the defendants still had not admitted liability.

Mark Cullen, Assistant CEO of the Health & Safety Authority (HSA), stated: "The provision of plant and equipment that is maintained and safe to operate is of the utmost importance in carrying out any work activity.

"It is critically important that all safety devices and protection systems that are on the equipment are maintained and in good working order to protect the persons who have to operate and use the plant and equipment.

"As can be seen in this particular incident, failure to do so can lead to tragic outcomes."  

Lovell Stone Group has successfully acquired the freehold of Hartham Park Bath Stone mine in Corsham, Wiltshire.

Lovell says owning the land and the mineral rights gives the Group confidence to continue to invest in the mine and continue to develop it to ensure the long term future and security of this historically important British stone.

Hartham Park has 100 acres of consented reserve underground containing more than 900,000 tonnes of high-quality Bath Stone, including Hartham Ground Stone, Box Ground and the recently developed T2 Base Bed and T4 Bed, from which come some of the most durable Bath Stones on the market.

Simon Hart, the Managing Director of Lovell Stone Group, says Hartham Park is the oldest of the still operational Bath Stone mines. He says: "Since we took over the lease in 2016 we have invested heavily in state-of-the-art equipment and in the infrastructure, including a new drive-in / drive-out shaft."

New product ranges have also been developed from the high quality dimensional block stone, including flooring, building stone and aggregates.

"This acquisition of the freehold and mineral reserves enables us to provide continuity of supply and ensure that the stone is competitively priced in the market,” says Simon.

Bath Stone is one of the best known British stones. It is widely used on projects ranging from smaller residential schemes to mansions, commercial and retail developments, churches and buildings of historic value.

Hartham Park Bath Stone is a fine-grained, high-quality limestone that has enhanced the landscape of Bath and further afield in the UK throughout the decades.

The mine was previously owned by David Pollard, who died unexpectedly in 2017. A book he wrote about Bath Stone, called Digging Bath Stone, was published posthumously. You can read a review of it here.

If you would like samples of the Hartham Park Bath Stone or more information about it, send James Hart an email on j.hart@lovellstone.com.

The winner of this year’s Memorial Design Award, sponsored by the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons (BRAMM), is Scott Taylor from Wareham, who receives a £1,000 cash prize along with his Gold Winner’s Certificate and a press release to use to gain publicity for his achievement.

There were also two Highly Commended entries from Stonemasons of Worcester and Craig Price Monuments, as well as nine that received a Silver Award.

The free-to-enter national competition gives memorial masons the opportunity to showcase their work in this category of the Cemetery of the Year Awards. This year's winners ably demonstrate a growing trend towards the use of British stones, especially as rustic memorials, being seen across the country.

Philip Potts of MAB and the CYA says: “The Memorial Design Award is a relatively new category in the Cemetery of the Year Awards competition and open to any memorial already erected in a cemetery or churchyard within the past five years. The entries are marked on their innovation, personalisation and originality by a team from BRAMM, which sponsors this category. The Awards are an excellent opportunity to reward and demonstrate the central role memorial masons and cemeteries can play in the community."

The entries were judged by a team of memorial masons and Burial Authority Association representatives from BRAMM in conjunction with the Cemetery of the Year Award (CYA) committee.

Gold Award winner Scott Taylor has been a mason for more than 40 years, specialising in banker work, carving and sculpture.

He started his career in stonemasonry making memorials, but as more were being imported he switched to building masonry 15 years ago. However, he says he still loves hand-crafted memorial masonry and enjoys making memorials when he receives commissions for a stone like the one commemorating Sheilah Machen that gained him first prize in this year's Memorial Design Award.

Scott believes the environmental cost of a memorial is worthy of consideration and the use of indigenous materials have a lower carbon footprint than those imported from the Far East. He says Burial Authorities should encourage the use of British stones with incentives such as reduced fees for using local materials.

Scott’s winning design is produced in Purbeck Stone. He has kept the stone in a rustic state to avoid the constraint of having to adhere to the rigid dimensions of a standard size memorial.

He says the river washed natural boulder look gives the dimensional freedom to use the material to its best advantage.

The Highly Commended Silver Awards also went to distinctive, individual memorials.

Craig Price Monuments were initially given a brief from a customer, Mrs Crowley, for a memorial worthy of her late husband.

The first job was to source the stone. They wanted it to be 'rough around the edges' Welsh slate, but despite working with several quarries could not find exactly what they were looking for. So Mrs Crowley decided to look into Pennant stone from Gwrhyd Specialist Stone Quarry in Swansea.

She had a clear picture in her mind of what she wanted. She visited the quarry and chose a stone. Despite the sad circumstances, she enjoyed her day at the quarry and says Commercial Director Michael Walton was exceptionally helpful. After completion of the memorial, Mrs Crowley kept in touch with all involved.

Now Craig Price Monuments had the stone, work began on transforming it into a fitting tribute. It had to be cut down to a size permitted in the cemetery, the 'waste' later becoming garden ornaments, one featuring the same 'serch bythol' symbol that had been carved on to the headstone. It is a Celtic knot symbolising everlasting love and eternal bonding.

The stone is in Maesyrarian Cemetery in Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Cara Hake at Craig Price Memorials says: "We were honoured to be trusted to create such a unique and precious memorial and something quite unlike anything we have ever done before." 

Craig Price, who carved the stone, said after receiving the Award: “This Award is a huge achievement for us as we work exceptionally hard to achieve the perfect tribute with each individual memorial.”

The other Highly Commended Silver Award from Stonemasons of Worcester came about as a commission from Billy’s Mum. She had initially wanted to plant a tree on Billy’s grave but Malvern Cemetery would not permit this, so she visited Stonemasons of Worcester. She explained what she had initially wanted and Director Zoe Adams suggested a tree could be carved in natural stone.

Billy’s Mum loved the idea of a hand carved tree design that she could help create. She said she wanted a Rowan tree because Rowan was the middle name of her son. Coincidentally, it is also the name of the head stonemason at Stonemasons of Worcester. Billy's Mum also wanted stars and a heart to illustrate the wording provided by the family. Rowan (the stonemason) sketched up two designs and Billy’s Mum finalised the design for the stone.

The memorial was carved in Portland limestone, chosen for its durability and brightness.

Zoe Adams says: "Billy’s Mum was involved every step of the way. We even invited her in to carve some of the tree trunk and she absolutely loved being part of the creative process for her son. I shared the news with her when we won the Award and she simply said that it made her heart sing."

Natural Stone Specialist and the Natural Stone Show from London were back in Verona at the end of September sharing a stand at the major European stone exhibition of Marmo+Mac. There is nothing to beat face-to-face meetings and actually seeing and touching stone and equipment, and there were a fair number of visitors from the UK at the exhibition this time, judging by the number we saw.

The show itself was still a little smaller than it had been for many years pre-pandemic but remains Europe’s pre-eminent gathering of the world of stone.

In Verona, the UK agents of the machinery companies exhibiting were all in good spirits and happy to see customers and potential customers from the British Isles, including a delegation from Stone Federation Great Britain and members of the Worktop Fabricators Federation.

The exhibition organisers said the 10 halls that the exhibition filled this time hosted 1,207 exhibitors from 48 countries, including Italy. The number of exhibitors was less than pre-pandemic, especially of non-Italian exhibitors, although exhibitors from outside Italy still accounted for 60% of the total in spite of notably fewer from China, where cities are still being locked down to combat Covid-19, and Russia and Ukraine.

The show never gets many exhibitors from the UK but Portland limestone mining company Albion Stone has become a regular and was back again this time after deciding not to attend last year’s hesitant restart of Marmo+Mac, hampered by Covid precautions at the show itself and on aeroplanes for getting to and from it.

Apart from the stand of Natural Stone Specialist magazine and the Natural Stone Show in London, which has even greater relevance to British buyers and those who want to sell to them now Britain has left the European Union, UK exhibitors were LPE Group (including Laser Products Europe), Integra Adhesives, and slab supplier UK Solmar in conjunction with Italian parent CMP Solmar.

Stone Industry Group (SiG) also had the British-made Trolex Air XS devise that measures levels of crystalline silica in the air in real time on the Turrini Claudio stand (SiG sells Turrini Claudio water recycling and dust suppression systems in the UK and America).

The dates of the show had changed this time so it ran from Tuesday 27 September to Friday 30 September. Previously it has ended on a Saturday, although Saturdays have tended to be for local consumers, bumping up visitor numbers but not adding much, if anything, to most exhibitors' satisfaction.

The organisers say there were 47,000 visitors to Marmo+Mac this year – that’s 50% up on last year with 97% more from overseas at 28,200. That’s not back to the 60,000-plus visitors the shows regularly had before the pandemic, but exhibitors seemed generally satisfied.

Maurizio Danese, CEO of Veronafiere said: "Marmomac this year has witnessed an impressive quantitative and qualitative return of operators from target countries such as the United States, Brazil, India and Turkey."

The Stone Theatre usually in Hall 1, was this time called the Plus Theatre and was in Hall 10, while Hall 1 remained closed. The Theatre shows the concepts of top designers created in stone by Italian stone companies using sophisticated Italian CNC machinery to show what it is possible to achieve in stone when imagination, fabricating skills and technology work in harmony.

Marmo+Mac 2022 also saw the launch of a new green approach for the Italian natural stone supply chain with the presentation of a 10-point plan called (translated to English) the Authentic Natural Stone Sustainability Manifesto, signed by companies belonging to the Pietra Naturale Autentica (PNA) network, which was formed by 60 companies in 2020 under the Presidency of Stefano Ghirardi. Veronafiere is a member of PNA.

Under the slogan ‘no fakes, natural stone is better’ PNA is an international effort to use the collective strength of the participants to get the stone message out to architects and other specifiers, particularly those in the UK and the USA.

The Sustainability Manifesto is an environmental declaration for natural stone products, involving a commitment by companies in the sector to adopt a certified and circular production cycle to ensure increasingly lower environmental impact affecting water use and air pollution, including CO2 emission levels.

Following Marmo+Mac in Verona, the activities of exhibitors will continue to be promoted on the Marmomac Plus virtual portal, developed as a response to Covid in 2020 when the live show in Verona could not be held. Marmo+Mac Plus continues 365 days a year to maintain the momentum of the exhibition until it returns to the Verona fairground next year, 26-29 September 2023.

Pictured below is some of the British (and other) involvement at Marmo+Mac this year, followed by a video summary of the event.

There is a quick tour of some of the highlights at Marmo+Mac in the video below.

The QMJ Group, the company behind The Natural Stone Show, has contracted Joe Simpson as consultant to help drive the development of Hard Surfaces, the show that runs alongside the Natural Stone Show at ExCeL in London, the next of which is 6-8 June next year.

Joe is the Founding Editor of The Specifier’s Guide to Ceramic Tile & Natural Stone, Tile UK, and Tile & Stone Journal. He is also the voice behind www.diaryofatileaddict.com, the world-wide blog that is a must-read commentary on tile design.

Richard Bradbury, Event Director of the Natural Stone Show and Hard Surfaces, says of Joe’s appointment: “I am delighted that Joe has joined the Hard Surfaces team. He has a wealth of knowledge about, and infectious enthusiasm for, ceramic tiles and surface solutions.

“His global network is unsurpassed. And, as we have already discovered, he has a deep pool of ideas to make Hard Surfaces a must-attend date in the construction calendar.”

Joe says of his role with Hard Surfaces: “My mission is to make Hard Surfaces educational, inspiring, and informative.

“This is an extremely vibrant market that has changed beyond all recognition over the past few years. Continuous pressing and digital decoration technologies have driven rapid advances in the technical and aesthetic qualities of porcelain and sintered stone surfaces. New composite materials, advanced concrete formulations, and multi-material laminates have further increased the diversity of solid surfaces on the market.

“All these materials bring unique processing, installation, and maintenance challenges. My role is to curate a series of seminars, masterclasses, and live demonstrations that truly reflect this diversity. I want every visitor to leave the show having had their preconceptions challenged and their curiosity piqued.

 “I have enormous respect for the QMJ team. They truly understand their industry and are key contributors to its success. QMJ has shown that it is willing to really invest in Hard Surfaces and to listen to the market. I have been given a very free rein and I am already in discussion with experts from Canada, Australia, USA, and Germany who can offer insights on everything from high-tech antibacterial panels through to intricate hand-decorated tiles.

“There will be something for everyone in the supply chain at ExCel in June 2023 – architects, designers, fabricators, contractors, distributors, house builders, developers, and the public sector.

“The speakers will also cover all the hot topics, such as sustainability, energy usage, health & hygiene, transport costs…

“Hard Surfaces is going to be a truly energising event.”

To exhibit at Hard Surfaces contact David Fisher on david.fisher@qmj.co.uk +44 (0) 115 865 8283 or Charlotte Stacey on charlotte.stacey@qmj.co.uk +44 (0) 115 945 3897.

From today (3 October), a starting assumption of a small business is deemed to be one that has fewer than 500 employees, rather than the 50 it has been.

The government also intends to consider extending the threshold to businesses with 1,000 employees once the impact of the current extension has been reviewed.

The change was announced yesterday (2 October) during the Conservative Party Conference by Prime Minister Liz Truss. She said the change would exempt some 40,000 companies from reporting requirements and other restrictions.

Some fear it will make it easier for more companies to hide more details about themselves, especially their financial condition. Small businesses are exempt from many regulations that apply to larger companies, particularly regarding their financial reporting.

However, many medium sized businesses with between 50 and 249 employees report that they are spending more than 22 staff days a month on average dealing with regulation. According to the department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy's Business Perceptions Survey in 2020, more than half of all businesses consider regulations to be a burden.

The exemptions are intended to be applied in a proportionate way so they do not impinge on workers’ rights or reduce the impact of standards relating to health & safety and product quality.

The changed threshold will apply to all new regulations under development as well as regulations under current and future review, including retained EU laws.

The government says the move is the first step in a package of reforms to ensure UK business regulation works for the benefit of the UK economy. Environmentalists, human rights campaigners and unions are concerned the changes will be at the expense of human rights and the environment.

At the same time, the Economic Crime & Corporate Transparency Bill currently before Parliament is intended to make it harder to launder money through bogus UK companies. It aims to strengthen the powers of Companies House to investigate directors' identities and stop companies being used as a front for crime or foreign kleptocrats.

The reforms to Companies House proposed in the Bill will see its biggest changes in 170 years. It is intended to arm Companies House with new powers to check, challenge and decline incorrect or fraudulent information, making it a more active gatekeeper over company creation.

The investigation and enforcement powers of Companies House will be strengthened, enabling it to cross check data with public and private partners, as well as reporting suspicious activity to security and law enforcement agencies.

The Bill also aims to help prevent the abuse of limited partnerships – including those registered in Scotland for money laundering and other nefarious purposes – by tightening registration and transparency requirements for these entities.

The government says law-abiding businesses and investors across the UK will benefit from simplified filing requirements and a more reliable companies register to inform business and lending decisions. The reforms proposed are being presented as protecting small business owners, consumers and the public from fraudulent use of their identities and addresses.

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg says: "We want the UK to be the best place in the world to invest and start a business, but we must not allow this openness to be exploited by fraudsters misusing the identities of innocent people, or corrupt elites attempting to disguise their dodgy dealings."

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.

www.stoneconsultants.co.uk

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.