The Directors of memorial masons Barningham Memorials Ltd of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, have been disqualified from being directors for a total of 14 years for taking deposits in excess of £30,000 from customers in spite of knowing their business was insolvent.

Paul Richard Hubbard and Susan Ann Hubbard, both in their 60s, have been disqualified as directors for eight and six years, respectively, from this month (August 2022).

Barningham Memorials had traded since 2003 but went into liquidation in March 2020.

However, the Insolvency Service says the company was in fact insolvent from August 2019. However, it continued to take payments and deposits from would-be customers, despite knowing it would not be able to provide the finished products. In total, the company took more than £30,000 from 41 customers during this period.

The company had received a five-year ban on installing memorials by North East Lincolnshire Council in 2015 for failing to adhere to local regulations and was forced to rely on subcontractors to install its memorials.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy accepted disqualification undertakings from both directors after they did not dispute that they had been responsible for the company continuing to take money from customers while it was insolvent.

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

The disqualification undertakings prevent them from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company without the permission of a court.

Rob Clarke, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service said: “Any business in financial difficulty should be aware that its primary duty is to its creditors, and ensuring that their losses are minimised.

“In continuing to accept pre-payments for memorials which they had no reasonable prospect of supplying, Paul and Susan Hubbard have caused additional pain to grieving families over and above the purely financial loss.”

Paul Richard Hubbard and Susan Ann Hubbard are currently living in Scotland.

Mark Priestman is a Director of a training consultancy whose mantra is: Qualify the Workforce! Here he discusses the CITB National Specialist Accredited Centre.

Back in 2003, the CITB had the good presence of mind to fill a gap in its provision of training by opening its National Specialist Accredited Centre (NSAC). While the CITB focuses on the huge industry that is construction, this unit has been charged with facilitating NVQ assessment for the specialist trades. Our trades.

Why do I find this commendable? Many training providers would never facilitate the specialisms of our sector because, to put it simply, there aren’t enough ‘bums on seats’ to make it financially viable.

NSAC facilitates NVQ qualifications via a network of sector practitioners. Actually, they partner with more than 140 specialist NVQ assessors delivering over 1,000 NVQs a year in a wide range of disciplines – resin flooring, chimney engineering, steeplejacks, lightning conductors, concrete repair, demolition, metal roofing, water jetting, to mention just a few.

Those for the stone industry cover:

• Façade Preservation
• Modular Paving
• Site Supervision
• Site Management
• Contracts Management

Another aspect of NSAC’s facilitation by its network of assessors is the ability to deliver NVQs via a route known as On-Site Assessment & Training, or OSAT for short. These NVQs are assessed in the workplace – your workplace – to minimise disruption to your projects.

To complete an NVQ, an assessor will observe operatives at work and ask questions about how the work is completed. The learner builds a portfolio of evidence. The assessor will then record what has been demonstrated and discussed against the standards of the NVQ

Once the assessor has evidence against all the necessary units, they will sign off the trainee’s portfolio and send it off for the NVQ certificate to be claimed, following a quality assurance process.

During the assessment, the assessor arranges meetings to induct the learner and profile them for suitability for the NVQ. The assessor will agree with the learner a plan for their assessment, visit site to observe the learner at work, evidence the learner’s underpinning knowledge of the job and confirm that all of the standards have been reached and that the learner is competent.

The NVQ is a route to applying for the CSCS skills card. A level 2 NVQ allows the holder to apply for a blue, Skilled Worker Card; a level 3 NVQ for the gold CSCS Card; a level 6 for the black Manager’s Card.

Closely collaborating with NSAC is the CITB’s Specialist Applied-Skills Programme (SAP) delivery team. This is a fee-neutral course (for CITB-registered firms) that combines mentoring at work, 20 days off-site on industry-prescribed training, and NVQ assessment. Programmes available range from dealing with asbestos and heritage to piling and roofing. In our sector, three programmes stand out:

• Façade Preservation
• Stone Fixing
• Heritage Stonemasonry

I would be delighted to help if you have questions about this service. Or you can contact the good people at the NSAC themselves via the website at bit.ly/CITB-NSAC.

CSCS

Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) has issued a reminder that those entering apprenticeships should hold the Apprentice card – not a Labourer card.

CSCS has simplified the application process for Apprentice cards and removed the charge – so they are now free! For those who have not yet completed the apprenticeship enrolment process there is the Provi-sional card (at £36) that can be replaced with an Apprentice card when enrolment has been completed. More details at bit.ly/CSCSapprenticecard.

www.priestmanweb.com

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) is inviting those in the industry to give it their opinions on what should be included in its next 10-year strategy.

It is carrying out an online survey and you have until 5 September to take part. Click here to take the survey.

NLHF says it’s important that it understands and collaborates with those who know the sector and the people it serves.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, says: “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.

“Help us shape how we’ll work together in the years ahead and the difference we can make for the UK’s rich and diverse heritage.”

See https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/have-your-say

There has been a huge increase in the use of decorative granites and quartzites from Brazil in the UK, most of it going to worktop fabricators. Now Brazil is promoting its stones as part of an export drive called Casa Brasil London in Covent Garden from 25 August to 7 September. The stone contribution is called It's Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone .

Brazil says the UK is its third largest export market (behind the USA and China) and from 25 August until 7 September Centrorochas, the Brazilian Centre of Natural Stone Exporters, in conjunction with ApexBrasil, the Brazilian Trade & Investment Promotion Agency, is hosting Casa Brasil's It's Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone to grow business relationships.

It takes place at The Stables, 40 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9LH.

Brazil says it is the sixth largest supplier of stone to the UK and the fifth largest producer and exporter of natural stone in the world, thanks to its geological diversity that has given it some 1,200 named stones to sell.

During Casa Brasil the characteristics of the Brazilian stone market will be highlighted in a lecture at 7.30pm on 26 August entitled ‘Get to know the power of Brazilian stones’ given by Fabio Cruz, the Vice-President of Centrorochas, and Paulo Giafarov, an international specifier.

Fabio Cruz says: “Besides the extraction potential, Brazil has a large industrial park for the supply of finished and semi-finished products, works of art, design, architecture, among others.

“The privilege of having large mineral reserves allows for large-scale production to meet demands in large volumes. Thanks to the technological production capacity, the Brazilian stones go through modern and environmentally sustainable processes – more than 95% of all water used in the production process is totally re-used.”

Paulo Giafarov adds: "We can say, without a doubt, that our materials surprise with their colours, textures, patterns and finishing quality." During the lecture he will highlight some of the creative uses of Brazil’s natural materials.

On 25 August, Fabio Cruz, project manager Rogério Ribeiro and Paulo Giafarov will be making a presentation about the Brazilian stones to architects, designers and members of Stone Federation Great Britain at The Building Society, 55 Whitfield Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 4AH. As well as talking about Brazil's geological characteristics and operational capacity, they will highlight the commercial relationship between the two countries. Stone Federation will also be talking about British stone.

Rogério Ribeiro says the promotion of Brazilian stones in Britain is important because of the British market but also because Britain influences sales in countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. 

He says: “The United Kingdom is seen as a strategically important commercial partner for Brazil, since it brings together a large architectural centre, responsible for a good part of the new developments in the Middle East.”