Creative Stone Solutions
A Career in Natural Stone - being used to support and grow your business
Combining academic qualifications and a career in the quarrying, production, technical assessment and sale of natural stone products, I am able to provide a wide range of services to support and grow your natural stone business.
Experience
Education and professional qualifications
BSc First Class Honours in Applied Earth Sciences from Queen Mary College, University of London. MSc in Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology from University College London.
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Professional Diploma with the Institute of Geology.
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Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Open University.
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Formerly Secretary and Chairman of the North of England Branch of the Institute of Quarrying, Chartered Geologist and Chartered Engineer.
Professional experience
Two years as Geotechnical Engineer for British Coal Opencast.
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Thirteen years in various roles for Cemex (formerly known as RMC) – initially as Senior Geologist then rising through various managerial roles to become the Business Manager for northern England, overseeing the operation of multiple quarries, marine aggregate and asphalt coating plants with a turnover of £25 million per annum.
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For the following 20 years I held positions as Divisional Managing Director and senior Director for Marshalls Plc, initially overseeing all aspects of their UK quarrying and dimensional stone processing operations. This was followed by establishing and overseeing a multi-national range of dimensional natural stone products for sale in the UK and international markets. This grew to be hugely profitable with an annual sales turnover of more than £50million per annum.
Services Offered
Offering a wide range of services across the supply chain - from quarry to customer.
01
Supply chain assessment
Prospective suppliers will promise you everything when you initially meet with them in order to secure an order. In some countries it is almost cultural for them to always say yes which can lead to disappointment for customer and the client when the order is placed. With more than 35 years natural stone experience, assessing suppliers in the UK and overseas and running production facilities, I am able to accurately assess the capacity and capability of a supplier’s facilities. It isn’t simply looking at the machinery they have but knowing the questions to ask and interpret the responses.
02
Quarry assessment
Natural stone is a very variable product ranging from poor quality that is not suitable even to aggregates through to the most robust material that can be used for the more rigorous landscaping projects. I have the academic knowledge and the extensive experience to evaluate materials to confirm there suitability. Geology can be complex so it is important to know what to look for in a quarry – considerations can range from product consistency, reserve assessment, geotechnical evaluation and quarrying methodology.
03
Product evaluation
Prospective suppliers will promise you everything when you initially meet with them in order to secure an order. In some countries it is almost cultural for them to always say yes which can lead to disappointment for customer and the client when the order is placed. With more than 30 years natural stone experience ranging from assessing suppliers overseas and UK suppliers and running production facilities I am able to accurately assess the capacity and capability of a supplier’s facilities. It isn’t simply looking at the machinery they have but knowing the questions to ask and interpret the responses.
04
Design guidance
When the quality of the material under consideration has been undertaken it is possible to provide guidance on what products can confidently be provided in the chosen material. This can range from recommending the types of landscaping product – paving, setts, cladding, furniture and features. Support on plan sizes, thicknesses, surface textures can also be provided.
05
Supply chain mapping
It is becoming increasingly important to provide information regarding where products are quarried from and where they are processed and the subsequent logistics routing. This can be more complex than it might initially appear due to a multiple quarry sources, use of subcontract factories and a variety of logistics options.
06
Social, ethical, environmental and safety evaluations
It isn’t enough to know that you have a suitable quarry source, a material that is technically acceptable and a supplier factory that has the required capacity and capability to fulfil the project requirements. As a responsible customer and needing to provide assurance for your client you need to be assured that certain social, ethical, environmental and safety aspects have been checked and minimum standards achieved. This isn’t as superficial as having an audit that the supplier passes or fails. This is a complex area which assesses that critical criteria are in place but then goes deeper into assessing areas of good practice, best practice and areas for improvement for the supplier. There are few hard and fast rules in this area – what is best practice in one country might be a minimum expectation in another country. The main consideration is assessing the desire to improve where required. Full audits can be undertaken including suggested improvements.
07
Costing and pricing guidance
If you are sourcing products for resale it is important to do this as cost effectively as possible and sell the product at a competitive price with a realistic and sustainable profit margin. The material price needs to be assessed and all other logistics costs evaluated and tailored to the requirements of the client and the project. Cheapest is not always best – providing a quality product and service while delivering value is a complex area where guidance can be provided.
08
Quality control inspections
For some projects and with some suppliers it is important to have the assurance that the products are being produced to the required standard. This includes tolerances, colour and texture of the product, raw material quality, dry-laying products if required and confirmation of the packing and container loading. In factory inspection of all or part of an order can be undertaken with real time corrective action undertaken and full reports produced
09
Complaint resolution and rectification recommendations
With natural products, issues do occur despite the most thorough assessments and due diligence. With years of experience of resolving and rectifying complaints both in the domestic and commercial sectors I am able to provide realistic, practical advice on how issues be resolved and help to mediate a successful outcome
Business Principles
Fees and charges
Fees will be designed to suit your budget and requirements. My normal rate is £650 per day for work in the UK, £750 per working day when overseas. Days travelling to and back from overseas countries are charged at £250 per day. Expenses for travel, hotels and subsistence will be charged at cost. All transport costs will be using the cheapest practical option. There will be no premium flights or train travel. If these costs are considered excessive a discount might be possible if I will be working with suppliers, customers or clients for whom I have an established relationship. The purpose for running this business is not to generate large fees but to share and support my passion for the use of natural stone products.
Client confidentiality
I work with a very limited number of clients all of whom are chosen for their integrity, share my passion for the use of natural stone and have a desire to offer excellent customer service.
Capability
Though I have 35 years of experience in the sourcing, production, shipment, installation and care & maintenance of natural stone for the built environment my expertise has boundaries. I will not undertake work unless I know I have the capability to provide a professional service. If your requirements are beyond my capability I will, wherever possible, provide details for a suitable person / company to undertake the work
Liability
I will undertake work professionally, accurately and honestly. However I will not be liable for any unforeseen consequences of the work I undertake.
Timescales
Due to the limited client base with which I operate I will undertake work in a timely manner and completion dates will be established and agreed when I am commissioned to undertake work. In response I expect my invoices to be paid in a timely manner.
Personal integrity
Though I am very commercially orientated I will not undertake work that has a detrimental impact or exploits the supply chain or misleads the customer / client. The social, ethical and moral standards of the work I get involved in are not negotiable.