Member Article

Stone clinches contracts from West Yorkshire to Wales

A County Durham high level, historic and general maintenance company is working on a number of prestigious new projects across the UK.

Darlington-based Stone Technical Services’ are specialists in maintenance, safety systems, high-level repairs, restoration and lightning protection working on everything from small, community churches to prominent landmarks.

The company has recently secured new contracts to carry out a variety of repairs at high profile locations in London, Wales and West Yorkshire.

In London, Stone is working at St Margaret’s Church, Lothbury, in the City - a church serving the Square Mile, built by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1660s directly opposite the Bank of England. Stone’s CITB-registered steeplejacks are completing an inspection of the church spire and portico. The extensive quinquennial survey also includes make-safe works to the spire.

In Wales, Stone is working on one of the country’s most historic castles. Roch Castle in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire has an illustrious history dating back to the 12th Century. The Grade 1 listed ancient monument was a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War and, having been updated and modernised internally, is used today for weddings, events and as a holiday retreat. Stone’s conservation and restoration team has carried out work for owners, the Retreats Group, to repair and restore the castle’s historic windows. The ancient nature- and current use- of Roch Castle required a sensitively executed project, lasting just over three weeks, to ensure little or no disruption and in-keeping with the Norman castle’s historic beauty. Stone’s experts used a powered access cradle suspended from the castle’s roof, using a counter-balanced weight system, to reach the high-level windows.

And at Wakefield in West Yorkshire, Stone is carrying out a major project at Chantry Bridge, also home to the Chantry Chapel of St Mary. The historic bridge, just south of the city, has nine arches spanning the River Calder. Stone’s bridge conservation experts have recently started work to restore the bridge which dates back to the 14th Century. Thanks to Stone’s specialist access capabilities and extensive experience in historic renovations, no obtrusive scaffolds are needed. Instead, specially-crafted pontoons are being used to carry out the work. This also means that there’s no disruption to the general public and the sustainable methods used ensure no obstruction or damage to the breeding beds in the river

MD of Stone Technical Services, Dave Stone, said: “We’re now securing more and more varied contracts- projects that often require the combination of several of our divisions. Because we have vast experience of working at height and implementing unobtrusive repair methods, we’re often called upon to complete work on ancient and historic buildings that need sensitive repairs- another of our specialist capabilities. This recent batch of new projects- up and down the country- is really boosting our planned growth and our team feel very privileged to work on such an unusual variety of structures.”

In 2012, Stone’s growth surpassed managers’ expectations with turnover peaking at around £2 million with this predicted to reach in the region of £2.5 million in 2013. The company opened a new Edinburgh office to add to its sites in London, Middlesex and Cheshire and its HQ on Kellaw Road in Darlington. Already in 2013 Stone has created five new jobs, taking staff numbers to 35, and is on target to increase its workforce throughout the year.

Stone Technical Services works in the fields of historic restoration, repairs to churches and ancient buildings, facilities maintenance, lightning protection and high-level repairs, working with a variety of organisations such as local authorities and housing associations counting organisations such as English Heritage, the National Trust, the NHS, Teesside Power Station and British Waterways amongst its clients.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Addison .