Scottish stone producers of the newly formed Scottish Stone Group were feeling confident after meeting with the country’s Minister for Business, Innovation & Energy, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, in the Scottish Parliament on 22 November.
image Stone Specialist website
Stone Specialist News writes:
Although it was Budget day in the UK, the Minister gave the group well over an hour of his time to talk with them about the natural stone industry in Scotland and the UK, coming up with some suggestions of how the best interests of the indigenous stone industry could be served. Also present were representatives of Historic Environment Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.
The Scottish Stone Group was formed by three of Scotland’s leading stone producers: Denfind, Tradstocks and Hutton Stone, who complain that in spite of the rhetoric, buying decisions are often based on purchase price rather than ethics, environmental considerations or even lifetime costs, whether it is the private or the public sector that is making the procurement. The group wants more support for indigenous stone from planners and conservators, as well as in procurement for the public sector’s own projects. And the response from the Minister sounded positive at the meeting….
The new Scottish Stone Group was formed in response to a review of Scotland’s building stone industry by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in 2016. It says that the country should give greater consideration to the low carbon product on its doorstep in order to grow the industry and create more jobs and apprenticeships in Scotland…
