Lightning strikes for Stone in Darlington
One of Darlington’s leading family-run businesses, which has grown nationally throughout 2010, has secured thousands of pounds worth of work with the local council.
Stone Technical Services, run by brothers Dave and Graham Stone, will be ensuring some of the town’s most prominent buildings are protected from damage due to lightning strikes as they complete a number of projects for Darlington Borough Council.
Stone’s lightning protection specialists are installing new lightning protection systems at Darlington Civic Theatre and Crown Street Library. In addition, the company is carrying out a series of repairs to the lightning protection system at North Cemetery’s chapel.
Darlington Civic Theatre dates back to around 1907 while Crown Street Library last month celebrated its 125th anniversary, hence Stone’s combined expertise in the fields of lightning protection and conservation was an important factor when planning the work.
Throughout 2010 Stone’s team has continued to grow at its headquarters on Kellaw Road in Darlington and also at its offices in Middlesex and central London. The company now employs a team of 27 with plans in place to grow this number and open new regional offices throughout 2011.
Stone specialises in all aspects of high level maintenance, lightning conductor installation and steeplejack services as well as restoration and masonry refurbishment projects on churches, museums, clock towers, castles, spires and historic buildings.
The company works all over the UK on a variety of high profile buildings such as St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London, the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle and the University of York, and for organisations such as English Heritage and the National Trust as well as for well known industrial clients such as INEOS Plant Utilities and Teesside Power Station.
Managing director, Dave Stone said: “Obviously as a business it really is amazing to develop around the UK, especially in areas such as London and the South East, but it’s equally important that we continually work to ensure we are the contractor of choice in the area where we are from. Being able to help protect and preserve buildings in our home town is a real boost as we continue to grow and support the local economy by constantly creating new opportunities for local people.”
