Anelay director restores faith in the future

18/04/2008

Charles Anelay
The importance of conserving our architectural heritage surges quite literally through the veins of Charles Anelay, Special Projects Director at York and Manchester-based William Anelay.

Charles is the 8th generation of the Anelay family to be involved with the 261-year-old company, one of the oldest names in UK construction.

The 49-year-old has recently been touring the British Isles giving talks on restoration as a member of the CIOB’s (Chartered Institute of Building) Building Conservation, Maintenance and Refurbishment Working Group.

“It’s a mouthful of a title,” explains Charles. “I’ve been involved with the group for the past 18 months and our raison d’etre is to raise an awareness of conservation and promote expert management in this field.”

The working group is comprised of a number of specialists with a heritage background including surveyors, engineers and planners from a variety of public and private sector bodies. Several of the group’s members, including Charles, recently delivered presentations to audiences at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, at the Law Society in Dublin, and City Chambers, St. George’s Square in Glasgow.

“We are not just a talking shop,” adds Charles who is also a guest lecturer in Conservation at the University of York. He’s held a number of senior positions at Anelays since joining the family firm in 1989 and can draw on over a quarter of a century of experience within construction.

“My particular focus during the lectures has been on Conservation Project Management from a contractor’s perspective. I get to manage technically challenging and complex restoration projects on a daily basis and so understand the potential dilemmas facing project teams in this sector.

“The group is not attempting to be a driver in heritage issues but more of a resource for the sharing of best practice and debate into the broad spectrum of management issues that we are currently facing.

“It’s about bringing a wide range of skills to the table. Some parties that operate in our sector have a tendency to enlist the contractor almost as an afterthought and then make them the scapegoat when things go wrong. By involving the contractor early in the design stages, risks can be reduced. I’d like to see the Industry in general benefit from the partnering process.”

Charles is also an executive committee member with the National Heritage Training Group (NHTG). The Group’s aim is to support and encourage heritage training so that the construction industry has the appropriate management and trade skills in place now and in the future.

“As well as the NHTG, there are a number of different organisations involved in addressing factors such as the construction skills shortage including the Skills Council and the Construction Industry Training Board. I’m not entirely convinced that the figures produced are as accurate as they could be and I believe that further studies need to be carried out to provide a true picture of the scarcity that the industry faces. Irrespective of the numbers, we all seem to agree that there is a shortage of skills available.

“The training and grants system is a funny old world but groups such as the NHTG are here to explore how to make restoration training relevant and effective for the sector, the constituent firms and the individual. The newly proposed Heritage NVQ should help bridge this gap as it recognises competencies of individuals working in the restoration sector. It may well become a stipulated qualification so companies that buy in to the idea early will be setting the standard.

“Training has to be worthwhile for all parties. It must be cost effective for the business and sustainable for the sector as a whole and our challenge within the NHTG is to find out how to get that balance.

“For example William Anelay used to be seen as a small specialist firm that focused predominantly on churches. Whilst we still offer the traditional crafts such as stonemasonry, heritage joinery, leadwork and other heritage skills, the business turnover has increased significantly in the last three years and now our portfolio of projects is infinitely more complex. This makes addressing our training issues more complicated.

“There is a paradox between trying to retain a high standard of workmanship and of using contemporary construction management techniques to deliver projects on time and to budget. The client very rarely has the luxury of unlimited finances and so training should encompass a wider understanding of the issues involved.

The award winning private chapel
Charles’ responsibilities have extended to masterminding projects right across the UK at many well known landmarks however it is an award-winning private chapel, recently completed at a location in the north of Britain that has provided the most satisfaction. The building features intricate stonework, ornate plasterwork and fine joinery to a standard that is very rarely seen in this day and age.

Lead roofing at Harewood House, complex stonework at Howden Minster and a long term project at Selby Abbey are other jobs that he looks back on with affection.

Another key issue affecting restoration is the working methods that are adopted as Charles recognises: “The construction industry is always moving forward with new innovations and techniques especially with regard to environmental concerns. We must quickly learn to apply what we can to the type of projects that we undertake.

“Construction work generally starts with a clean slate whereas we are frequently looking at existing structures with many layers of influence applied over the years. Close co-operation with architects, project teams and surveyors is vital and knowledge of restoration’s methods simply has to be shared.

“There is an argument that the environmental and actual costs of restoring a building may be far greater than knocking down and starting again. We have to accept that one day this thinking may influence changes within our Industry.

“The biggest challenge for the future is ensuring that we restore buildings for a reason and not just for sentiment. How we do that and how we can make a profit in the process will be critical to the continued expansion and profile of restoration within the UK,” concluded Charles.

A combination of continued dialogue and the wisdom of experts such as Charles will play a part in keeping restoration and building conservation at the forefront of people’s minds.