on site
vereker
kane
Kane is the man behind Vereker Stone – a business specialising in kitchen bench tops, using the finest marble, granite and quartz surfaces he can get his hands on. Photographs: Anthony Webster Did you always plan to go into the stone business? Is it a family trade or were you influenced by someone you met or knew growing up? No. I sort of stumbled into it by helping the local stonemason out for a few weeks, and 10 years later I’m still in the trade. How and when did you get started? Who did you work for? I gained an apprenticeship when I was 18 after helping Huntly Barton (WT Jones & Son) re-laying old bluestone guttering in the streets of Kyneton. Huntly was a very good boss to work for who believed in keeping old and dying skills alive. Share a memory from your apprenticeship. I have many good memories from my apprenticeship, from the great mates I worked with, to some very challenging and rewarding jobs. What do you love most about your job? I enjoy the job satisfaction of our work through creating something that the client has dreamed of and seeing them be truly overwhelmed when their kitchen all comes together (after we have installed their
beautiful stone bench tops of course!)
house built by Paul Gray in Yandoit.
What are the hours like? Hours can be long for me, you never switch off as a boss, but for the boys I don’t ride them too hard, as long as they keep their standard of work up. I’m a strong believer in working to live, not living to work.
What advice would you give to a budding youngster who wants to get into the trade? Eat your Weeties because it can be hard yakka, but a very rewarding trade to be in.
What is your favourite tool to use on the work site? My favorite tool/machine we have is our mitre saw, which cuts a perfect mitre every time on the bench tops ready for the edging. What are the trends you have seen take off during your career? Which ones do you think have had their day? Which ones do you predict will take off? Caeserstone would be the product that has taken off the most. Bullnose edging has had its day, as everything is square edge now. Marble/ Granite Caeserstone surfaces in general are continuing to grasp more of the bench top market.
When you are not working how do you spend your time? I’m involved in motorsport at a state and national level as a driver. I/ we also build, fabricate and engineer three racecars to a very high level, so that keeps me quite busy also. At the end of the day how does Kane Vereker relax? Relax, what’s that? ■
Tell us about your favourite job ever? My favorite job would be a emperadoor marble island bench we installed in an ultra modern
issue 25 - bendigo magazine | 163