A FAMILY-RUN restoration and maintenance firm has strengthened its marketplace repute with a significant capital city contract.

Stone Technical Services has helped restore a 70-year-old feature at London’s Southwark Cathedral.

Bosses say the work included refurbishing and re-gilding the crown that sits atop the building’s 150ft flagpole.

The company, headquartered in Darlington, removed the near 25kg structure from a flagpole it also restored, before overseeing its renovation in its County Durham workshop.

The cathedral is recognised as London’s oldest cathedral church and previously appeared in the Netflix drama series, The Crown.

Stone has a longstanding relationship with the cathedral, working on behalf of clerk of works Robert Darling, and has, over the years, undertaken various flagpole repairs and restorations.

Dave Stone, managing director, said he was delighted the firm, which he founded alongside brother Grahame in 1998, had been able to extend that association, adding such work brings a real sense of pride to the business.

He said: “We’ve worked alongside the team at Southwark Cathedral for almost a decade and it is home to some of our country’s most incredible heritage.

“The crown had fallen into disrepair and required careful restoration, which our exceptionally skilled craftsmen carried by hand at our workshop.

“We returned to the top of the cathedral - around 150 feet up - to hoist the crown back into its rightful place, so it is now on display for all to see again.”

Stone operates across a number of areas, including restoration, lightning protection, maintenance and conservation.

However, officials earlier this year revealed process sector shutdown programmes had bolstered its industrial services arm, with better-than-anticipated clamour pushing demand 30 per cent higher in the first half of 2017.

The division, known as Rope- Spec, provides rope access services to inspect, repair and maintain guy wires to flare stacks, vessels, bridges and other structures.

It was previously called on to complete the annual shutdown and maintenance of flare stacks at Ineos Nitriles, based in Seal Sands, near Billingham, and preservation work at Chemoxy International’s Middlesbrough oil refinery.