With roots in Europe, Philip is the 3rd generation in the industry.

With an excavator and a 6x6 truck purchased from the Canadian Army at the end of the second world war, his grandfather grew the family business to become one of the largest road contractors for civil and city development projects in Belgium. Philip's father, Ivan, travelled the very same roads and bridges his father built to supply natural stone for government projects across Western Europe. 

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Philip's natural passion for geology created an avid student and every school vacation was spent in the quarries of Europe or on the job sites, alongside his father who was eager to teach his only son everything he knew about natural stone. At the age of 9, while on a summer holiday in Florida, Philip set his goal to sell stone in North America.

Immediately after his studies, Philip joined his mother and father in the company with a passion to continue the family tradition. Working side by side with his father and mother, Marie-José, they grew the company to 67 installers and 7 support staff before selling the company to a French multi-national in 2004. As part of the sale, Philip was based in Paris and worked for the French company for 4 years before joining a Private Equity firm to start up several limestone quarries in Sinai, Egypt.

After 20 years of working on European and Asian projects, Philip was ready for a new challenge. Eager to share his experience and knowledge with the North Amercian market, Philip made the move to Canada to carry on the tradition of his grandfather and father and realize dreams of a 9 year old boy. 

Joining forces in 2012, Christene's background in operations, international consulting and project management, as well as her passion for creative, design and the use of natural, sustainable products in our living environments bring a natural synergy to our operations, step up the creative element and drive even higher client satisfaction.

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After five years exploring the West Coast for suitable deposits, Philip and Christene discovered what is now known as Callache Marble. They co-founded Callache Stone Quarries Inc. in 2016 and opened the first marble dimension stone quarry in Canada, on Vancouver Island on the traditional territory of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations. They spent the next two years developing the virgin quarry and the market for Canadian marble and received a Ministry of Energy and Mines Quarry Permit for 175,000 tonnes in January of 2018.

They sold their business in 2018 and joined Balke&Partner for quarry for sale business.