Timber Development UK Chairman, Chris Sutton, provides a quick update following the Easter weekend.
To begin, I hope that everyone had a great Easter and gained some rest from the madness of the world in which we currently live.
The last two years have put considerable stress on your businesses and staff, with Brexit, covid and Ukraine all happening within a short space of each other.
Demand for timber products has also been exceptionally high over the last year, with 2021 proving a record year for timber imports in the UK. With the world in a climate crisis, this high demand is likely to continue given timber’s importance in decarbonising the UK’s construction industry.
Having spoken to many members over the last few months, the resilience of the timber industry cannot be underestimated. Regardless of the significant recent challenges, you are controlling what you can and getting on with the job at hand.
It is the responsibility of Dave, his staff, and the board of Timber Development UK to ensure that we provide our members with a service that enables you to sell the value of timber.
We need to give you the tools to talk confidently to all areas of the supply chain, whether it be merchants, end-users or architects and designers. My humble opinion has always been that we need to better educate staff which will help them sell timber products based on what they do rather than what they cost.
Having completed the merger of TTF and TRADA and finally received all information from TRADA’s previous service provider, we are now in a position where we can actively promote the benefits of Timber Development UK. We have a detailed plan of action aimed at raising our profile and promoting our services for your benefit.
In recent months, a very important and exciting strategic partnership agreement has been signed with a new academic partner which will deliver on technical publications and training. This will enable us to provide a plethora of technical materials and publications useful for both you and your customers.
On the policy level, Timber Development UK aims to be the leading membership organisation representing the timber industry and we want to have the loudest voice when it comes to lobbying the Government. We have and will continue to work closely with other industry partners in ensuring timber’s voice is heard as the government embarks on ambitious net-zero, levelling up and building safety agendas.
We are also recruiting to strengthen our team which will allow us to be more focused and proactive ensuring we can drive our business forward. A new organisational chart outlining roles and responsibilities for existing and new staff has been created.
I would like to provide a big thank you to Dave and his team who have continued to do a great job under difficult circumstances.
I would also like to show my appreciation for the newly formed board which has made a positive contribution through wise counsel, positive suggestions and keeping me in check! We are united in our views that we should continue to invest in developing the services available to our members.
To one and all, thank you for being a member of this great organisation and if at any time you wish to drop me a line, please do so.