We are pleased to be part of a Grown in Britain consortium, led by English Woodlands Timber, that has been awarded funding by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK, to explore how hardwood supply chains in the UK could be improved.
Specifically aimed at construction supply chains, project partners include the Building Research Establishment, the Forestry Commission, forest and wood charity the Sylva Foundation, building contractor Willmott Dixon, and a large timber importer and merchant, as well as subcontract input from specialist consultants Sustainable Construction Solutions and Resource Efficiency Services.
Dougal Driver, Grown in Britain Chief Executive commented:
“There are more than 30 million tonnes of timber in unmanaged woodlands throughout the UK, which the project will begin the process of unlocking. With the UK relying on high levels of imported timber the GiB project is vital to breaking down barriers within the supply chain for home-grown hardwood, making it much more accessible and readily available.”
The key aim of the project is to improve the flow of hardwood timber from UK woodlands, so that the experience of the end customer is improved. The project will have five main work streams:
- Market research to establish the timber species and section sizes being purchased by the UK construction industry, and also to identify what timber is available in UK woodlands to match this;
- Timber stock funding options that will look to increase roundwood and sawn timber stocks without imposing additional risks on the supply chain;
- Timber supply hub that will be able to locate available timber in independent saw mills around the UK;
- Material efficiencies, looking at how sawn wood yields could be improved;
- Industry engagement, to unite and galvanise the full support of the UK timber industry.
The project is due to start in October 2015, and will run for 12 months.
Read more about Grown in Britain
