Making the Best of British

by Dougal Driver, CEO, Grown in Britain
3 July 2017

Whatever your views on Brexit, it’s brought about some unusual prospects for sales. Many builders’ merchant timber yards are stocked with carcassing, fencing and decking, amongst other products, grown here at home. Yet most are not making the best of the sales opportunity to flag up its British origins to customers. At Grown in Britain, we’ve recently agreed a strategic partnership with the BMF to help merchant members take advantage of the sales opportunities presented by assured British-grown timber.

Timber from Britain already has a price advantage over imports. But it’s alignment with your builder customers’ values, giving them an option to buy timber that supports our economy, which gives added incentive to buy. Make sure you bring this to their attention. Merchants who supply local authorities will be aware of their need to demonstrate ‘social value’ in their supply chains. Timber that’s grown in Britain returns value to communities in rural economies across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are other opportunities for merchants too. Timber is architects’ material of the moment, and builders entering for the FMB’s Master Builder of the Year increasingly are using higher value timber products. At present, much of that business goes direct from the architect or builder to the producer. Pro-active merchants, who understand architects’ aspirations and can locate and supply alternative species like Chestnut, Oak, Ash, Sycamore, Douglas Fir or Larch, could carve themselves a significant slice of that business. Grown in Britain can help you make the right connections. As our first contribution to our strategic partnership with BMF, we are making available to BMF merchant members a 26-page guide to alternative British wood species. Please contact our offices for a copy, stating you’re a BMF merchant member.

We’d also appreciate your help. We’re starting an annual survey on British-grown timber supply. Click this link, and, in the time it takes to drink your morning mug of tea or coffee, your answers will have made a valuable contribution to the British timber industry . Thank you.

You’re welcome to join us for Grown in Britain Week, 9-15 October – a good time to highlight your British-grown timber products. Keep up to date via @GrowninBritain on Twitter and make sure you have a copy of our merchant business guide to building business with timber that’s Grown in Britain.