In a bid to boost the UK sawmill industry the Forestry Commission (FC) is investigating the implementation of an online auction system to replace its traditional method of selling timber.
The biggest supplier of wood in the UK, the FC sells £25m of timber a year.
However, tighter margins and cheap foreign competition are impacting on the business and Steve Atkins, the FC’s head of systems management development, said: “We’re looking for reduced costs in sales and administration and faster and more frequent sales.
“Getting all these people together in a room to put their hands up to bid is not easy.”
An electronic software company is developing the system which will be piloted in the next few months. Customers will access it using a standard PC and internet browser.
