UK pallet and fencing producer Somerlap Forest Products has closed its primary sawmilling operations in a move designed to take advantage of low-priced imported timber.
In the face of a strong pound, the Bristol-based company has stopped buying in raw logs from British producers and is buying ready-cut imported timber.
None of the 37-strong workforce have been made redundant as a result of the move and employees who worked in primary milling have been redeployed elsewhere within the £3.2m-turnover company.
Somerlap, which believes it will save money and increase production flexibility, is keeping its primary milling machinery in place in case a rise in the price of imported timber makes it uneconomic.
