As shows go, UK Construction Week (UKCW) is a big one, comprising nine different events and 650 exhibitors at the NEC, Birmingham.

You can see timber, tools, surface materials, showers, solar panels, just about everything you might need for a building project – a true construction behemoth and the largest event of its kind in the sector.

According to organisers Media 10, some 34,000 industry people attended the event – a record for UKCW.

Nathan Garnett, UKCW event director, was upbeat once more about the performance of UKCW and said timber had an important role in the future of construction.

“Timber lies at the heart of construction alongside the growth in demand for offsite,” he said.

“Timber has its place as a material of first choice for many offsite manufacturers.”

He reported a “tremendous positivity” around UKCW this year, with a “real feeling that the industry wants to adapt and embrace a new way of building”.

“The success of the Offsite section was testament to this,” he added.

He said the exhibitor rebook rate for 2019 had exceeded expectations.

Timber expo

It was principally Timber Expo that TTJ was there to see – the UK’s only show dedicated to the wood industry.

Launched in 2010 and initially held in Coventry as a stand alone timber show, the event has been part of the larger UKCW for several years now at the NEC since being bought by Media 10 from TRADA / Radar Communications in 2015.

Though some timber product companies were represented elsewhere at UKCW, such as the Surface Materials Show and the adjoining Grand Designs Live, Timber Expo represented the main hub for the wood industry, with strong representation from the Confederation of Timber Industries and TRADA.

Overall, the show was slightly smaller this year, but several new exhibitors were in attendance and some exciting new products were launched.

Italian woodworking machinery company SCM (UK) Ltd joined forces with one of its customers Carvalo, a wood structures producer on stand. Carvalo produced a KVH softwood and oak timber stand structure with no mechanical fixings or glue, to show the processing capabilities of the SCM machine that made it – an Oikos six-axis CNC machining centre. All beams fitted together using timber jointing techniques.

Joinery contractor WJL Contracts was largely showcasing its Acoustic Joinery business, demonstrating to construction sector visitors its expertise in producing, supplying and installing acoustic timber wall panelling as a one-stop shop for a variety of projects.

Company director Jamie Lovatt reported good order levels and said the company’s complete control of the production and installation process gave it an advantage over panels supplied from Europe.

One of the largest stands at Timber Expo was American Softwoods, which presented timber species from different areas of the US. It was targeting UK importers, architects and builders.

American Softwoods is an initiative of the Southern Forest Products Association the Softwood Export Council and the APA, Engineered Wood Association.

American Softwoods’ Charles Trevor reported strong sales of southern yellow pine to Europe, with the species representing a strong position in the UK decking market. India is proving a strong market, while the Dubai Wood Show next year is an important event for the US softwood industry.

New UK timber company Timber Focus was a first time exhibitor at Timber Expo. It is partnering with Puidukoda OU, based in Estonia – which is part of the Rose Group,

It showed a selection of softwood profiles mainly in spruce/whitewood, redwood/pine and Siberian larch as cladding and decking.

Head of UK sales at Timber Focus Andrew Goto said the company was now in a season of negotiations with buying groups and reported a “lot of interest”. At the show he was targeting merchants and distributors.

The company was also in Grand Designs Live, where it launched the Wood Mood brand of cladding and decking.

News from Austrian sawmiller Pfeifer included its launch into cross-laminated timber (CLT) production at its Schlitz mill in Germany.

“That’s why we are here in the UK, we are starting production next year,” TTJ was told. “We are trying to get a slice of the [CLT] cake.”

Panel processor Trade Fabrication Systems demonstrated its processing expertise to provide innovative solutions to on-site problems.

“We have a box of tricks that not many people know about,” said TFS business development manager Adam Morris.

This extends, to coatings, laminating and bonding abilities for products including cladding and doors, with a range of products on display.

ProStruct FR, a fire-retardant structural plywood product – the result of a partnership between TFS and PFS Coatings – was being promoted on stand. The product was a finalist in the TTJ Awards Innovative Product category. (See feature pp26-27)

Wood-plastic composite decking companies were fairly numerous at UKCW, with SmartBoard (a Hoppings brand) once again exhibiting at Timber Expo.

“We have got some genuine leads here, but the volume has been down on last year,” said David Bryans, Hoppings’ national sales manager.

Hoppings now has 170 SmartBoard stockists in the UK, up from zero at the start of 2017.

Hoppings’ marketing director Adam Pulfer said the product finish was so good people often looked at it and wondered if it was painted wood.

Health and well-being was strongly promoted on the stand of Capital Holz 100, which produces solid wood homes without the use of glue or fastenings to manufacture the system. Dowels are used to fix the timber components of the system together to make walls similar to CLT.

“Moon wood” is used – timber harvested during certain phases of the moon. This, it is believed, makes the wood stronger and more hard-wearing.

The company’s product had attracted interest from architects Foster + Partners, which is looking at it in its R&D centre.

Anti-slip decking specialist GripDeck announced it would be launching new products in 2019 for the retrofitting of anti-slip inserts into existing decking.

The company said retro-fit inserts were ideal for people who wanted more grip for their decking but didn’t want a whole new deck.

Notable supply projects from GripDeck include the BBC studio in Manchester. Decking, the company added, is “still popular”.

Leading reclaimed wood company AW Latvia was one of a number of companies on the Latvia stand. It showcased its Wooden Wall Design (WWD), a prefabricated panel of reclaimed wood pieces for decorative uses. The company is hoping to get WWD, reclaimed from buildings over 70 years-old, into UK retailers.

Irish sawmiller Glennon Brothers was again at Timber Expo, flying the flag for its solid wood products.

Ian Charnock, areas sales manager, said Timber Expo was a valuable networking event, with joint managing director Mike Glennon at the event for three days to see many UK customers.

The company was also highlighting the need to protect growth in the timber industry in Brexit, handing out a document by the Timber Industry Brexit Forum, which Glennon Brothers has participated in.

Mr Charnock reported that markets have been improving with stocks in a better position going into Q4.

One of the new products to turn heads was BSW Timber’s IRO cladding.

The product is charred (for durability), brushed to accentuate the grain, treated and given a colour with a wood protection cream. The latter prevents the timber from absorbing moisture.

Neil Horton, BSW Timber sales director, told TTJ that a lot of cedar and “bland” silvery colours were use in conventional cladding products. Some of the 15 colours available are bold and designed to give a different feel.

As well as cladding, IRO is being aimed at garden products and boundaries.

“In the old days you would spend £20-30 on a fence panel, but people can now spend £100s on them”.

Mr Horton said a brand ambassador was about to be signed up from a well-known gardening programme to help promote IRO.

“There are all sorts of different areas where we think this product will sell.”

It is being priced below the level of Siberian larch and western red cedar.

Exhibitor Vudlande Sawmill of Latvia met almost all its UK buyers at the show in one day.

Vudlande’s Erik Nielsen reported a €5m investment in a 350m/min Weinig planing line to solve a bottleneck in existing planing operations.

Marley Eternit was at Timber Expo to build a stronger link between the company’s brand and its range of timber products, which includes roof battens, cedar shingles and anti-slip decking. Cedar shingles and timber decking were shown on stand.

Rebecca Ball, pitched roofing systems specialist, said the Gainsborough timber mill was undergoing significant investment in equipment.

Meanwhile, Steico was headline sponsor of Timber Expo this year, with its stand hosting partners and showcasing how Steico’s engineered timber products and woodfibre insulation can be used in building systems.

Steico UK sales and operations director Adrian Judd described current LVL demand as “absolutely phenomenal”.

“The world is finding applications for LVL beyond where we see it,” he said.

Steico is looking at supplying wider section LVL beams for structural applications beyond the normal rim boards and stair trimmers, while LVL offcuts at the Polish factory are capable of being made into decorative panels for interiors.

MBM Timber, Ecomerchant and PassivHaus Homes were just some of its partners in attendance, with the latter showing examples of its super insulated projects using Steico joists as the wall system.

TRADA Theatre

TRADA’s Timber Focus Theatre had some high quality seminars, including a case study on the Macallan Distillery, with speakers from project architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and engineers Arup.

Designing CLT for stability and correct design for fire safety were also topical discussions.