Chris Sutton doesn’t thump the table and rattle the coffee cups as he lays out his ambitions for his term as chairman of the Timber Trade Federation’s National Panel Product Division (NPPD). His delivery is measured, calm and affable. But the director of James Latham plc leaves you in no doubt. He wants to see action and evolution and, if that involves some cage rattling and feather ruffling, so be it.
"The position is a great honour for me and James Latham, and I want to live up to that," he said. "I took it on to help strengthen the role and reputation of the NPPD and our industry, and I’ll do that to the best of my ability. I’m not in it to be popular."
Core to his vision is to add value to the panels business and raise perceptions and expectations in the market.
"We still undervalue our products in all senses – we need to communicate their true worth and that of our service to customers," he said.
Central to achieving this, he added, is to give the market one critical and absolute guarantee.
"Our main and overriding mantra has to be offering products that are fit for purpose. I want to see all members of the NPPD and, indeed the Timber Trade Federation (TTF), signing and living up to our Codes of Practice and Conduct and the Responsible Purchasing Policy (RPP). If anyone thinks they can be a member without completely adhering to these, well, that’s not acceptable. We have to follow the Ronseal rule – to do what we say we do on the tin. Membership of the NPPD has to be a badge of quality and give customers assurance they’re going to get a good service and the right product for the job."
Mr Sutton maintains that the "dirty end of the panels trade" is a "tiny fringe". But it risks tainting market opinion out of proportion to its size.
"Of course, some misrepresentation of products is accidental, or due to traders having been misled by suppliers, but a handful do it knowingly and deliberately," he said. "Whether it’s do to with plywood glue lines, EN compliance, timber species, environmental claims, it’s absolutely vital for our reputation and ability to add value that this is dealt with decisively."
When he addressed the London Plywood Club earlier this year Mr Sutton caused a stir by urging the trade to blow the whistle on cases of product misrepresentation (ttjonline February 8). He was taken aback himself that this became such a focus "because I said a lot of other things too!". But he doesn’t backtrack.
"I don’t think we should hesitate to alert the NPPD and TTF in these instances," he said. "And we’re clearly backed up on this by the TTF itself, under the leadership of John White. In excluding companies that don’t comply with the RPP, it’s shown determination to give its rules teeth."
Ultimately cases "where there are more serious issues at stake" could and should be reported to Trading Standards."If that’s what we have to do, that’s what we have to do," he said.
Greater self-policing is also an aspiration. "If any of us have a shadow of doubt about a product we’ve received, we must raise it," he said. "Members are welcome to talk to me or other members of the NPPD committee, or TTF technical head Nick Boulton, who provides a great resource to our industry."
It’s also a Sutton goal to shake the market out of what he feels remains a widely held view that the NPPD is principally concerned with plywood.
"It’s perfectly understandable as it has had to deal with important plywood issues in recent years; first with Indonesia, latterly with quality, mis-marking and so on of Chinese," he said. "But we represent a much more diverse product range today and there are key issues to tackle with these too; formaldehyde-content in imported MDF, for instance – CE marking, and particularly, with door blanks and other panel products, fire retardancy. These are critical and we need to be seen addressing them."
Emphasising to the market what a broad church the NPPD is would benefit it and the wider panels sector. "If we were recognised as an authoritative source of information and advice on all panel products for the full range of applications, it would do us and our business good," he said.
Wider membership
Mr Sutton also wants to make the NPPD church broader still, by expanding membership.
"I’d particularly like to see more participation from small to medium-sized companies; merchants, manufacturers, distributors and importers," he said. "This is a big and varied business and we need to reflect that."
NPPD members, he said, should actively encourage others to join. "Joining today’s TTF has many benefits in terms of technical and legal advice, training, lobbying, marketing and representation. And in the RPP, it has a tool which puts us ahead of other industries in terms of guaranteeing product legality and sustainability and a ready-made due diligence system for compliance with the [anti-illegal timber] EU Timber Regulation. We should be promoting these strongly to prospective members."
Mr Sutton would also like to see more shippers and panel producers involved with the NPPD.
"Ideally we’d like more manufacturers as members, but another route is for us to work even more closely with the Wood Panel Industries Federation," he said. "Steel and concrete speak with one voice as industries – so should we."
Ultimately Mr Sutton wants to end his twoyear term as chairman with the NPPD representing as wide a spectrum of the industry as possible and constantly involved and in dialogue with members and the market.
"We shouldn’t think of ourselves as a quarterly talking shop, but a 24/7 organisation," he said.
