Last week brought me reminders of just how many good marketing stories timber has to tell. The first came when we finally ditched our dusty old dining room carpet and replaced it with solid birch. The latter not only looks good and feels fantastic underfoot, I can now stay in the room for more than five minutes without sneezing. And the fitter boosted the floor’s anti-allergenic properties by nailing our cat underneath.
Timber’s many benefits were also flagged up in the Grand Designs TV series which featured an incredible timber frame house. The programme highlighted the environmental, performance and aesthetic benefits of using wood. The construction of the frame was hit by delays, but this was due to its exceptional complexity and the presenter pointed out that a standard frame could be completed much more rapidly.
To get most mileage out of timber’s many marketing angles, of course, demands a concerted approach from the industry – which is why the merger of the Timber and Brick Information Council and the Timber Frame Industry Association is such good news. It’s a time of huge opportunity for the UK timber frame sector and uniting the resources of these two organisations should give it added impetus.
TTJ was given a further example this week of the industry pulling together with an update on the efforts of the Scottish Forest Industries Cluster (which we’ll present in more detail later). The organisation aims to create an ‘interconnected web of businesses’ across the industry to enable it to make maximum use of Scotland’s growing timber resource. And the collaboration is already bearing fruit in the form of life cycle analysis, joinery, training and e-commerce research projects. A Centre of Timber Engineering is also on the cards.
And in case anyone is about to tip off the RSPCA, the cat was rescued from under the floor.
