It’s been quite a journey for Dresser Mouldings, now rebranded Latham Timber Manufacturing or LTM, since its acquisition by James Latham in 2019. Originally an outsourced provider of timber machining and moulding services to Latham, the operation has now become a vital, integral part of our Group.
The LTM site at Rochdale has seen numerous areas of investment, not just in the fabric of the building, but also in storage and warehousing facilities, process machinery, ventilation and more. It is now the cladding manufacturing centre for the Group, with our nationwide network of distribution depots using it to fulfil orders for their customers across the UK and Ireland.
Employing a team of 41, the state-of-theart production facility and spray coating line offers a solution for pretty much any enquiry it receives, whether that be concerning species, section or finish requirements.
It can cut multiple widths, machine up to 260mm wide, precision cross-cut, offer brushing for feature cladding, spraying for a high build level, lacquer with a matt or gloss finish, laminate/bond to bigger sections, CNC work including drilling, right through to producing glazing cassettes and curtain walling.
With the spray line and the lacquer line, it is able to offer several coating options specifically for claddings including Teknos, Sikkens and Morells paint options. That’s along with the James Latham exclusive two times British Woodworking Federation award winning Finish Line Collection, which includes 12 unique colours. In addition, LTM is currently the sole distributor of Sansin paint in the UK.
The rebrand to Latham Timber Manufacturing came about not just to bring the facility into the Latham brand family, but also to solidify supply chain routes, optimise procurement leverage and access to stock from across the network of storage facilities and warehouses. This is critical in a time when every last available stick of timber is fought after and significant stocks of products such as Accoya are key to success in the sector. At the time of writing, James Latham has the broadest stock range of Accoya in the UK.
To support the sales effort, considerable resource has been invested in marketing tools for the division, with a new website (tm.lathams.co.uk), a host of new brochures and other collateral, and perhaps most significantly of all, the development of a bespoke-built digital cladding visualiser.
This tool allows customers, specifiers and clients to apply every species and type of cladding profile available from the Latham network, rendered as high definition 3D scans onto a series of building types, then save a PDF document of the designs, order samples for next day dispatch and even book a video consultation at the time of their choice to discuss the designs and ask any questions relating to their selection. You can try it out at Cladding.lathamtimber.co.uk.
It’s tools like these that have led to cladding being among the most requested samples from the purpose-built Central Sampling Service, housed at Latham’s Leicester depot.
This all seems a huge step forward from the business that was acquired in 2019, but it’s really only the beginning of big plans for the division. Look out for more news soon.
