What’s more, we’re in the midst of a mass of exhibitions, awards and other promotional activities, all swelling the positive image of timber. The Timber Show at London’s ExCel has just finished; the TTJ Awards made their fantastic annual mark and soon the roadshow moves to Birmingham for W6, another full-scale timber showcase.
These are exciting times and the recent surge in raw material costs is bound to help, by raising income and allowing the industry to invest through better returns, providing we do not see it all fall back again.
We’re probably in a position to think more clearly about what to do to sustain this period of positivity. Such as?
How about education, training and careers? After all, it is an area that the industry is not exactly highly renowned for, but behind the scenes there’s a lot going on at all levels.
The BWF‘s series of courses; Wood for Good‘s trip to take journalists to a variety of timber businesses; and the TTF committee’s ongoing work to link timber companies, educational centres and students are just three examples from many ongoing initiatives. They’re all starting to add up, giving a new, vibrant feel to the whole timber industry, but it takes a lot of time and money to really make a big difference.
Maybe the time’s right to put some of that new extra price rise into a place where it will do long-term good for the whole industry – and where better than by educating and training the timber people of the future?
