It’s virtually impossible to write any report at the moment without mentioning the B word, such is the Brexit issue’s sway on businesses.

And though there is undoubted uncertainty among companies, there are many who are stepping forward, showing confidence and taking action to protect their trade in the event of a no-deal scenario.

Shaun Revill, trading director of roof batten supplier SR Timber, said the timber industry was putting squabbling politicians to shame, picking up the mantle and providing certainty in unprecedented times.

“Whilst politicians are in meltdown over Brexit, businesses like ours have adopted the ‘keep calm and carry on’ approach because, come what may, the UK will still need to build lots of new houses in the months and years ahead.

“And for that, the housebuilding industry is reliant on a constant availability of a range of timber materials such as floor joists, framing, roof trusses, standard doors and, of course, roofing batten.

“Therefore, we’ve seen it as vitally important to be very proactive in reassuring the roofing and housebuilding sectors with two key messages.”

The first is confidence that nothing will change, with SR saying its supply channels remain unaffected. And the second is no compromise on quality and standards, with continuing grading to British Standard 5534:2014 + A2:2018.

Additional stocks

Another major roof batten supplier, Marley, became a one-stop shop for all things roofing when it acquired batten manufacturer John Brash about four years ago. Though the Brash name has now disappeared after integration into the Marley group, investment has continued into the Gainsborough production site.

Stuart Nicholson, Marley’s roof systems director, reported concern among mills, shipping agents and others about Brexit, with fears of ports coming to a standstill and potential delays in clearing volumes, particularly with a no-deal scenario.

“With the potential of no-deal Brexit looming we have increased the stock level significantly. We have over £1m-worth of additional stock under cover.”

Mr Nicholson said Marley had initially been looking at triple that figure of additional stock, but said it was about achieving a balance and not having too much timber on the ground.

He said timber availability was another reason for increasing stocks.

“We have brought in as much raw material as we could to mitigate against delays and shortages. It’s a significant investment to make sure we prepare and ensure continuity for customers.”

This entailed investment in extra covered racking space.

Mr Nicholson thought some scenarios could be problematic for smaller companies importing batten material due to increased costs and delays. “Larger companies could see a spike in orders because some of the volumes normally in the market [from smaller operators] might not be available.

“A lot of people thought a deal would happen, so, there seem to be a hell of a lot of people panicking at the moment. It could all be over nothing and hopefully it will get sorted.”

Mr Nicholson reported that customers had been writing to suppliers asking about their Brexit preparations.

At SR Timber, Mr Revill said ownership of its own sawmill in Latvia gave it complete control over the entire process.

“We needed to have this level of control and, given the current situation the UK finds itself in, this decision feels particularly shrewd, as the sawmill offers us a couple of fundamental benefits and assurances.”

He said the mill’s robust supply chain infrastructure was supported by collaboration with the Latvian government, which wanted to see key businesses maintain a plentiful supply of raw materials to meet demand.

Demand holding up

So far in 2019 building activity levels have held up well.

“The market this year has started very well,” added Mr Nicholson. “We predicted the market would be really flat this year, looking at all the data coming through. I think the uncertainty of the market is a concern. The biggest concern is if housebuilders continue to build. The minute new house sales fall, the builders will be the first to reduce production.”

Timber prices, he added, had been more stable in recent months.

Further investments at Marley’s Gainsborough timber site will include a second Golden Eye scanner and expansion of treatment facilities to add additional colours to products.

Away from roof battens, Marley inherited the John Brash cedar shingles business and reports that it is booming. “Last year was a fantastic year for cedar shingles with some great projects supplied.”

Mr Nicholson said UK holiday parks have ben expanding, with cedar shingle a popular choice for log cabins. One of its customers is adding two new parks this year, while Center Parcs and Legoland were also investing.

Graded battens

There aren’t any big updates on the standards front, though TFT Woodexperts reported debate in Europe about limiting the number of growth rings per inch (currently six), which if realised would give British-grown timber more opportunity in the roof battens market.

Material from the likes of Sweden and Latvia currently dominate the scene.

Mr Coulson said faster-growing British spruce might still be fit for purpose despite its wider growth rings. He said there were sources of slowing growing spruce in England, citing a trial sample for a customer a year ago, where the log raw material yield was such that it was worth sorting.

Graded batten use has continued to grow, helped by NHBC’s insistence on graded battens. The Timber Trade Federation is also very insistent that everyone should be using graded battens to the BS standard and have third party accreditation.

Mr Coulson said 10 years ago the percentage of graded battens versus ungraded battens in the market was about 20%-80%. Now, he added, it was more like 60%-40%.

He said he would like it to be 80%-20%, but this would require builders using the same methodology as in specifying joists or bricks and not focusing on cost alone.

Trussed rafters

Trussed rafter manufacturers have also reported a positive start to 2019.

Pasquill achieved double-digit sales growth in 2018 and managing director Ross Baxter said he was pleased that sales were holding up well.

“We are also pleased to see the government focus and support on the housing industry to address the known underlying shortages that exist in UK,” said Mr Baxter.

“Saint-Gobain has also put in place contingency plans to ensure we can meet our customer expectations during the uncertain times in the market place.”

Mr Baxter said Saint-Gobain has formed a new off-site manufacturing division in response to increasing drivers towards quality, speed and productivity of build, recognising that customers wanted to innovate and change their approach.

One of the largest moves within the roof truss manufacturing industry recently has been the joint acquisition of Crendon Timber Engineering by Wyckham Blackwell (WB) and the Keystone Group from Bradfords Building Supplies.

Crendon has been a fabricator of roof trusses for over 50 years and has an extensive branch network.

“It’s a perfect fit really,” Stephen Thompstone, WB’s managing director told TTJ.

“If you look at the Crendon branch network there was a really big gap in the Midlands. So Wyckham Blackwell and Timber Innovations were a perfect fit to complement the business.”

Since the acquisition WB has been investing in Crendon’s manufacturing capabilities to keep pace with customer demand.

In January, a new spandrel / gable panel production line was installed at Crendon’s Norwich site, increasing the company’s capacity for the product by 20%.

“The investment is in response to additional orders and enquiries from housebuilders,” added Mr Thompstone.

“The orders of spandrel and gable panels have significantly grown over the last 12 months. Speed of construction and health and safety working at height on construction sites are important drivers for our customers and demand has been snowballing.”

An earlier round of investment last September saw other machinery installed, including a new multi-blade saw at Glastonbury, an additional table press at Bridgend and a new overhead crane for the Norwich branch. The improvements will help improve customer service and reduce lead times.

As for market demand, Mr Thompstone said it was good so far in 2019, despite wider Brexit uncertainties.

WB also reported increasing demand for panellised roof systems, via its sister company Smartroof.

Smaller room-in-the-roof projects were proving to be an ideal solution for Smartroof, but Mr Thompstone emphasised that the right type and size of project were key to success.

WB has ambitions to grow its reach still further in the wider timber engineering sector as it looks to offer one-stop solutions for end-users.

“We continue to look for opportunities to expand our business through acquisition in the right geographic area and the right fit of products.”

Donaldson Timber Engineering’s (DTE) recent acquisition of Cambridge Roof Truss was a strategic acquisition designed to be a geographic fit with DTE’s present business and will further supplement its existing product offering across southern and Midlands regions of the UK.

Jonathan Fellingham, managing director at DTE, said the acquisition of Cambridge Roof Truss further extended its reach in the UK.

TRA activity

In terms of Brexit, the TRA has issued a UK government statement that says how businesses can prepare for a no-deal scenario.

The critical point is products that meet EU requirements can continue to be placed on the UK market without any need for retesting or re-marking, including where they have demonstrated compliance with EU requirements after exit day.

This means that as a UK manufacturer of trussed rafters and metal web joists or as an importer placing CE marked goods for construction on the UK market, the business can continue to operate legally without meaningful change.

The subject of fire is requiring a great deal of work across the timber sector and the TRA has been no exception, with the Hackitt review and European fire test standards being drivers. The TRA was involved with fire testing at an early stage, with fire protection of attic floors being one point of focus.

TRA chief executive Nick Boulton said European regulations requiring a 15mm single layer of fire-resisting plasterboard compared to 12mm for BS standards, resulting in heavier and more costly solution to provide compliance.

In terms of gable panels, the way they are connected to masonry has been a difficult issue for a lot of contractors. This stems from modern lightweight masonry blocks being more difficult to make a connection to and concerns about cold bridging.

The issue has been solved by the design of a new piece of metalwork to join the two together. A TRA guide will be published in the next couple of months and distributed via the NHBC.

Elsewhere, the TRA Buyer’s Guide has been put together and is set to be published.

Meanwhile, the TRA enters 2019 searching for a new chairman after Jonathan Fellingham stepped down early. Nick Boulton has taken on the chair’s duties on an interim basis until the recruitment of the next chair is completed. An appointment will be made from within the trussed rafter industry.