Forty years ago Dr Wolman, the German timber preservative manufacturer, believed the market for its products would undergo radical and fundamental change. It saw the future in high performance environmentally safer products and did away with arsenic in its formulation. In 1989 the company went all the way and stopped using chrome. Turnover halved overnight.

Jean-Claude Bergot, the business manager for the newly formed UK division of Dr Wolman, admits he is glad he was not the man to have to stand in front of a main board of directors and pitch a proposal that would have such a devastating effect on its business. However, he believes the benefits that followed that early move into environmental awareness are paying dividends with the UK operation.

He said: ‘In fact, within a couple of years, turnover was back where it had been. The decision in 1989 was purely and simply placing us for the long term, it was not something for short-term gain – or loss as it was. It was seen as the future and it was backed by BASF (the parent company) and it was in line with its general environmental theme.

‘We had alternatives which could be used. The biggest single problem was that the manufacturing cost was higher, so the end user prices were that much higher too. The task then was convincing people to use them.

‘Of course, now that we have not used chrome since 1989, we have learned a lot. We have field test data we can bring to bear that nobody else has. More is known about our chrome-free products than others on the market, mainly because we have had many more years in which to learn. Furthermore, Dr Wolman has now already been through the process of refining its formulations.’

The continuing shift toward environmentally safer preservatives with high performance was behind Dr Wolman’s decision to start a UK division. That, and the fact that Rentokil, which used to market Dr Wolman products in this country, moved out of timber preservatives.

Mr Bergot previously worked for Rentokil in export sales and had only limited contact with the UK operation. He heads a three-strong team based in the BASF Printing Systems premises in Slinfold, near Horsham, West Sussex. Mr Bergot is joined by Tim Kilby, who handles sales and marketing, and Peter Moran, who specialises in technical matters. All the products are developed and manufactured at Dr Wolman’s German headquarters in Sinzheim, near Baden-Baden.

Mr Bergot said the new division was not created simply to fill the void left by Rentokil. Far from it: it was an inevitability as the company sees the UK as an important market in the world timber industry and, of course, Dr Wolman is now the only European-owned timber preservative manufacturer in the UK. Most of the others are US-owned.

He said: ‘Dr Wolman throughout Europe had a dual approach to some markets. If there was a need to have an agency agreement and there was a good match between the potential agent and ourselves, then that is now we would operate. We distributed some of our products through Rentokil and also some direct. I think it was good to take the decision to set up here, the timing was probably quite right to do so. It had always been our objective to take this next step.

‘The most important thing to remember about our company is everything it does has the long term in mind. We were happy to spend time in this dual agreement because we were getting knowledge of the market and building a business.’

Research and development

Mr Bergot explained, with some pride, about the company’s research and development efforts, and insisted it is what makes the difference between Dr Wolman and its competitors, and ensures Dr Wolman remains ahead. Although the company is a small part of BASF – about 1% – around one-third of Dr Wolman staff work in R&D and one-third of gross profits is returned to spend on R&D. In BASF, about 10% of staff work in R&D.

Dr Wolman’s R&D effort comprises three research and three service sections. Wood preservation, fire protection and biocide laboratories make up the research department while the three service operations are analysis, entomology and mycology and microbiology. Wood preservative labs are linked to a technical plant and field exposure facility. In fire protection there is a combustion chamber and furnace working alongside the labs, while the microbiology laboratory is authorised to work with pathogenic germs. All the labs have computer-operated data processing and the latest analysis equipment.

The key focus areas for the new UK operation are the industrial pre-treatment products for double vacuum and vacuum pressure, and the anti-sapstain range for forestry work.

Wolmanit Cx range is a proven arsenic-free and chrome-free timber preservative for vacuum pressure treatment. This provides preventative protection against wood-destroying insects and fungi. It is used to protect timber for interior and exterior uses, including ground contact and is used especially in horticulture and landscape gardening. For double vacuum treatment, Wolman is concentrating on its water-soluble Wolsit KD20 micro-emulsions.

Dr Wolman recently acquired the well-known brand of anti-sapstain product Sinesto from Finnish Chemicals to be sold alongside its own Wolsin water soluble wood preservative.

Because Sinesto is primarily for freshly-felled timber, the market in the UK, mostly in Scotland and in the spring and autumn, is secondary to the double vacuum and vacuum pressure products. Those comprise the majority of the division’s sales potential – about 80%, which is evenly divided between the two.

Mr Bergot said: ‘This is a starting position for us here. There is a growing awareness of us in the UK as our product range covers the full spectrum of timber treatment from products to be used in the forest to protect fallen trees, say, and all the way to timber that needs to be treated for a second time, ie timber in situ, such as utility poles. These are the two extremes and we will cover everything in between.’

Mr Bergot added: ‘All these products are used in Europe and generically people will be familiar with them, but not with the specific differences. Double vacuum is a key market; it is product led and we believe

our KD20 is the top product. We were previously selling this in parallel with Rentokil. The vacuum pressure sector is very big and with our range of chrome-free products, we are expecting some good things from this sector. With Sinesto B we have a well-established position, although it is a relatively small sector in the UK.’

Three months after the division was launched, Mr Bergot believed the decision was vindicated. He said: ‘We started with a tightly directed direct mail and advertising campaign, and since then the phones have been ringing constantly. People want to see what we have to offer. There is a tremendous amount of activity. I think this reflects well on the timing of the decision to start the UK business. We seem to have caught our potential customers at the right time.

‘We did not really expect this because, when we launched, people were coming back from holidays and catching up with what had been going on in their businesses. The conversations and meetings we have been having, however, have clearly been due to a genuine interest in what we have to offer but, perhaps, have also been stimulated by the mood of change in the industry. I think we will need to take a step back around Christmas to consolidate the progress we have made.’

Mr Bergot believes the future for the timber preservatives market in the UK is clearly defined. He said: ‘As has happened in other parts of Europe, there is a gradual move to what are considered more environmentally friendly products. Many of the products in use in the UK have performed well over many years, but I think there is an inevitability about change and it will happen over the next few years.’