Since the post-Covid home improvement boom, Vincent Timber acknowledges that the cladding market has become more challenging. The construction slowdown and wider economic pressures have impacted the sector. But being known as a cladding specialist, says Vincent, has stood it in good stead to contend with more testing times which have also not stopped it investing, developing its product range, and “laying foundations for future growth and future generations”.
Ed Sutch, senior technical sales, said that the construction market as a whole “feels very different to the post-Covid mayhem period”.
“The change of government, higher interest rates, and the rising cost of living have all contributed to a highly competitive market,” he said. “That said, companies like Vincent Timber, which offer a relatively niche and specialist product range and service, are able to stand out from the crowd.”
Another strength of the company, he said, is its capability to service a wide variety of projects, from small, private home improvement jobs to multi-property housing and commercial developments.
“We can cover the whole market, from a private customer wanting 15m2 for a home-build garden office, to the large-scale house developers or one-off new leisure or education projects,” said Mr Sutch. “There is not just one area that we focus on, and we pride ourselves in backing the product with customer advice and guidance regardless of project size or value.”
Vincent maintains that another of its strengths is the reputation it has built up in factory coated products, where it offers multiple options, including a bespoke coating service.
“Having a pre-painted product will ensure consistency to the finish and save huge amounts of time and cost on site,” said Mr Sutch. “Ideally timber should be coated to all faces, and the coating should be applied under moisture and humidity-controlled conditions to ensure the best performance of the coating system. If customers opt for the Cape Cod products we offer, they will get a warranty on the paint system as a prefinished product, giving peace of mind for long-term performance.”
Cape Cod is a Canadian based global market leading company of which Vincent Timber says it is hugely proud to be the UK sole distributor. The warranty on its factory applied paint system is for 15 years, and Vincent Timber offers a choice of its coated products, which are made from lodge pole pine.
“We are also the proud sole distributor of French-based cladding specialist manufacturer Sivalbp,” said Mr Sutch. “They supply a range of products, including a number of pre-grey, weathered appearance timbers. Then in the UK we machine thermally modified timbers, with the most common to factory-coat being redwood and ayous, and we also offer coated Accoya cladding.”
He described the range of colours supplied by Vincent as “endless”.
“Cape Cod will colour match if the project is the right size, and, through our access to leading coating manufacturers in the UK, in association with our coating partners, we can match to any RAL colour in a variety of finishes to suit the project,” he said. “And with the timber being milled in house in its multi-million-pound production facility, we can machine to the individual customer or specifiers’ profile.”
Another key development for the cladding market has been the tightening of fire safety rules in building regulations and more generally an increase in specification of fireretardant- treated products.
“The demand is increasing year-on-year,” said Mr Sutch. “Building safety regulations is a key driver, but so too is the understanding that timber cladding can have a process applied to increase its fire rating from EuroClass E to B.
“Another factor influencing demand is the fact that private properties are being built closer to one another, with boundary walls often needing to be fire-retardant coated. In larger projects where there is increased footfall, for instance around shopping centres, we are also now seeing fire treatment becoming an increasingly frequent requirement on timber cladding.”
Most timber species Vincent Timber supplies can be fire-treated.
“Timber can only achieve a maximum of EuroClass B, and there are limitations on thickness and profiles in some instances,” said Mr Sutch. “But there is always a solution to be able to offer product to meet the EuroClass B standard.”
Vincent Timber works with leading approved processors in the UK providing a certified fire treatment process.
“Of course, it’s a precise and controlled process, so we turn to the experts – it’s where they excel,” said Mr Sutch. “We’ve developed great relationships with these partners and are delivering cladding to, and collecting treated products from them, on a weekly basis, and then onward to our customers.”
It may be a more competitive market out there, but clearly Vincent is positive and well placed for future prospects and opportunities making still more of its cladding specialism.
“We have ongoing investment in new machinery, and we’ve introduced electric sideloaders and also the latest fuel-efficient delivery vehicles,” said Mr Sutch. “We’re also undergoing a software systems update, and we’ve made additional land purchases along with a recent acquisition of a like-minded, quality driven family business to support further future expansion.”
