Summary
¦ CR Taylor (Timber) was established in 1960.
¦ It turns over around 20,000m³ of softwood products per year.
¦ It entered the engineered timber market in 2000.
¦ The company manufactures trussed rafters.
¦ It is looking to relocate to a larger site.
CR Taylor (Timber) Ltd turns 50 this year and it’s celebrating its golden anniversary in the best way possible – with an upturn in business.
The Denholme, Bradford-based timber merchant and manufacturer has been in a very optimistic frame of mind lately, reporting a 30% increase in turnover on the back of an improving housebuilding sector.
“We don’t want to count our chickens but it’s good to be positive after the last couple of years,” said sales director Charles Taylor.
The company didn’t come through the recession unscathed – painful decisions had to be made about employee levels, for example – but thanks to the strong foundations laid down in the early years, it remains in excellent shape and now has ambitious plans for its future.
The company was established in 1960 by Charles Taylor’s late grandfather, Charles Raymond Taylor, who sourced offcuts of timber and recycled palletwood from a local window manufacturer. Before long he was supplying a housebuilder with timber – that housebuilder was later bought by Barratt Homes which itself became a major customer.
When Denholme’s railway fell victim to Beeching’s cuts, CR Taylor bought the 13-acre station site in 1966. His son Peter joined the company in the 60s, taking over as managing director in the 70s before semi-retiring from the business in 2000 when Russell Tallant took over the helm. Mr Tallant had been with the company for 20 years, having joined at 16 when one of his responsibilities was to write out delivery notes “in the coldest shed in the yard”.
CR Taylor now turns over around 20,000m³ of softwood products per year, including redwoods and whitewoods in joinery and carcassing grades, large sections and long lengths. It also supplies softwood and MDF mouldings and sheet materials.
Strength in stockholding
A major strength for the £6m-turnover company, and undoubtedly one of the reasons it has survived the recession, is its impressive stockholding. While some companies have opted for streamlining and cutting stock, CR Taylor keeps at least £1m-worth in the yard. It’s a policy that has paid off, particularly since supply shortages have started to influence the wider trade.
“Our feeling is that if you don’t have it, you can’t sell it,” said Charles Taylor. “Our customers deal with us because we seldom run out of anything – and if we do we can convert it in our sawmill.
“We’re classed as a timber merchant, but we almost do agency work, bringing in huge bulks of stock,” he went on. “We deal direct with sawmills in Europe and Scotland and we then sell it on to smaller merchants, as well as housebuilders, in a 40-50 mile radius.”
The company’s diverse customer base means it can balance its margins. “We have a bedrock of bulk turnover which brings our buying power up and we can afford to sell packs to merchants, but we also sell to the small trader and DIY sector, where we can command a higher margin,” said Mr Taylor.
Timber merchant customers also buy grading services from CR Taylor, which has four visual graders as well as machine grading facilities. “Everyone buys product in pre-graded,” said Mr Taylor, “but if you convert it it has to be regraded before it can be sold on. It’s an extra service for our customers and another reason for them to buy from us.”
CR Taylor’s focus on engineered timber also sets it apart from some of its competitors. Paul Amphlett joined the company as director for engineered timber products in 2000 and, after carrying out extensive research into the different I-joist products available and market sectors, the company entered the engineered I-joist market and is now a distributor for the Finnforest Finnframe system.
“We create the floor design for the customers from their working drawings, cut the Finnjoists to length and then supply the customer with a labelled drawing and matching pack of labelled joists,” said Mr Amphlett. “As an added service we fully shrink wrap all our plot bundles to ensure they are protected on site until they are ready to be installed.”
Customer base
Customers range from national housebuilders to small traders and, again, fellow timber merchants account for significant business. “Other merchants who don’t have the design capability or the stock, but who still want to be able to offer that product to their own customers, come to us to do the work for them and they ‘brass plate’ it,” said Mr Taylor.
It’s a similar story with the most recent addition to CR Taylor’s portfolio, roof trusses, production of which started in November 2007.
The company’s six-figure investment in manufacturing equipment and personnel happened on the cusp of a declining market. “It was the worst possible time to set it up, but it didn’t faze us,” said Mr Taylor.
In fact, despite a suppressed market, roof truss production has held up well and the press has been in constant use. With the decline of many housebuilders, CR Taylor focused more on supplying other merchants, increasing this business by 50% within a year.
“As with the I-joists we had to ensure we had everything right so customers didn’t have a reason not to deal with us,” said Mr Amphlett, who is also chairman of the northern region of the Trussed Rafter Association. “It was important for us to have all the accreditations required within the roof truss industry – ISO 9001 and PEFC and FSC certificates, for example – as this allows us to trade in all its markets and sectors.”
And in the future the intention is to turn out even more of those goods. The plan is for engineered timber products to increase from 20-25% of the business to around 30% by the end of 2011 and for roof truss production to double this year, in line with demand.
Other plans for the future include adding hardwoods and possibly modified timber to the product mix – the company has already had some success with thermowood cladding – and an “eco-products” range is also being considered. This is likely to include the stocking of natural insulation products and will be geared towards the small- to medium-sized builder.
Whatever the future holds in terms of product development, it won’t be at the expense of the com-pany’s timber merchant status.
“We want to offer the whole package, but we won’t do what a lot of our competitors have done and go into other materials such as bricks and blocks and plastics,” said Mr Taylor. “My father always said ‘stick to what you’re good at’ – it’s Taylor’s for timber and that’s it.”
Relocation planned
Relocation is on the agenda, however (www.ttjonline.com June 1). “We’re bursting at the seams now and we’re in a very rural location,” said Mr Taylor. “We’re only about 10 miles from the motorway network, but would like to locate nearer to enable us to be even more efficient with our delivery service to our customers.”
Planning permission is being sought for the existing site and, once secured, it will be sold to release the capital necessary for the move.
“Although the new site will still be in the Bradford area, we were worried how the staff would react as some of them live in the village,” he added. “But they’ve been very positive and see it as opportunity for the business to grow again – and with that comes job security.”
Shorter term the company has that anniversary to celebrate. “The best birthday present would be to invest in the business for the long-term future, but we will also have a celebration with the staff towards the end of the summer,” said Mr Taylor.
“Fifty years is quite a milestone, especially after the last couple of years when we’ve seen many of our competitors fail. It’s proof that we’re a business that has been flexible and forward thinking enough to survive.”
