As Britain attempts to start ‘building back better’ and reviving the economy, a radically different set of ‘three Rs’ are coming together in construction.
Recovery ‘roadmaps’, especially that laid out by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), alongside business relationships, and the growing demand for a national focus on retrofit to address the climate emergency, are sharpening the timber sector’s focus on the sales opportunities ahead.
The Aldersgate Group, a multi-stakeholder alliance comprising some of the largest businesses and NGOs in the UK, advocates a competitive yet environmentally sustainable, decarbonised economy.
Signe Norberg, Aldersgate’s public affairs manager, explains their position: “We see retrofit as central to a green economic revival. It would create jobs at local level, lowering energy bills and helping fuelpoor households. Co-operation across supply chains is an important part of getting a retrofit strategy off the ground. Our members, who include both construction companies and construction clients, are already preparing to take the first steps.
“It will need support from government as well as industry, but we believe the concept of a nationwide retrofit programme may be gaining ground.”
The UK’s builders, too, are pressing for change. “If the UK is to deliver its legal obligation to deliver zero carbon by 2050, the government will need to develop a national retrofit strategy with a roadmap for how we will upgrade the energy efficiency of our country’s homes,” says Brian Berry, Federation of Master Builders chief executive. “It is a policy imperative that our existing homes are decarbonised if this target is to be met.
“A retrofit programme now would also offer the opportunity to stimulate regional growth and create thousands of new jobs, which is crucial to our economic recovery from the impact of the coronavirus,” he continued.
“Britain’s builders stand ready, but we need strong leadership from the government to help boost demand, as well as financing to help develop a viable market in retrofit, and encourage all housing-related sectors to engage in this vital work. As with the whole of construction, a strong supply chain and ability to access materials via builders’ merchants will be needed.”
Will builders’ merchants take up the gauntlet? Chris Hayward, managing director at the NMBS, thinks they will.
“Once merchants are aware of an issue and take it up, they run with it,” he said. “It’s a matter of education. Merchants can influence their customer-base to adopt new practices, but they need more information and training.
“Through our work with the Timber Trade Federation (TTF), we’re increasing merchants’ awareness of timber’s environmental credentials, and of the best wood products to sell for eco-friendly and retrofit projects,” continued Mr Hayward.
“Timber suppliers have traditionally been behind the curve in helping merchants to market wood products, when compared to other categories of merchant supplies.
We recognised that more could be done to help maximise timber sales, hence our cooperation with the TTF to provide information and education.
“It’s early days in our relationship but things are improving. Over the next 12-18 months we’d like to see that expand, adding more direct input from timber suppliers.” John Newcomb, chief executive officer of the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) has been part of the CLC’s recovery roadmap deliberations, and agrees there are positive prospects.
“The whole supply chain must work together to create a cleaner, greener future; we need to ensure we have the appropriate skills in place,” he said.
“The building materials industry is fundamentally supportive of the government’s net zero agenda,” he continued. “But following the Green Deal failure some years back, and particularly while they are still turning business around post-pandemic, businesses will want to see effective government stimulus in this area if they are to invest.
“Were a national retrofit strategy to be put in place by government, merchants and manufacturers would certainly get behind the direction of travel. However, for most, the main focus for the next six months is on stabilising business and promoting sales.” Good relationships with timber suppliers are key to continuity of business, particularly in the manufacturing sector. How have our industry’s manufacturing customers been impacted by the pandemic, and what are the challenges they face going forward?
“Long-established, close relationships with our timber suppliers have meant that our supply chain was not unduly impacted through the pandemic or the recommencement of business,” said Stephen Wright, chairman of joinery manufacturer George Barnsdale & Sons.
“Economic uncertainty and Brexit are the next two challenges that we will all collectively face in the months to come.” “The timber windows we make are significantly beneficial in terms of environmental impact and energy-reduction,” said Mr Wright, addressing the retrofit agenda. “We are also undertaking research into using modified British-grown hardwoods, as that would reduce the transport and other emissions associated with wood products from further afield.”
A fourth ‘R’ – resource efficiency – is also an issue highlighted by campaigning organisations like the Aldersgate Group. George Barnsdale & Sons is already plumbed into the ‘circular economy’, producing zero wood waste. The company uses its wood by-products to fuel the factory’s paint drying system, any remainder going into domestic wood fuel briquettes.
For major staircase and door set manufacturer, Stairways Group, working closely with timber suppliers is a given, whatever the economic or environmental circumstances.
“Our size dictates that we source our own timber and MDF, as we need to ensure continuity of supply,” said Karen Wood, joint managing director. “We normally forecast our timber needs around 12 months ahead. We carry a lot of stock on the ground and this, plus our close, long-established relationships with suppliers, has meant that we’ve been largely unaffected by supply issues for our production lines during the pandemic.
“Regardless of the economic situation, if you have a good relationship with your suppliers you can normally help each other to get through tough times,” she continued.
“Our suppliers are very supportive: we have a good dialogue with them. If there are ever any problems, we just speak with them and we manage to achieve a satisfactory outcome. We have seen some materials price increases recently, which aren’t welcome, as our client base is unable to tolerate price increases at the moment.
“With every negative there is a positive,” added Ms Wood. “In terms of ‘building back better’, SMEs like Stairways can use this time fruitfully to re-position the business. Having brought our business through the previous recession we know we can come back stronger, especially with the support of our suppliers.”
The CLC’s Roadmap to Recovery plan clearly states the need to ‘make measurable progress towards delivering net zero carbon’ across construction, as business levels gradually build back over the next 12-18 months.
“Making progress towards net zero means embedding knowledge of wood’s economic, social and environmental credentials across the ‘construction ecosystem’, from architects, engineers, builders, manufacturers and merchants to policy-makers, authorities, and procurement teams,” said David Hopkins, TTF chief executive.
“Purchasing and supplying ‘Timber you can Trust’ goes beyond due diligence,” he added. “It requires us all to put our shoulders to the promotional wheel and drive home the many other sustainability arguments in favour of using timber in construction.”
