This year represented a hat-trick for UK Construction Week (UKCW), the Birmingham NEC mega construction show encompassing nine events.
As well as Timber Expo, the UK’s only exhibition purely focused on timber products, there is also the Build Show, the Surface & Materials show, Smart Buildings 2018 and the consumer-focused Grand Designs Live. The word from organiser Media 10 is that people finally understood what UKCW Ltd was all about. The attendance figure across the shows was 33,697, up 11% on last year according to Media 10, with about 650 exhibitors. And it reported record rebooking rates – with 40% of space already sold out for the 2018 event. “This was a big year for UK Construction Week,” said Nathan Garnett, UKCW event director.
“It was only our third year, but to get an 11% uplift in attendees is a real stamp of approval that we are delivering the kind of innovative, forward thinking, national event that brings the whole sector together. “It has proven itself as the place to meet and do business, and look at how we tackle the enormous challenges to come in the years ahead.”
Visitors included architects, top housebuilders, developers, local authorities, and facilities managers.
Timber Expo had a number of new exhibitors this year, although the overall size of the event was reduced to approximately 80 stands.
The Timber Restaurant, sponsored by DHH Timber, saw several notable events take place, including the release of the Structural Timber Association’s annual statistics, showing a healthy growth curve for timber frame construction, as well as a Timber Trade Federation / Embassy of Belarus seminar on the Belarusian timber industry.
TIMBER EXPO EXHIBITORS
Engineered wood and wood fibre insulation manufacturer Steico had eight of its customers on stand to present a comprehensive picture of how its products can be used and where to buy them.
Customers include PH Homes, Ecomerchant, Limegreen, MBM, Elliotts, Harlow Bros, Walker Timber and Arnold Laver.
Visitors were able to see how Steico customers use its products as part of build systems.
Steico announced a new partnership with MBM Forest Products, which will enable the latter to deliver mixed packs of engineered wood products and structural solid softwoods to customers.
The second line at Steico’s LVL facility in Poland is just running its first products and will be fully operational in Q1, 2018, with a third line expected to follow in 2020.
Steico has seen an increase in LVL products sold into the furniture trade, with smaller sections possible compared with solid wood such as beech, with the latter seeing price increases and availability issues.
“Markets have found us,” said Adrian Judd, sales and operations director at Steico Ltd. Meanwhile, Ecomerchant, which handles Steico break bulk wood fibre insulation sales in the UK, reported strong business levels for the product, helped by a 30% increase in PU insulation.
“Wood fibre can now more cheaply meet the same U-value as PU,” said Ecomerchant. Wood-plastic composites (WPC) represent a sector that is clearly on the rise, with several exhibitors showing the product, including SmartBoard and Ino Wood.
SmartBoard, making its Timber Expo debut, has been brought to the market by Hoppings Softwood Products and is composed of ultra-dense (1,400kg/m3) WPC, formed from 60% waste engineered oak flooring fibre and 40% recycled shampoo bottles.
Hoppings’ Adam Pulfer said the company’s policy of sending sample boxes to merchant customers was intended to get the product on the “dashboards of white van man”, effectively making the latter a salesperson of the product.
Lithuania-based manufacturer Ino Wood demonstrated its decking, cladding and fencing products, with its UK representative carpentry contractor LMC also in attendance. The product is made from recycled plastic windows and wood shavings and has been used extensively for balconies on apartment projects in the London area for major housebuilders. Fire retardants are added to the production process, with a Class B fire performance quoted.
LMC reported good enquiries at Timber Expo. Its fencing application is something it is looking to target at merchants.
A Canadian presence at Timber Expo was in the form of the Québec Wood Export Bureau (QWEB), which announced it was interested in testing the UK market once more.
“Now we see quite a lot of European imported wood coming into the US,” said Sven Gustavsson, QWEB whitewood director. “There is the large issue of tariffs between the US and Canada and we see that prices are going up in the UK. We’re making some new contacts and renewing some old contacts and seeing what is happening in the market but I do not believe there will be a flood of Canadian wood on this market.”
He expected 38mm-thick CLS to have UK potential, not standard carcassing.
QWEB is inviting UK buyers to the Montreal Wood Convention next March. Latvian sawmiller GK shared information about its cross-laminated timber (CLT) production expansion, with its 30,000m3 first line starting last year followed recently by the second (150,000m3). The company said its expansion into CLT partly stems from the competitiveness on commodity timber products.
Russian birch plywood importer Orlimex gave a ringing endorsement for Timber Expo. “Coming to Timber Expo for the second time proved to be the right decision for the second time in row,” said David Menšík, sales director, Orlimex.
“Our current product portfolio as well as introducing new products brought a lot of attention to our stand and therefore we were able to not only gather contacts but also spread the knowledge of the products to the broader public.”
UK hardwood flooring and door manufacturer Barham & Sons thought the show brought a “high quality, broad spectrum of customers” from all areas including London, the Home Counties, the north-east, the Midlands, Ireland, the Middle East and even the Seychelles.
TIMBER FOCUS THEATRE
TRADA’s Timber Focus Theatre provided a main focus for Timber Expo, with engaging presentations including Zaha Hadid’s design for a timber football stadium; designs for digital manufacturing by Buro Happold; and a look at pioneering research into the dynamics of tall timber buildings.
The winning designs of CO2nnect, TRADA’s 2017 Student Design Competition, were on TRADA’s stand. First prize went to a team from the University of Edinburgh, which scooped £2,000 for ‘Gateway’, an innovative modular design that uses a series of reconfigurable hexagonal shapes.
TRADA’s latest book, “Cross-Laminated Timber: Design and Performance, a definitive guide to CLT”, was also available to purchase. ‘Entwined’, a ground-breaking timber pavilion, was also on display. Designed by students from the Emergent Technologies and Design Programme at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and co-ordinated by TRADA and sponsored by Hanson Plywood, this stunning creation derives from extensive research on plywood composite material systems, focused on the integration of doubly curved plywood forms and tensile cables.
“It was great to see plenty of engaging stands and features this year,” said Rupert Scott, TRADA’s membership and marketing manager.
“I encourage every company selling woodbased solutions and products to pull together, get involved and help make the ‘timber pie’ bigger.”
Grown in Britain (GiB) and the British Woodworking Federation (BWF) combined to launch timber windows made from UK softwood and hardwood to demonstrate that British-grown timber can be successfully used for timber windows, the majority of which are normally made from imported timber.
British-grown Douglas fir from Grown in Britain licence-holder Tyler Hardwoods was used in the softwood window example, made by BWF member Medina Joinery of Hayling Island.
Thermally-modified British Brimstone poplar from GiB-licensed Vastern Timber was used for the hardwood window example, made by Oakleaf Joinery of Kidderminster. “Whilst we cannot fail to recognise that we are part of a global supply chain, the Grown in Britain work chimes with our own Made in Britain activities and there is undoubtedly opportunity to explore projects where using home-grown is practical and profitable,” said Iain McIlwee, BWF CEO.
The BWF also announced its shortlist for its BWF Awards and a new version of its Stair Scheme Design Guide. BWF-Certifire also linked up with Exova during the show to launch a new fire door installation guide. On the Garnica Plywood stand, staff reported some quality leads. The stand highlighted Garnica’s relationship with distributor James Latham, with the latter stocking Garnica products.
Garnica promoted the lightness and sustainability benefits of its poplar plywood. The Confederation of Timber Industries’ (CTI) stand presented a unified industry front – with the TTF, BWF and STA promoting a collaborative approach across the timber industry and hosting events at the adjacent Timber Restaurant.
As well as the STA’s annual survey results on timber construction, which showed timber frame’s share of the housebuilding market was up to 28.4% in 2016, other CTI news included the Wood Protection Association joining the organisation.
The “Timber: Doing Business in Belarus” Seminar, hosted by the TTF and attended by Belarus’ UK ambassador Sergei Aleinik, saw a number of Belarusian wood product manufacturers making presentations to TTF members with the objective of exploring new markets and facilitating timber trade between the two countries.
