It seems a strange question to ask, but now that the timber frame industry is growing again, what effect is it having on the timber trade?

The average timber frame home is reckoned to have about twice the amount of wood (10m3 – source UKTFA) compared with the masonry equivalent (5m3). So, there is obviously more wood being used. But what is clear is that there is a small number of players or “specialists” supplying timber frame manufacturers with products, including CLS, I-beams and other engineered products, OSB and roof trusses.

For the average merchant, it is more difficult to pin down what the exact benefits are.

UK Timber Frame Association‘s chief executive Bryan Woodley admits that a lot of the timber was sold direct to manufacturers but he said there was no reason why merchants couldn’t get involved.

“What the timber merchants must think about is there is a long tail on the industry with a lot of small- and medium-sized players who need timber,” he said.

Partnership

One example is an initiative recently launched by Potton in partnership with a regional builders merchant to enable smaller developers easier access to timber frame and to buy from their established supply routes. The service is designed to offer an integrated supply solution, enabling smaller developers to concentrate on building while design, planning services, estimating and order scheduling are handled by the new partnership.

The Timber Trade Federation‘s product manager Nick Boulton said developers considering timber frame may also want to go through the merchant chain they were used to dealing with.

“Merchants have got the expertise but a small developer building in brick and block may not understand what’s required in timber frame.”

He said this represented a good transition for developers going into timber frame, but admitted most of the benefits coming the way of merchants would be indirect, as they specialised in site business rather than the off-site, kit manufacturing methods used by the timber frame factories.

“Any good news from the expansion of timber frame has to be of a general nature. We are increasing the profile of timber and people might think about it more as a material. If you are buying a timber frame house you may be looking for timber fittings to go into it,” said Mr Boulton.

There is also the argument that a small developer converting from masonry to timber frame would want to use I-joists or floor cassettes instead of the standard floor joists, a staple merchant product. That raises the question – should merchants change their offering to include more engineered products?

&#8220What the timber merchants must think about is there is a long tail on the industry with a lot of small- and medium-sized players who need timber”

Bryan Woodley, chief executive, UK Timber Frame Association

Among the timber merchanting firms supplying the market is Howarth Timber which has set up its own timber frame division.

Raising the profile

Managing director Nick Howarth believes the trade needs to welcome the rise of timber frame for raising the profile of timber as a primary building product.

“You have to embrace and change with what the customer wants. Otherwise it’s a pointless and futile exercise like King Canute with the tide,” he said.

Howarth supplies timber frame manufacturers with doors and windows, plus roof trusses. “If you have the products that customers want to buy and you have good quality and competition on price, you will benefit,” he added.

International Timber has a £4m timber frame components factory in Newport. Commercial director Tony Miles said timber frame manufacturers were looking for a consistent quality product and just in time delivery.

“They’re looking for people to add value to the product and take away costs from their own organisations,” he said. “The market is growing and it is here. The customer base is looking for added value, solution driven alternatives to having bulk loads of timber.”

Mr Miles believes the market needs to be developed by the timber trade as well as by the timber frame industry. He said some merchants were now starting to recognise this.

Cirencester-based Crown Timber is one of the specialist timber suppliers focusing on the sector. Director Simon Henry, who is a UKTFA board member, said when timber frame manufacturers reached a certain size they looked for a specialist supplier.

“If you buy a fuse you go to a DIY store. If you want a thousand you go to an electrical wholesalers, and if you want a million you go to a fuse manufacturer,” he said.

But he counselled caution over the growth of timber frame. He said annual growth was still only about 1% and the industry was not a “cash pot” that every trader should be charging into.

He said it was important to maintain service, quality and just in time delivery, but he pointed out that some merchants were doing quite well targeting the self-build sector and they had potential to supply small builders doing one-off projects, perhaps using stick-building techniques.