I was very flattered recently when I was invited to say a few words in TTJ’s guest column and I immediately said yes.
Very soon the reality set in when I tried to think of something semi-intelligent to say, but after several litter bins full of crumpled paper I came up with my masterpiece, the gist of which was that “the timber trade was too fragmented and that the TTF, TRADA, the Wood for Good campaign and the many other worthy bodies of the trade should get together in a united front to promote our cause in a more coherent and cost-effective way etc, etc”.
But sure enough just before I sent my humble effort off to the editor, somebody pipped me to the post, namely president of The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) Neil Donaldson in his speech at the North East Timber Trade Association annual dinner which was reported in the February 3/10 issue of Timber Trades Journal.
So I am left to echo his words which I think we need to take very seriously before we lose the initiative we currently have.
But staying on the subject of promotional opportunities for our industry, I am very pleased to see that the TTF is promoting so heavily its Responsible Purchasing Policy (RPP) which I think is an extremely important step for our trade.
There are a lot of concerned consumers who want to use timber but are understandably worried about some of the grey areas with certain species regarding legality and sustainability.
Without going into too much detail, the independently audited RPP is a very useful tool in assisting TTF members in answering these questions and putting some meat on the bones of the often-used TTF members’ statement that “members are committed to sourcing their timber and timber products from legal and well-managed forests”.
I think it is absolutely imperative that all members of the trade sign up for this if they care for the future of our industry.
