Finnforest’s closure of its Tilbury site at the end of last year was a difficult decision but has been proved to be the right one at the right time, according to Finnforest UK’s managing director Rod Allan.
Speaking at a press event last week at which he summed up the company’s performance in 2011 and made some predictions for 2012, Mr Allan said that this year’s market had been very tough, but that the timing of decisions that had been “in plan” for 10 years had helped.
“The closure of Tilbury went smoothly, largely because we’d invested in technology, in particular the SAP enterprise systems and radio frequency management of stock and warehousing,” he said. “We’ve squeezed our footprint down and are now very well prepared for when future growth comes.”
Looking to the future, Mr Allan said the company was looking forward to exhibiting at Ecobuild 2012 where it would showcase new products, including a new roofing system.
From a market point of view, he said that 2012 would continue to be tough but that there were some glimmers of hope.
“This year has been spent controlling costs but 2012 will have to be different because most companies have already taken out as many costs as possible,” he said. “The best prediction is that 2012 will be the same as this year, but with some gains [for Finnforest] in market share.
“Housebuilders are now better placed to take advantage of any government stimulus packages, so they may start to see better business,” he said, adding that this should benefit merchants.
In any event, Mr Allan said, as a vertically integrated company with ready access to raw material, Finnforest will have competitive advantage next year when it comes to supply security. “The forest will pay dividends,” he said.
