Without nimble feet and a strong trade federation, the timber industry could condense to a “handful of super importer-suppliers”, Nigel Williams, chairman of the Bristol Channel & Western Timber Association said last week.

Speaking at the association’s annual dinner in Bristol, Mr Williams said that, as the supply chain changed, the challenge was to drive membership and drive the industry.

There was a “real danger” for the Timber Trade Federation as some multi-product suppliers were turning to multi-disciplined trade federations, such as the Construction Products Association, but protection of the timber industry and its members would never be a priority for such organisations.

The TTF had increased its influence on the government, said Mr Williams, but it had to become an increasingly robust, strong and influential federation.

“The bigger we get and the stronger we get, the more government is going to listen and the greater chance we have of remaining the leading voice of our industry,” he said, adding that the regions had a vital role to play in strengthening the TTF.

Mr Williams praised the work the TTF has done with the government on the Central Point of Expertise for Timber (CPET) and its Responsible Purchasing Policy and said the industry must allow the TTF to fulfil its obligations or “suffer the consequences of centrally imposed regulation”. The TTF’s work on self-regulation would ensure that “regulation and legislation do not become a sledgehammer applied to our businesses”, he said.

He also welcomed the government’s CPET which, he said, allowed the TTF to show a “bigger picture” of the timber industry and “suggest workable solutions to an issue that could have crippled” the market.

Mr Williams reminded the audience that 35% of all timber imported into the UK was used on government contracts. “That’s a huge chunk of an industry that’s worth over £2bn per year, business that’s going to keep coming home as a result of the TTF and its work with central government,” he said.

TTF president John Tong recommended that members adopt the RPP “as a useful way of gaining easier access to different market places”.

He said that environment minister Elliot Morley acknowledged that the RRP was an excellent way of meeting the government’s requirements to purchase only legal and sustainable timber, “a commitment we all made when we introduced our Code of Conduct in 2002”.