James Jones & Sons Ltd has started phase one of an £18m transformation of its Lockerbie site into a national centre for timber processing in Scotland.
Kilning, grading, planing, timber treatment facilities and a distribution yard are being developed at the site during the first phase, expected to be completed by next spring. A total of 11 jobs will be created by the development.
Managing director John Kissock said: “It will increase our capacity substantially. We are looking at planing as much regular timber as possible to improve the image of the product.”
The company hopes to substantially increase the level of added-value timber it supplies to the construction and DIY markets.
James Jones has planning permission for the second phase of the expansion – a second sawmill – but is currently assessing raw material supplies to make sure sufficient logs will be available.
The company is talking to a number of private forest owners about supplying the planned mill.
Mr Kissock said sourcing raw materials from the private sector represented a major change in sourcing policy for James Jones, which until now has mainly dealt with the Forestry Commission. He said there was only limited scope for growth in Forestry Commission supplies to Lockerbie.
Production at the existing Lockerbie mill is expected to reach 230,000 tonnes this year, up from around 150,000 tonnes in 2004.
