Timber Trade Federation chief executive John White reflected on his first year in office while speaking at the London Softwood Club lunch at the Charing Cross Hotel, London recently.
He said he had been surprised at the fragmentation of the industry. “We have a complex supply chain, lots of smaller companies and no real large companies able to take industry and market leadership roles,” he said.
And, he added, the representation was also fragmented. “There are numerous trade bodies and organisations all representing the industry or sectors of it. While we communicate well, that means there is always going to be some incongruity in message delivery.”
Mr White said the TTF and other trade associations had now committed to closer involvement and that the Olympics could provide an opportunity for the industry to work together on some issues.
He reported that the TTF had had two years of positive surpluses making it better placed to develop political work, access money and grants and work to achieve its mission – Growing the Use of Wood.
And, said Mr White, as a service provider he would look to offer increasingly better value for money.
One of his tasks is to husband the reputation of wood and the industry, with the focus on environmental concerns.
Mr White warned that any criticism of the industry’s environmental performance sliced another layer off its reputation. But, he said, the industry knew it had to adhere to the highest standards, and the TTF’s Responsible Purchasing Policy had provided the tools to deliver it.
