Swedish timber giant VIDA aims to increase its share of the UK market after setting up an office in Ipswich.
VIDA, which has an annual turnover of about £100m, plans to start selling 2×4 Canadian Lumber Standard (CLS) planed timber through its new arm, VIDA Wood UK Ltd, as of now.
The expanding timber frame housing market in England is of particular appeal to the firm, which also wants to sell more to DIY multiples.
Sales managers Andrew Bullard and Ian Drae are working from the Ipswich office and will be targeting new business.
Regular shipments to a southern port, probably either Rochester or Chatham, will start within weeks.
Santhe Dahl, president of VIDA, said: ‘Timber frame is increasingly taking a share from the brick and block industry. We hope we will sell a lot more CLS.’
Privately-owned VIDA has six mills in Sweden, producing 550,000m³ of planed timber annually, of which 90% is spruce and 10% pine.
