Small timber businesses are being urged to join forces to turn the ‘Made in Wales’ label into a world-class business.
Welsh rural affairs minister Carwyn Jones has told members of the Wales Timber Forum that they need to show they are serious contenders to supply the needs of large organisations and can deliver orders on time, at the agreed quality and at a competitive, best-value price.
He added: ‘Your position will be strengthened if you can demonstrate your wood comes from a certified source and is from Welsh woodlands.’
The key to success, said Mr Jones, was in the partnership approach. He said he wanted to draw a link between the goals of Wales’ small timber industries and the goals of the National Assembly’s woodland strategy, Woodlands for Wales, which aimed to establish Wales as a location for world-class forest industries.
The Assembly aims to encourage the use of more Welsh timber and to add value to wood in communities close to where the trees grow.
