W.L. West & Sons Ltd.
Timber Talks - August 2009

August Trading

Who would have believed that August could be a month of strong positive Sales?

August, historically, can be one of the worst three trading months of the year but this year it has come in with positive and strong trading. One of the key issues has been the machining of timber, which, with that added value, has caused the turnover to increase to levels where we would normally expect to be pre-October 2008.  After all the banking mis-management,  all the heavy borrowing and  “Quantitative Easing”, we have seen, for four weeks, a brief period of normality. Is this a “False Dawn”? We hope not for obvious reasons, this down-turn has affected all of our lives and all of us will be paying for others bad management and greed for some many years to come.
Machining timber and the investments made in the machine shop has been a really positive benefit. The new Multi-Rip saw has saved hours running a recent job in sawing to size, door linings, architraves and skirting's. It’s really come into its own and  has made us very much more competitive in component cutting so please let us pass on the benefits. The tooling investment is also paying dividends due to the disposable tip technology which gives a hugely superior finish compared with high speed steel or  tungsten. We now have all our profiles on a computer file so that we can e-mail drawings to you for approval, all CAD drawn. We would like to do more machining, we are competitive and we want the work. The turn around for obvious reasons is fast tracked.

Statistics

A startling statistic in a copy of the Timber Trade Federation Statistics where in the years 2004–2008 there has been a drop in hardwood imports by 44% which is huge and frankly staggering. In this drop there has been a down turn of 25% less tropical hardwoods imported, the rest being temperate types like Ash, Maple, Cherry and Beech. Approx 426,000 cubic metres was last years imported volume. How do you grow a business in a market where aggregate demand has fallen so hugely? Is that why there are less and less timber traders year on year? Well that could be one reason. American Oak remains strong and is still the most popular timber imported.
Another interesting fact is that the import of finished timber products from overseas, namely the Far East, means that we have in effect exported employment. The UK Home Grown Hardwood production coming onto the market [as we have been shouting about] is also in decline. The overall sector is down in the same period by 25% approx. The rise in firewood however is increasing.  Small niche markets are where the positive work will come from, bespoke made, in hardwood, with increasing responsibility in certification.

Other News

Credit Insurance is a big worry. The insurers are pulling cover and reducing credit. Relationships are key, as the MD here says it is track records that count and communication when times get tougher than the norm. Please ensure finance is in place. Banks more so than the insurance companies must take more of an active interest, as they do on the Continent, with  help and guidance in running a small business, They could take a very positive role here and help restore confidence and protect creditors, help the Government in establishing a true corporation tax ethic which will reduce GDP borrowing. Everyone would win. There are billions of unpaid Corporation tax payments in some of the very large Companies in the U K, perhaps banks could underpin the need for transparency here too.

We hear on the ‘Grapevine’ that for the Olympic village  a FSC hardwood from Uruguay, which has an external durability classification, may be used. There may also be some home grown Douglas Fir or Larch for external cladding. But we need to learn more. Let’s hope that we do not fall into the last minute ordering mode which will put building beyond the completion date. [Remember Wembley Stadium]. One thing is for certain, the games cannot be put back. The sourcing of materials can often be difficult with timber on very large projects, especially in a global economy which has down-turned. What do they expect, timber grown on trees?  We are keen to learn more.
 
Recently we attended a ‘meet the buyer’ seminar in Southampton. It was free. This gave us an insight into just how you can waste time and how the taxpayers money can be wasted. During the afternoon we were encouraged to ‘Speed Date’ and tell people in a musical chair format all about ones company in 3 minutes. Perhaps it’s our age, perhaps it’s the time of 3 minutes, but the rushing of information in no way defines or tries to define what the buyer needs and wants. Meeting the buyers of local authorities and the MOD like this, was so far removed from meeting those who make the real decisions, it made the seminar a bland ephemeral experience. I guess one had to attend but it was Damned if you do Damned if you don’t. 

We have external and internal salespeople, who are trained to help, knowledgeable, and here to meet the needs, where possible, of the buyer and seller to make the project work for both parties. WE want to spend time getting to know you, the customer, we want to know so we can best help where we can and most of all we want repeat business.
Let’s hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that it’s not an oncoming train!

W.L. WEST & SONS LTD
Selham, Petworth, West Sussex GU28 0PJ
United Kingdom

Tel: 01798 861611   
Fax: 01798 861633   
E-mail: sales@wlwest.co.uk