James Jones & Sons welcomed senior representatives from the Forestry Commission and Bellway Homes to its new Durham sawmill this week, providing an opportunity to showcase the company’s significant investment in UK wood processing and discuss the potential for greater use of UK timber in housebuilding.
Richard Stanford, Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, and Tony Atkin, Group Production Managing Director at Bellway Homes, visited the site as commissioning of the new sawmill continues.
The visit provided an opportunity to see first-hand the scale of James Jones & Sons’ investment in primary wood processing, as well as to discuss the important role UK-grown and processed softwood can play in supporting the future needs of the construction sector.
Bellway has itself recently made a significant investment in timber frame housebuilding capacity through its new state-of-the-art Bellway Home Space manufacturing facility near Mansfield. The housebuilder is targeting substantial growth in timber frame construction over the next three to five years.
Discussions at Durham focused on the potential to increase the use of productive softwood grown and processed in the UK and the importance of ensuring the domestic timber industry can provide the quality, consistency and performance required by major housebuilders.
The visit also provided an opportunity to highlight the work of the Trust UK C16 Timber campaign, an industry collaboration focused on increasing understanding, specification and use of UK-grown C16 structural timber.
With significant investment taking place in both UK timber processing and timber frame manufacturing, the meeting highlighted the opportunity for greater collaboration across the supply chain – from productive forests and sawmilling through to timber frame manufacture and new home construction.
The visit was one of the first hosted at the new Durham sawmill and provided a valuable opportunity to discuss how investment, collaboration and a strong domestic timber supply chain can support the continued growth of timber construction in the UK.