CEO's Blog

John White, Chief Executive of the Timber Trade Federation, gives a very personal view of the things happening in the wood industry. To comment on this blog write to John direct at jwhite@ttf.co.uk

14th July 2010

I attended the latest meeting of the Wood Industry Board of ProSkills yesterday. The entire wood industry supply chain came together in 2009 and agreed to join with ProSkills, the Sector Skills Council for, amongst other things, the construction products sector. We were formally integrated into ProSkills on the 1st January this year and I have been hugely impressed with the progress we have made as a sector in addressing the many things we need to do to get our industry in a position where it can offer to its employees, prospective employees and employers the resources that will help drive wood industry businesses forward.

Much of what has been happenning is detailed, prosaic and in some cases mind-numbingly detailed but absolutely vital work assessing the current standards for jobs in the sector. This forms the basis of qualifications that get recognition and attract government training grants. This and associated work will take some time before the industry sees the real benefits in the form of a comprehensive, accredited suite of qualifications at all levels that can be used to develop people in the industry, but the work that is going on is necessary.

Having said that the ProSkills Academy is using what is out there already to provide an invaluable resource for employers. I saw on Tuesday the launch version of the Academy's new website, through which its services will be delivered, and will be getting a fuller demonstration next Thursday. Boy it's impressive and already has things employers can use, much of it for free. Such things as a software programme to manage staff development are professional, quality services any forward thinking company should want to access. ProSkills and the TTF will be marketing to TTF members in due course but do take a look at www.mps-academy.co.uk.

Education, Skills and Training are another part of the mix of industry developments that can take the wood and wood products industry forward.

10th June 2010

As I said in my last blog, the carbon agenda in construction is going to dominate the wood indudstry's agenda over the next 5 years. This was confirmed by a meeting I had this week with Paul Morrell, the Chief Construction Adviser. Paul is an extremely interesting, intelligent and experienced man and is always well worth listening to.

As you know he has been working very hard with a wide group of senior construction industry people as part of the Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team (IGT). One of the key propositions in its interim report, published last month, surrounded embodied carbon and much of our meeting was on this subject. It has confirmed my belief that the wood and wood products industry is on the cusp of a major opportunity to build significant long term sales and systemic market share in those areas where we compete with steel, concrete and plastic.

There are a few things I think we need to do - and I'd love your thoughts on them:

better understand our customers and customers' customers needs (embodied carbon is very important but not the only story - see below)
align our businesses to those needs
work to integrate the supply chain around that end (the wood business is well placed to do this)
invest in innovation (which can be shared along the supply chain)
make sure high quality is maintained both in products (use the standards available to us) and behaviour (we need to demonstrate we tick all the corporate responsibility boxes)
continue the excellent work on responsible sourcing that has so noticeably enhanced the reputation of the industry (this has to be a given)

The vision I have is of a much larger industry utilising a range of products and skills to deliver innovative solutions to our customers from the simple (e.g. Lavers' folding noggins that clip to wall frame systems) to the engineered (e.g. the cross laminated panels used in Murray Grove) to the complex (e.g. the award winning Savill Building in Windsor Park).

The TTF has a role alongside its sister industry organisations to help in creating this environment but it is only companies in the wood and wood products industry that can deliver.

If this is a vision you share then we need your support to deliver it.

14th May 2010

I still don't want to talk about the election, much as I'd love to. Oh OK then.

Fascinating, wasn't it? But what does it hold for us as an industry? Generally a stable governemnt that gets to grips with the deficit with the emphasis on expenditure restraint rather than taxation is going to be good in all the circumstances. The question is can the coalition deliver? We'll have to see on that one. I expect the LibDem/Con love-in will turn to bitter infighting come the Comprehensive Spending Review in the Autumn when certain precious LibDem policy issues get slated for extinction. They'll probably stay together for the sake of the kids (i.e power) but it is going to make reading the political runes more interesting than it has been for many a long while.

Closer to home we have Caroline Spelman at Defra (she'll have a tough job matching Hilary Benn in my eyes), Andrew Mitchell at DFID and Chris Huhne at DECC. Not a bad bunch. We have worked with Huhne before and Defra Minister, James Paice, is a seasoned parliamentarian and all round good egg with whom we can do business. They were all on message before the election, we just need to make sure they stay so, particularly given that the coalition agreement contains reference to a ban on illegal logging. There is some behind the scenes stuff going on here I suspect involving our old Labour friend, Barry Gardiner MP, who admirably wants to keep this issue alive but who in my view remains misguided about the approach. The concern is that the new Government, lacking the knowledge of what has been going on up until now, tries to go it alone whilst we and the NGOs and Government continue working so hard in Europe to get a European wide ban as part of the due diligence legislation. It wouldn't be helpful. And with over 80% of wood being certified sustainable would it have any effect? As we have always said, try the European approach first - we can revisit the UK approach if that doesn't work.

I also just wanted to say that the whole issue of embodied energy and carbon is gaining a great deal of attention in the client, architect, engineer, NGO, Government field. The industry however can't simply rely on the good wood story. We have to innovate and explain, lobby and cajoule. I think this will be an essential part of our role in the next five years. But wherever you are in the supply chain, get to know your suppliers, your customers and your customers' customers and promote a joined up approach.

27th April 2010

Guess what - I don't want to talk about the election! Why? Because I think there are more important rivers of strategic importance flowing through government than the colour of the next administration. These rivers flow from the Climate Change Act 2008 which placed legally binding targets for carbon reduction on the UK government - whoever holds the keys to Number 10.

The reason I am banging on about this (not again I hear some of you moan) is because last Tuesday I was at a meeting of the Shadow Construction IGT organised by the Construction Products Association. The IGT (Innovation and Growth Team) concept, comprises a BIS enabled group of senior people from a particular industry, in this case construction, tasked with finding ways to innovate in and grow the sector. This IGT, under the auspices of the newish Chief Construction Officer, Paul Morrell, is tasked with taking the industry to low carbon construction. The CPA Shadow Group met with Paul on Tuesday.

Big deal. We've all heard of this low carbon building, zero carbon hubs, Codes for Sustainable Homes, stuff ad nauseum, what's going to be different? Who knows, but my hunch is this work is going to be far more influential in delivering low carbon construction.

Firstly, it is originated firmly within government.

Secondly, the participants list reads like a who's who of people who matter.

Thirdly, the Climate Change Act is legally binding and (inefficient) buildings are big emitters of CO2.

Fourthly, the meeting last week was held on the back of the IGT's interim report which contained a series of propositions. You should read them. The thinking behind them is persuasively sound.

Finally, Paul Morrell strikes me as the kind of person who can deliver.

As I have said many times before, the environmental, sustainable, carbon agenda that we all have to face up to currently is a great opportunity for wood. Not only do wood and wood products help buildings perform, the increasingly important measurement of embodied carbon is going to be one of the factors that will play a role in material and product specification. We win hands down on that one.

I will end with one of the key questions Paul had for the Shadow IGT - how do you get investment in low carbon technologies? One of the key answers was to innovate and bring new products to market that can deliver commercial returns. It is an important lesson for the wood and wood products industry. I don't think we think enough about product innovation. Well we need to, because as sure as eggs are eggs, concrete, steel and plastic industries are already hard at it.

24th March 2010

Well it's nearly 24 hours since the budget and the dust has settled along predictable party lines. Whilst the speech was a party political broadcast for the Labour Party, you have to say, in that context, that Alistair Darling did quite well. I have never laughed at a budget before but when he read out the name of Belize as one of the countries with which we now have a reciprical tax arrangement I couldn't help myself. A touch of humour to cover the deep deep seriousness of the cuts that will have to come if the Country is not going to go bust? Maybe, but a touch of humour is a nice theatrical touch. As was the emphaises on the 2009/10 tax receipts - we are going to hell in an hand cart but let's be happy that the road is slightly smoother than we thought. Hmmm.

The fact of the matter is that despite what they say, none our our political parties dare, or even can, say where the axe is going to fall as fall it will have to. As soon as they do they will have to say that there is going to be a substantial price all of us will have to pay to fund the recession and measures taken to alleviate it. That doesn't really go down well with the voters. They are seeing who can keep quiet longest and hope they can get away with it until after the election.

I am actually quite excited about the forthcoming campaign because they will not be able to avoid this fundamental question. We will, as a result, potentially see genuine policy differences and genuine value differences emerging. That will be a change from yah boo debates about who is the best manager.

Are there any consequences for our sector? Macro economically and business wise yes, of course. We want a strong economy, a green economy and a business friendly administration. Down at the grass roots of buying and selling wood and wood products, no, despite a few helpful tax breaks and funds. We are going to have to work directly with our customers and customers' customers to grow our markets in the face of the competition. We are blessed with great carbon credentials. Let's get out there and market them irrespective of who is in power. Wood CO2ts Less.

12th March 2010

Someone said at the PA/PR pitch presentations for wood for good that a blog was only worth having if it was kept up to date. Suitably nagged I took a look at the last one I wrote, astonishingly late last year. My belated New Year's resolution is to do this once a week.

The Wood Co2ts Less campaign was launched at EcoBuild and the campaign slogan is appearing in a raft of magazines and papers. Some of you may have seen the front page banner in the Sunday Times Business Section last week. There is no doubt in my mind the message is right and the delivery impactful. The task now is to leverage this advertising for our public affairs and public relations activities. Hence the pitches earlier this week.

I have to say they were excellent and very different, which is making the choice a difficult one. When it is made we will let everyone know and crack on with convincing the people that buy your wood, or who set the environment in which they do, of the unarguable carbon benefits of building with wood.

At the TTF it's a real hive of positive activity at the moment. Really good companies are joining or re-joining the Federation. I got a strong sense at the excellent TTF dinner last Wednesday, that the standing of the TTF is as high as it has been for some time. We are really getting the right message across to our target audiences and that means the reputation of wood and its suppliers is growing. This in turn should deliver greater use of wood - which of course is what we are all about.

The next job for me during 2010 is to start work on our next 5 year plan for 2011 to 2016. I would welcome any suggestions as what the TTF should be doing from anyone.

27th November 2009

I had the privilege of visiting the Olympic site again this week. It wasn't the Park itself this time but the Olympic Village, rapidly being built by Bovis Lend Lease. I was there with BRE boss and ODA materials man, Peter Bonfield, and Dan Epstein, Head of Sustainability at the ODA, to talk to BLL about timber procurement.

You will know the ODA has worked with the industry to develop a procurement process that will deliver only certified timber to the Games. It works and may provide a useful object lesson for Government generally which has struggled to get its own procurement policy properly implemented across all the many faces of Government in the UK. BLL have gone a stage further and insist on FSC material. If that is not available the alternatives have to be specifically approved. I might not agree entirely with the approach but I do applaud the fact that they are taking a proactive and prominent stance on the issue.

Having said that the industry itself should also be applauded for the work it has done in the absence of much commercial demand to deliver sustainable timber to the market. We will launch next week a DFID funded Report that will show that well over 80% of timber in the UK is now certified. That is a real success story. And the remaining 20% is by and large verified legal or from non-controversial sources. I don't think it is too early to say that we are winning the war against illegal timber in the UK. Coupled with the upcoming due diligence legislation from Europe, as well as the potential boost we hope the Copenhagen climate talks will give to wood use, my earlier statement about this being the time for wood sounds a little less pompous than when I read it out to myself just now!

But guess what? The industry has still got a long way to go. Talking to the likes of Bovis Lend Lease and other contractors you get the sense that the responsible sourcing of timber just needs to be a given. They and other clients from Government down are now putting more and more emphasis on the social aspects of timber procurement. Government itself has just finished consulting on the inclusion of social considerations as part of the criteria it will use to judge certification schemes as sustainable. Companies want to know that what they buy and who they buy it from will not implicate them in anything that NGOs, the media and their own shareholders could throw back at them as unethical behaviour. We ignore these trends at our peril.

On the positive side I also get a sense that our customer base is more willing to listen to an industry that has come a long way in the 5 years or so I have been in the TTF hot seat. The work we have done on illeal logging, as evidenced by the report we will be publishing next week, has delivered. It has given us enhanced credibilty and we are recognised as authorative in what we say. A constructive dialogue with the likes of Bovis and other contractors will make achieving the success we all seek for this wonderful product a far easier one to deliver.

28th October 2009

Thanks to 150 members who responded to our recent short questionnaire about enews. These are now all in the pot as we redesign the look of the publication. Given the overwhelming postiive response it will be more about look and style than content. I hope to get all that done before the end of the year. The draw for the bottle of champagne for one lucky respondent will be made next week. And despite the current economic climate we will be able to push the TTF budget to something more alluring than a Tesco Cava Reserve.

I have been visiting members and non members over the past few weeks including a trip to Northern Ireland. My thanks to everyone who gave up their time to see me. It was good to see and hear the enthusiasm companies have for their products, the impressive attention to health and safety and the understanding of the potential of wood and wood products to thrive in the low carbon economy on the back of our unique environmental credentials. But it was disappointing to hear once again how price can undermine so much good work. Competition is good and generally leads to a better deal for customers. But when that low price is derived from a cost base that does not include making sure wood comes from a legal source; that doesn't include proper treatment of employees; that doesn't include the correct testing for fitness for purpose etc then in my view that is unfair competition and the customer gets a bad deal and potentially a dangerous one. Good companies have to compete to stay in the market place and their margins get squeezed to nearly nothing whilst bad companies laugh all the way to the bank.

Well I think things are changing albeit slowly. More and more customers are getting the message that the TTF amongst others constantly promotes - namely that doing the right thing ultimately will be good for business. The days of the bad company are numbered.

The new website (through which this blog is written), and the database that sits behind it is now allowing us to communicate more effectively with members. Some have said to me that it can sometimes take a few clicks to get to items on the members area because you need a password and username. These have all been issued of course and we do from time to time remind members of their unique passwords and user names. The reason we don't do it frequently is security. Emails get passed on and will contain information that would allow someone to use your details to access the site. If anyone in your company wants to get to the members area let us know and we will give them access codes. If you do ever forget or lose your username or password then click on the forgotten password link. It takes a few seconds to get a new password.

Talking of emails have you been peppered by bizarre monologues from an ex-TTF employee from many years ago that I've never met called Charles Norman? I normally delete them but I did take a look at one the other day. Despite the intemperate language it actually cheered me up. The TTF has come a long way in the past few years. We are doing good stuff, looking forward and growing membership. Our information is solid and measured and we enjoy good industry support for the political influence we exert. Our relationship with TRADA and other organsations is excellent. These emails just remind me how far we have come. I hope you agree!

As always it is always a pleasure to talk so if you have any comments or thoughts about anything we do then pick up the 'phone.

7th October 2009

When you read this I will be in Geneva meeting with a group of industry representatives and supplier organisation from around the globe at the 2nd International Timber Trade Federation Day. Last year's inaugral event was a great success. Supplier countries from China to Brazil to a number of African countires as well as producers and consuming countries from Western Europe and the US had very productive sessions analysing the implications of the Lacey Act and the proposals for due diligence legislation in Europe. I firmly believe it accelerated some of our suppliers towards getting verified legal and sustainable timber ready for our markets.

The evidence for that will be with you shortly. I have just taken delivery of a Report, funded by the Department for International Development, that marks a significant increase in the amount of certified wood consumed in the UK. I will talk more about this when it is published but look out for some good news.

This year's Geneva event will look at the tougher question of how certification and verification can actually be delivered, particularly in the tough economic conditions in which we find ourselves. I hope we can learn from practitioners and feed this back to suppliers via our members.

I have also been working hard over the past week or so with Stuart Goodall from Confor following up the very succesful meeting we had with industry leaders a couple of weeks back to re-launch wood for good under the Wood CO2ts less strapline. The industry will be receiving shortly a letter explaining what the campaign is hoping to achieve and how it is going to do it. Importantly it will also try to assess the level of financial support the industry can give the campaign. I urge you to support it. We know it works - just look at what wood for good did with the wooden pallet industry and look to the current success of the Wood Window Alliance campaign which is already using the Wood CO2ts less strapline.

And finally if you want proof the industry supply chain can work together I would point you to the work we are doing to integrate ourselves with the Sector Skills Council, ProSkills. That integration should be complete by the start of 2010 and from there on in a whole bunch of employer volunteers from every part of the supply chain will work to get a co-ordinated, relevant and much needed training provision for the industry.

In my next blog I will pick up the question of statistics and information in the industry. You will have seen our 2008 statistical review circulated this week and you will soon recieve our new look monthly statistical analysis. This is important work that we feed into government and one of the sources which businesses use to benchmark their performance and determine strategy. Despite the shortcomings of the data the resulting analysis is measured and as accurate as it can be and is based on a wide group of industry experts' views. We have a statistics panel reviewing whether the data we provide needs to be changed and I would welcome any sensible views on that.

3rd September 2009

Well here we are. Most of us are back from our vacations or staycations, browned or not so browned, and probably by now a bit browned off after a few days back with the noses to the grindstone. Mind you after the past twelve to eighteen months a nose to the grindstone that brings in a bit of business is very very welcome. And things do seem to be getting better. Despite prudent warnings a about double dips, Us and W's, there is clearly a sense of optimism about the future. The worst of the recession is over and restructured businesses, with an eye on cost and sensible investment plans are going to do well.

Particularly so in the timber industry. As I have said many times before wood is the material of the age, principally because of its environmental benefits. That is why the CO2 message will dominate the promotion of wood. As I explained in my last blog (and will say again in this week's TTJ) on 16th September the industy will have the opportunity to hear why it needs to invest in an innovative and bottom line benefit giving generic wood promotion campaign.

As we climb out of recession this is the time to invest in growth. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, today. The timber industry can increases the per capita consumption of wood significantly in this country if we pull together. Everyone in the industry now has the chance to do that.

10th August 2009

Letters will this week be landing on the desks of industry bigwigs inviting them to come along to a meeting here at the Building Centre on the afternoon of 16th September. The letter, from wood for good, is the start of the relaunch of a generic wood promotion campaign.

As a major player and major past funder the TTF has been pressing hard for generic wood promotion to be a pillar of the the bright industry future many believe we have. Coupling its aesthetics, flexibility and fabrication credentials on the back of wood's environmental USP over competing building materials it's hard to disagree. But, and it's a big but, the industry has got to buy in to the campaign (and indeed the TTF). Otherwise our future will be one of perpetual second cousins to concrete, steel and plastic.

Those attending on the 16th will get to see just one way in which the careful exploitation of a key aspect of wood, its ability to absorb and store carbon, can be worked to generate influential PR and PA activities which create what we all want - a growing market for wood and wood products.

They will also need to think about how to fund the activity. We have some support already pledged but the more money the better, and the better the improvement to the bottom line of industry businesses. It's hard to prove the link between promotional activity and bottom line benefit, but I have never met anyone who didn't accept that there was one, unless that is they were trying to argue against coughing up a contribution! The old adage goes that half of money spent on advertising is wasted; the trouble is you can't tell which half. It doesn't say don't spend money.

It is also unfair and unreaonsable to expect the usual suspects to pay. We are all in this together and as with all the representative stuff we do it needs funding. Without money we can't deliver.

All that assumes of course that these initiatives are worth funding. That's just as true for generic wood promotion as being part of the TTF. It is a key question, sharpened by the current economic climate, but if it is worth funding, please don't shy away from your resposibility for shaping the industry's , and your own, future.

31st July 2009

I simply can't believe how awful the weather has been over the past few weeks. And indeed how equally as awful the media coverage of the 'barbecue summer' forecast by the Met Office has been.

As someone who has to deal with the media as part of the job it is hard not to get really depressed about the quality of British journalism. I know how it works; I know what the media wants is a story and an angle, something that will tickle the interest of readers or listeners. But it seems that far too often the truth is a casualty. What is it they say, 'never let the facts get in the way of a good story'. In this case the Met Office never said it was going to be a barbecue summer. They said, in the context of highly uncertain long range forecasting, that it was more likely than not (odds on) that it would be a bbq summer. If you believe the media it was guaranteed.

Having said that the Met Office press release made the classic mistake of drawing public attention to a bit of light news in return for some publicity and not realising how it could all go wrong if the weather did.

It's much the same with tales of the economy. I have taken much of what I have read in the papers or internet or heard on the radio as a good indication of what is going on. Hold on a minute. The more positive sentiments are certainly nice to hear, but as I discovered this week in a tour of Scotland and the North East of England, not everything in the garden is rosy. This recession has plenty more bite to it and there will be some business casualties during this winter (which sounds rather like a forecast - I better watch out).

But for timber I think there are some reasons to be cheerful, or perhaps a little less depressed. Generally, it isn't going too badly for most of the companies I speak to at the moment. Log supply is a problem and the rapid price rises are unhelpful but understandble given the tightening of supply. However, timber is fashionable; market share for timber frame housing continues to grow; it looks like the RMI market has held up so far and gardening products were flying out the door for many merchants certainly while the sun was shining anyway. Our environmental credentials are increasingly recognised and our exposure to major contstruction infrastructure projects which will decline in number and value significantly, is less than concrete and steel.

I have also learnt on my travels that the timber industry responded quickly and appropriately to restructure their businesses in line with the new economic realities. We have not seen anything like the number of company closures I expected when this recession really got going last Autumn.

So now let the sun shine.

17 July 2009

On Tuesday this week industry representatives got together to put the finishing touches to a to a plan which will see our sector forge a strategic alliance with Proskills, the Sector Skills Council for the process and manufacturing sector, which includes building products, furniture and paper to work through the programme needed for us to integrate our supply chain with ProSkills. Sector Skills Councils, (of which there are currently 25), are employer-led organisations that are tasked by Government, (in return for Government money), with developing the employees in the various sectors of UK industry, by having a positive impact on policies that affect skills, productivity and competitiveness. They do this by developing the standards employees need to reach to do jobs in the industry well, (these are known as National Occupational Standards), persuade awarding bodies to build those Standards into qualifications and persuading training providers to offer the appropriate courses. Most Sector Skills Councils do not deliver training courses themselves, but facilitate their development and delivery by others. They also work to attract people to the industry, which is an important issue for all of us.

Although a lot of work has already been done by the various partners in the Timber Industry Education and Training Group, there remains much work to be done, but with Proskills assistance, our task will now be much easier. There is a lot to do. We have to write the a Sector Qualification Strategy and present this to Government; build our presence on the ProSkills website and then do the jobs above specifically for the wood and wood products supply chain. First we need to appoint an Industry Board; this will direct the work of ProSkills on our behalf, set them targets and ensure delivery of benefits for our sector. keep them to account. Anyone interested in joining sitting on that this Board should let me know. For the next couple of months we also need to untangle the relationships between our the Standard Setting Body, UK Woodchain, and re-establish them with ProSkills. We are no longer supporting UK Woodchain. We have formally advised the UK Commission for Employment and Skills of this decision and of our commitment to work with Proskills – this is a very positive message to Government.

What pleases me about this initiative is the way the industry has worked collectively across the supply chain to achieve a common goal. It shows it can be done and gives me high hopes we can repeat the exercise with public affairs and wood promotion.

It also pleases me personally, because I really believe in the value of education and training. All the evidence shows that a better qualified workforce delivers bottom line benefits to businesses. This initiative could be a real game changer for our sector; but it must have employer support and input, whether that is sitting on the Industry Board, or just making sure you commit to developing the skills of your people through training. My task, Our task, working with Proskills, is to make that as easy as possible for employers. From what I have already seen, I believe that together with ProSkills, we can deliver that for you.

If you would like to find out more about this exciting initiative for our sector, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me, or have a look at the Proskills website at www.proskills.co.uk where you can find out more about their work.

2nd July 2009

I have been absolutely delighted at the response to our new website. Members and others have universally praised it. It is now up to us to keep it fresh and relevant. It is down to members and non-members alike to use it. Go on - have some fun!

I am writing this as Andy Murray seeks to be the first British man in a nearly 80 years to reach a Wimbledon Final. Good luck to him. But I remember when he first burst on the scene a couple of years ago how he courted controversy by saying he would support any opponent of England in a football match. As an Englishman and England supporter it got me thinking again about the nature of identity and the alliances we feel. Whilst I am English I am also British and unlike Murray always support Scotland (unless against England). It is the same for Wales and Ireland, North and South.

I am also, dare I say it European. I share a history and culture that is palpably European.

Why I am whittering on about this? Because strangely it has some bearing on the way the timber industry seems to function. Often we have companies and people in the timber industry that seem to take the parochial Murray approach. For me this isn't helpful. We have to embrace the other companies and organisations in our sector to assert a collective view and take collective action for all our benefit. Those connections will form at different levels whether national or European or indeed globally as in the fight against illegal logging.

Our industry has to pull together. Wishing ill on others who are in reality on the same side will leave us all the poorer.

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