In Memoriam: John Wright

It is with great sadness that we have to report the passing of John Wright.

John spent a lifetime in the plywood trade and was one of its most well-respected and knowledgeable members. He will be remembered for his dedication to what he saw as his duty to the industry.

He was one of the longest serving members of what is now the National Panel Products Division and was its Chairman from 1969-1970. He was also Treasurer of the TTF from 1976 and held that post for some 20 years.

John was well known for his attention to detail which was most appreciated when he sat on the Plywood Contracts Committees. His knowledge and memory was legendary.

He was a founder member of the Association of Timber Agents and Brokers and remained a member until his passing.

The whole of the trade will always be grateful for his contribution to the industry and we know that he will be sadly missed.

His funeral will take place on Monday 5 December at Putney Vale Cemetery at 10.30.

However, given the amount of friends John had in the trade, his family will also be holding a memorial service in January in Central London. Details of which will be available nearer the date. 
   

Timber Trade Federation Welcomes Boost for SMEs - urges support for Timber Industry Manifesto

Responding to the Chancellor George Osborne’s autumn statement announcement, Timber Trade Federation Chief Executive John White said:

“The Chancellor’s announcement on infrastructure investment should provide a welcome boost for all firms involved in the construction sector, particularly the timber and wood products which are a vital component for every stage of project development.

In addition, the £20 billion National Loan Guarantee Scheme should also provide extra security for the SME sector, the largest employment sector in the UK.

The timber and wood products supply chain – worth roughly £18 billion annually to the UK economy – is made up almost entirely of SME businesses and forms a vital part of our low-carbon manufacturing and construction sectors. We welcome this extra safety net for our members.

Taking today’s measures into account along with recent announcements on housing strategy and the Green Deal proposals, the Chancellor has the potential to provide the vision and reality for a vibrant low-carbon construction sector with natural, low-carbon products at its heart.

We now urge him to pledge his support for the Timber Industry Manifesto, reducing VAT on sustainable timber and creating a “Wood First” rule in all publicly funded building projects. It would support jobs, support the expansion of sustainable forests in the UK, and help achieve our low-carbon targets while expanding the economy.”

New TTF Group Chain of Custody Service Launched

The TTF is delighted to announce new Group Chain of Custody service for members and has chosen Ligna to partner this initiative.

The TTF-Ligna Group Chain of Custody is for companies employing 15 or fewer members of staff. Ligna has also agreed that, if requested, they will carry out an RPP Audit at the same time as any FSC/PEFC audit. This will attract the normal RPP Audit charge but will bemore time efficient for the company involved.

We hope you will support this new initiative. Full details can be found on the TTF website or by contacting Jean Rennie at jrennie@ttf.co.uk or phone: 020 7291 5372

PEFC New COC Reminder

TTF Members are reminded that the transition period for the PEFC COC standard came to an end on November 26th. All members should now be compliant with the new standard Chain of Custody PEFC 2002: 2010

All auditors will be undertaking audits against this revised standard. TTF has produced a briefing note for members on the changes to this and the FSC COC standard which is available by clicking here                      

European Timber Trade Federation Get DFID  Grant

The European Timber Trade Federation (ETTF) has received a grant from DFID's new Forest Governance Markets and Climate programme (FGMC) which is the UK's contribution to the EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (EU FLEGT) Action Plan.

The ETTF will use the money to implement an EU-wide solution to the EU Timber Regulation coming into force in 2013, helping industry and governments in timber producing and processing countries to understand all EU market requirements over legality and product standards.

The grant will also help ETTF advocate timber trade requirements within climate change initiatives such as REDD+. This includes championing the need to ensure the value of carbon is accounted for in timber and timber products. For more information please contact: Andre de Boer +31365321020

CEI-Bois Appoints New Board Members and re-elects Chair and Vice Chair

The General Assembly of Brussels-based European Confederation of Woodworking industries, CEI-Bois aisbl, has re-elected its Chairman and Vice-Chairman and appointed new Board members.
These appointments took place in the context of the European federation’s Annual General Assembly,
held at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels.

For further information please visit: http://www.cei-bois.org

ISO 14001 to be revised 

Green Deal Consultation Launched

The Government has launched a consultation over its proposals for a 'Green Deal'. The Green Deal is a voluntary financial mechanism to deliver energy efficient measures in homes and businesses. The necessary energy efficiency work will be paid for over a loan period and tied to the property.

The scheme is designed to be ‘cost neutral’ i.e. that the energy saving is greater than the loan payments. The Green Deal is due to go live in late 2012. Further information can be found at: DECC Website

The formal consultation period has just started and will run for 8 weeks. The TTF will be participating in the consultation so please either feed your comments to us or complete the consultation at: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/green_deal/green_deal.aspx

For further information or for consultation feedback please contact Stuart sharker@ttf.co.uk

Innovation Future Zone Competition - Entries Open

The UK Green Building Council has launched a new innovation competition with Modern Built Environmental Knowledge Transfer Network (MBEKT) and Marks & Spencer.

The competition is looking for near to market innovations to win chance of inclusion in M&S's new Sustainable Learning stores. Specifically, the competition is looking for solutions to the challenge of:

• 0% construction waste to landfill
• Increased use of recycled content in construction materials
• Energy reduction and efficiency
• Water reduction and efficiency

Successful entries will be displayed at the Innovation Zone in the UK-GBC Village at Ecobuild 2012. The deadline for entries is January 11th. To download applications forms please click here

Rio+20 Forests Declaration - Please Sign Up!

Next year, 2012, will mark 20 years since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. To mark occassion, PEFC International has drawn up the Rio Forest Certification Declaration and is encouraging as many organisations and individuals to sign up.

To read and sign up to the declaration click here:
http://www.rioforestcertificationdeclaration.org/en/index.php

The greater the support for this declaration, the greater impact it will have at the next Rio summit. The declaration is completely non-partisan – a lot of FSC companies are numbered amongst the signatories - and all are urged to sign up.  

 NPPD Dinner a Great Success

We have had very positive feedback from members who attended the annual NPPD Dinner on November 16th at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in London.

Guests were treated to entertaining speeches from NPPD Chairman Bob Harvey and "the great Willie Thorne", former World Seniors Snooker Champion.

As well as a cracking evening's entertainment, the dinner also raised £2,075 for the Timber Trade's Benevolent Society. Many thanks to all who contributed.

 End Movember: Time to Trim TTF Team Tache

Well, all good things must come to an end. The end of Movember signals that it is time for the TTF to trim the team taches' ready for Christmas.

We'd like to say a huge thank you to all those who have supported the cause of allowing our facial fuzz to fallow, despite the strange looks from passers by.

With your support we have raised £2258 for prostate and testicular cancer charities. Well done to all who took part and all who supported.

John's Federation Fortnight

As you can see from the stories above, the NPPD dinner on the 16th was a great start to the past fortnight. It was great to hear tales from the life of Willie Thorne and see that, for some people, Movember lasts a lifetime!

The following day saw two important meetings, firstly of the Forests Forever Environment Board at TTF discussing the nature and role of the RPP for members and how this will evolve in light of the incoming EU Timber Regulation. This is a very important and emotive debate and we will keep you updated on developments. But, we are very proud of the fact that TTF Members have, unlike most industries, implemented a due-diligence process above and beyond the needs of regulation. It can be worn as a badge of pride!

On the same day, I attended the General Assembly of CEI-Bois in Brussels which covered a number of sustainability issues. CEI-Bois is keen to get Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) considered as part of all public procurement decision making for building materials. Naturally, the TTF is also keen to get this – and the low-carbon benefits of wood – pushed to the fore and we will be canvassing members around this subject early in the new year.

Wood for Good held a management meeting to discuss plans for 2012 on the 22nd November. The infrastructure is in place for a really packed year of communications across media and public affairs, pushing the Timber Industry Manifesto, running CPD sessions and holding a series of public affairs events.

That evening we attended the Stop Burning Our Trees parliamentary reception hosted by Rt Hon Anne McGuire MP. There was a great turn out for this and my congratulations go out to Alastair Kerr and colleagues at the WPIF and all others involved in this campaign.

The TTAP Board meeting on the 24th reported that TTAP-1 had achieved all of its objectives in the legality-verification of 35 supply chains of tropical timber – a great achievement, so well done to all involved. The focus is now on TTAP-2 particularly on China.

Moving on to Hamburg, the European Timber Trade Federation (ETTF) General Assembly presented its plans of how it will be progressing its activities over the next three years now it has received a grant from DFID (see above).

Elsewhere we are discussing with TRADA and others how the industry can work more closely together for the benefit of all members. This is an ongoing discussion in response to comments from several of our members over the years. I have always said the industry should be speaking and acting in a more coherent fashion across a range of issues and am happy to help make this happen.

I am off to remove my moustache, and will be in touch in the next newsletter.