Supplying Timber Issue 9 0 - Autumn 2025 - Flipbook - Page 27
engineered timber products
compared to when built with
concrete. And with 25% of UK
emissions coming from the
built environment, that’s a
game changer. Additionally, the
economic case for homegrown
timber is undeniable. In
Scotland alone, forestry
contributes £1.1 billion to the
economy, supporting more than
34,000 jobs.
At BSW Group, we are proud
to play a leading role in this
transformation; as the UK’s
largest integrated forestry and
timber business, our operations
span the entire lifecycle
of timber. This starts from
producing 35 million saplings
annually through Maelor
Forest Nurseries and planting
over a billion trees via Tilhill
Forestry, all the way through
to manufacturing a wide range
of sustainable British timber
products. And through Scott
Pallets and the pioneering Pallet
LOOP, we’re tackling wood
waste head-on, making reuse
and recycling a core part of
construction logistics.
This is about more than
business. It’s about building
a more resilient, sustainable
future. Every time a customer
chooses British timber, they’re
doing more than completing
a project – they’re making a
statement. They’re investing in
British jobs, supporting local
businesses, and reducing our
collective carbon footprint.
We’ve never been more
optimistic. The TiC Roadmap
signals real momentum, and
with sustained collaboration
across government and
industry, we’re con昀椀dent that
homegrown timber will become
the rule, not the exception. At
BSW Group, we’re ready to lead
the way.
bsw.co.uk
SUPPLYING TIMBER
27
HOMEGROWN SEED TO KICKSTART NEW
GENERATION OF BRITISH DOUGLAS FIR
A new generation of Douglas Fir trees suitable
for the UK climate could be in sight, thanks
to a groundbreaking new project from the
Conifer Breeding Cooperative and Forest
Research.
Douglas Fir is native to North America but
has been used in British forestry for over 100
years. The UK currently imports much of its
seed from the USA or France, and there is a
need to develop a strain that is tailored to
British conditions.
A Government-funded project, led by the
Conifer Breeding Cooperative, has now
developed British Douglas 昀椀r seed sources
suited to the UK and will grow a new
generation of Douglas Fir from them.
The project involved the selection of 200
visually superior trees from the best Douglas
Fir plantations in Britain, as well as 40
genetically superior trees from long-term
experiments managed by Forest Research.
www.forestresearch.gov.uk
AUTUMN 2025
THE MARKET
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