Supplying Timber Issue 9 0 - Autumn 2025 - Flipbook - Page 36
———— MEMBER PROFILE ————
libraries and furniture being
made today that will still be
around in 200 years,” Joe says.
“When we talk about buildings
and furniture that tell stories
for generations, wood is at the
heart of that.”
STOCKING TIMBER
Expanding for the future
The company is currently
undertaking a signi昀椀cant
redevelopment of its
Warwickshire headquarters,
including a new o昀케ce and
a dedicated education
centre. According to Joe, the
investment is designed to
support the next phase of the
company’s life and re昀氀ect its
current direction.
“The old building was more
than 60 years old. It had
served us well, but we needed
something that could take
us into the next generation;
something that re昀氀ects who
we are now and where we’re
heading,” he says.
As well as providing a better
working environment for sta昀昀,
the redevelopment includes a
space speci昀椀cally designed to
support learning. “We’re building
a dedicated education centre
– a space that will take visitors
on a journey from forest 昀氀oor
to 昀椀nished product,” Joe says.
“We’ll be able to host architects,
↓
Image: "Natural
timber has stood
the test of time for
centuries," Joe Sykes
says.
designers, boatbuilders, makers
and their clients, helping them
learn more about the timber
they’re working with.”
The space will also be open
to schools and colleges. “We
need young people coming
through our industry,” he adds.
“This investment isn’t just solely
business focused.”
That focus on education
is partly a response to what
Joe sees as a wider issue in
the timber sector – a loss of
knowledge and con昀椀dence in
the product itself. “The biggest
threat to the timber trade
is, quite honestly, the trade
itself,” he says. “We’ve had this
incredible, natural material,
arguably the most versatile and
beautiful product on Earth, and
yet we’ve consistently failed to
communicate its value properly
to the wider world.”
As experienced professionals
are leaving the industry, that
depth of timber understanding
is becoming harder to
replace. “In many businesses
today, timber is treated as
a commodity,” Joe says.
“You have to know what
you’re selling. And when that
knowledge is lost, it opens the
door for misinformation and
confusion.”
This, Joe believes, is one
SUPPLYING TIMBER
36
AUTUMN 2025
reason why chemically
enhanced and composite
materials have gained such
ground. “These are often
marketed as being more
durable and more sustainable,
which is contentious at best,” he
says. “Natural timber has stood
the test of time for centuries,
why try and reinvent the wheel
with less aesthetically pleasing
and environmentally 昀氀awed
alternatives?”
For Joe, and for Sykes Timber
more broadly, the need to
promote timber is a call to
action. “The industry needs to
come together to tell timber’s
story,” he says. “We should be
selling wood on its natural merit
– its longevity, its renewability
and its beauty. If we don’t, we
risk losing ground to inferior
materials and allowing public
perception to drift even further
from the truth. The issue is ours
to 昀椀x.”
While Sykes Timber’s heritage
goes back over 160 years, its
future lies in timber advocacy
as well as supply. From the new
education centre and technical
support services to the quality
of the material they select, the
company is working hard to
build a more informed, more
connected timber culture.
www.sykestimber.com
