Supplying Timber Issue 9 0 - Autumn 2025 - Flipbook - Page 45
scale innovations like decorative
micro CLT – a three-layer
spruce product ideal for DIY
applications like feature walls
or garage conversions. “The
UK is behind Europe and the
US in engineered timber,” says
James. “But it has the potential
to grow quickly, and we’re now
in a position to help drive that
market forward.”
The integration of BSW Timber
Solutions – formerly SCA Wood
UK – has also allowed the
business to extend its reach into
the mouldings, skirtings and
PSE sectors, o昀昀ering a broader
basket of goods to both DIY
and trade customers.
James explains: “We’re seeing
real success in cross-promoting
these products. A merchant
who used to just buy just sawn
timber from us can now take
interior mouldings, and vice
versa. It’s all about delivering
added value and a wider basket
of timber products to our
customers.”
making sure every part of the
tree’s journey adds value.”
This ethos of circularity runs
through the business, with
BSW taking major steps to
reduce the environmental
and 昀椀nancial costs of empty
truck movements across its
operations. With a network of
more than 50 sites nationwide
– spanning nurseries, sawmills,
forestry operations and
pallet manufacturing – BSW
is leveraging its group-wide
logistics planning to maximise
e昀케ciencies.
“Historically, a lorry might
deliver a load and then return
empty,” says James. “Now we’re
working hard to back昀椀ll those
journeys wherever possible,
whether it’s moving saplings,
timber, or pallets between
sites.” This smarter use of 昀氀eet
resources reduces carbon
emissions and also supports
the company’s broader
sustainability goals, delivering
real commercial bene昀椀ts.
BSW’s business transformation
is far from over. As demand
for timber is forecast to grow
four- or 昀椀ve-fold globally in the
coming decades, the company
is aligning itself for the future –
and encouraging the wider UK
industry to do the same.
“The UK imports around 80%
of our timber requirements
– making us the largest net
importer of forest products in
Europe and the second largest
globally, after USA,” James
says. “That’s not sustainable in
the long term. We need to plant
more, use more of what we grow
here, and use it more wisely.”
With its unique end-to-end
capabilities – from sapling
to pallet and from nursery to
national rail network – BSW
Group is already demonstrating
what a smarter, more
sustainable UK timber sector
could look like.
www.thebswgroup.co.uk
A circular economy
in practice
One of the most high-pro昀椀le
parts of BSW’s broader group
activity in the past year is The
Pallet LOOP – a reusable pallet
scheme that’s rapidly gaining
traction across UK construction.
UK timber is supplied from the
sawmills into manufacturing
partner and fellow BSW Group
member Scott Pallets. This
creates a sustainable, circular
model, with LOOP incentivising
the return and reuse of these
very pallets to maximise the
value of timber.
“If we’re going to spend 40
years growing trees, we can’t
a昀昀ord to see that material used
once and skipped,” says James.
“The Pallet LOOP is about
SUPPLYING TIMBER
45
AUTUMN 2025
↓
Image: © BSW.
BSW is well-known
for is structural,
carcassing and
fencing timber.
STOCKING TIMBER
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