GLOBAL PANDEMIC
Covid-19: Confor keeps you informed
C
onfor responded quickly to the enormous changes to all of our lives as the impact of Coronavirus began to hit home - by establishing a web hub to share information about how the forestry and wood processing sector might be affected. The hub - http://www.confor.org.uk/covid-19/ - was set up after Confor identified an opportunity to share all relevant sector information - from industry, Government, public forestry bodies and all other stakeholders - with its 1600 members. “It was important to take a lead quickly and ensure that our members had access to relevant information about Covid-19 in one place,” said Confor CEO Stuart Goodall. “There is a lot of anxiety around our health, but also about the future of the industry and we quickly realised Confor had to step up and do all it could to help the forestry and wood processing sector get through this. “We are in uncharted territory and the huge complexity of the situation means that a central source of information is both useful and necessary.”
Early issues While the situation might have changed between writing this and FTN publication, early issues are emerging around continuity of business operations especially key workers, cashflow, possible impact on timber prices, a range of supply chain issues and the impact of potential reductions in demand for timber from key markets like construction. All the information about business support - special schemes to help both large businesses and SMEs, rates relief, help with tax payments and more - was quickly added to the site, which was created by Confor’s Communications Manager Stefanie Kaiser. “The site - and the speed with which we established it - has been welcomed across the private and public sectors,” said Mr Goodall. “As well as highlighting all information we think is relevant and useful, we are working with members to ensure we under6 FORESTRY & TIMBER NEWS • April 2020
stand the full range of their concerns and are able to feed them [back] in to the relevant governments and agencies, following a combination of a reactive and a proactive approach. “To support this, we established country contact groups, led by Confor’s National Managers, to feed back specific concerns from different parts of the supply chain, from the nursery sector through to sawmills and end users.” There has also been very close contact with the public forest agencies in all parts of the UK, with a specific emphasis on how the current crisis will impact on site visits, felling licences, timber sales, procurement and contracts. Mr Goodall has been in close contact with all the public agencies in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with Anthony Geddes, Confor’s National Manager, leading in Wales. This has allowed reassuring messages to be shared quickly, via email, the website and social media, such as this from Mike Seddon, Chief Executive of Forestry England: “We aim to provide as uninterrupted service as possible for direct production, standing sales and other business operations. We will continue to offer timber for sale through our e-sales platform.” The web hub has shared a very wide
Keeping our members informed We will send out e-mail updates once or twice a week. Don’t miss out! 1. Check your spam folder for Confor updates Add us to your contacts 2. Please make sure we have your current e-mail address. Contact Liz@confor.org.uk or stefanie.kaiser@confor.org.uk
range of information and we encourage feedback from all members. As well as the normal contact points for Confor, we have established an email for you to ask questions about the impact of Covid-19 - which we will endeavour to answer quickly. The email is C19Qs@confor.org.uk “We are committed to doing all we can to find the answers to members’ questions,” said Mr Goodall. “As I wrote in my initial blog, Confor cannot protect you from Coronavirus, but we will do everything possible to help you protect your business and your forests from its impacts. “I’m very pleased to see the great collaborative effort across the public and private sector to get through this crisis - and I’m buoyed by the knowledge, gleaned from meeting people over 30 years, that forestry and wood is a resilient, practical and inventive industry.” CONFOR.ORG.UK
