Vastern Timber celebrates a hat trick of awards

Vastern Timber, the UK’s largest hardwood sawmill and creator of Brimstone Wood, is celebrating three recent award wins. Over the last few months, the team has picked up awards for ‘Best Cladding’, ‘People’s Choice’ and ‘Changing Attitudes’.

Build It Magazine’s ‘Best Cladding’ award

The team’s winning streak began with the Build It Magazine’s ‘Best Cladding’ award for Brimstone. This innovative cladding product uses British-grown timbers – like poplar, ash and sycamore – and transforms them into durable external cladding using thermal modificationBrimstone received the award for best cladding system or product. Not the best product compared to other timbers, or other British made products, but the best in class, which was a real endorsement for the team.

Alliance of Sustainable Building Products’ People’s Choice award

Brimstone’s second gong came from the Alliance of Sustainable Building Products’ People’s Choice award. The team were delighted to be recognised here due to the ASBP’s focus on important ‘pillars’ of sustainability – ethics and transparency, health and wellbeing, low carbon and resource efficiency.

In Tom’s pitch for the people’s prize, he said “we developed Brimstone as a local alternative to imported timber cladding. We source most of our timber from within 100 miles of our sawmills which reduces imports and roadmiles. By using thermal modification, we’re able to transform British timbers that aren’t normally durable (such as poplar, ash and sycamore) into long-lasting products for the construction industry.”

Confor Changing Attitudes award

Last but not least, the Confederation of Forest Industries awarded Vastern’s MD, Tom Barnes, with the Changing Attitudes award. The judges highlighted Tom’s work on the National Wood Strategy for England and the ‘Wood for the Trees’ series, about the future of forestry, “promoting greater understanding and awareness of the sector” which has had over 70,000 views.

Trudy Harrison MP, the Forestry Minister, presented Tom with the award. Vastern Timber are delighted with their wins, but Tom says they are looking beyond the award shelf. “The wins are great, but our work is about much more than awards. What really matters is our mission to promote local timber, and our ongoing collaborative efforts to support local woodlands.”

More at  www.vastern.co.uk