Cover Story: Vastern Timber

Growing Local Timber Supply Chains

Tom Barnes, managing director of Vastern Timber explains why choosing local alternatives to imports, and nurturing shorter supply chains will help to meet the high demand for timber.

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he perfect storm of Covid, Brexit, and climate change have really focused attention on the resilience and impact of global supply chains. Anyone trying to buy timber for their building project will have experienced shortages, long lead-times and dramatic price increases. As a processor of homegrown timber, we at Vastern Timber have experienced unprecedented demand over the last 18 months as imports have dried up. Vastern Timber is a family firm based in Wiltshire, and over four generations we have worked with locally sourced wood. Demand is higher than any of us can remember, and supplies are squeezed. Timber supply pressures are likely to ease next year, but the long term forecast is that shortages could become the norm as global demand for timber outstrips available supply. Worryingly, it is predicted that global demand for timber will triple by 2050.

The increase in demand for timber is partly driven by a growing recognition of the real risks of climate change leading to a surge of interest in biomaterials, and low carbon construction. I’ve spoken to building firms and building owners who are looking at every single aspect of construction supply chains, to understand the impact of specifying and sourcing materials. In many cases they’re surprised at how far some of our most commonly used building materials have travelled. The carbon costs of that transportation can be substantial. It’s well known that we import 80% of the timber we use and it is now well understood that shipping materials around the world is one of the biggest sources of the green-house gases that are responsible for climate change. What’s not so widely understood is how unsustainable this situation will become in future.

The good news is that the timber grown in Britain can perform as well as many of the popular imports. We just need to invest in both forestry and manufacturing to meet future demands. Right now there is locally grown timber available that is affordable and suitable for many projects. Here are a few suggestions.

Brimstone Ash delivers the look and performance of tropical timber

Available as decking or cladding, Brimstone ash is a British-grown alternative to tropical hardwoods. I challenge anyone considering using Ipe, Yellow Balau, Garapa or any of the other tropical hardwoods, to look at Brimstone Ash as an alternative. It delivers a similar performance, without the need to import tropical wood. Brimstone is a really exciting product. It’s the first thermally-modified timber to be made from local home-grown wood. The modification process creates very durable and stable timber suitable for external cladding, decking and joinery. Developed by Vastern Timber and launched in 2016, Brimstone has become a popular alternative to tropical timber and other slow grown species such as Canadian cedar.

British cedar is a keenly priced alternative to Canadian cedar

Cedar is a beautiful timber for exterior cladding. With Canadian Cedar being expensive and scarce, the interest in British cedar has grown. Over the last few years demand for British Cedar has grown

Brimstone Poplar cladding at the Wood Centre for Innovation Lock House extension with British larch cladding

Brimstone Ash decking Tom Barnes Green British Cedar

substantially, and lately we’ve sold more homegrown than imported cedar. The stability and natural durability of British western red cedar makes it ideal for external cladding applications. The British grown cedar is more knotty than Canadian Cedar, but the knots are sound and do not detract from its effectiveness. British cedar cladding is a good value alternative to Canadian cedar, and choosing it avoids the carbon costs of shipping timber to the UK.

Brimstone poplar cladding has the crisp appearance of Canadian cedar

Brimstone poplar is a great choice for cladding when customers seek a crisp and knot-free appearance. Brimstone poplar is selected to minimise knots and thermal modification transforms the timber into a very durable and stable cladding. Brimstone poplar was chosen for the Wood Centre for Innovation in Oxfordshire, creating dramatic architecture with locally grown wood. Brimstone also comes with the knowledge that you are supporting the development and management of local woodlands by using a less sought-after but abundant timber species.

British larch is great value compared to Siberian larch (and more attractive)

British larch is a tough and naturally durable softwood, and it’s an economical option as well as a locally grown choice. Our latest batch of logs come from a woodland 38 miles from our sawmill. A bit closer than Siberia! Grade B larch is undeniably knotty, but from as little as £15sq m +VAT larch offers an affordable cladding option that will last. Grade A British larch offers a less knotty alternative for those wanting a cleaner style of cladding. ‘Grade B’ British larch cladding was chosen at the Semington Lock House on the Kennet and Avon canal. The client said “We wanted to source locally where possible. We chose larch because its native, it’s local and it doesn’t require maintenance.”

Oak, ash and sweet chestnut all grow in this country

The UK imports large volumes of oak, ash and other hardwoods from around the world. In fact we import 93% of all the hardwoods that we use in the UK. We will never be able to supply all of our needs from British woodlands but we could do a lot better than 7%. If you are planning to use hardwoods for your build, take the time to ask where it is from and whether there is a homegrown alternative.

Why choose local timber

We think that using locally grown timber is just plain common sense. Why import something from halfway around the world when it can be sourced from just down the road? There are however pressing scientific and economic reasons for sourcing local timber.

• Less transport means less pollution. (shipping accounts for approximately 2.5% of all global C02 emissions) • Local supply chains are more resilient. Covid and Brexit have demonstrated how fragile our supply chains are • Without investment now, we will not have the trees or the ability to process them in the future. Trees take at least 40 years to grow • Buying local wood puts money directly into the management and planting of local woodlands. Growing trees costs money!

With strong demand for local timber, we can nurture local supply chains, making more use of timber we have closer to home. There are lots of good reasons to use the timber we have around us before importing from further afield. Recent events demonstrate that supply chains can be fragile. If we don’t nurture local timber supply chains how can we expect to rely on them in the future? Ensuring a reliable timber supply for the future that will allow us to create low carbon buildings requires a national timber strategy that urgently starts the work to lay down timber trees for the future.

Personally, I’m quite optimistic about the future for British wood, despite the very significant problems ahead. I know that this country has the potential to produce much more of the timber we consume but it starts with each individual purchase and a simple question ‘Where is this wood from?’