36 | Sector Focus: Timber in Construction
DONALDSON KEEPS IT PLANE & SIMPLE
Becoming a timber frame manufacturer hasn’t dimmed Donaldson Group’s commitment to the merchant sector and, if proof were ever needed, in June last year it launched Plane & Simple. The online DIY marketplace
Above: Plane & Simple connects local trade merchants
(
itsplaneandsimple.com) connects DIYers with trusted local independent merchants. By entering a postcode, customers are paired with a selection of merchant partners in their area and a full range of building supplies and products can be delivered direct to their door. Once a merchant signs on as a partner, they benefit from market insight, regular monitoring and additional marketing to drive online sales. With a targeted approach, the platform also allows merchants to
control the areas they are selling to, with full control over delivery areas. The platform currently operates in
three areas – the central belt of Scotland, south-west England and south-east England. “We were talking about it pre-pandemic and then the whole ecommerce world exploded so we cracked on and started it up,” said Andrew Donaldson, group CEO. “We spent a year building the software and then launched it last June. It’s been going phenomenally well in the 12 months since then and we’re excited about the future potential for that business. “In our 162 years we have never built a
technology company before and it has taught our business a lot.” ■
◄ over how such a move might impact other parts of the group – such as Donaldson Timber Engineering – and a desire to avoid conflicts of interest with its existing timber frame customers. However, at a board strategy meeting in June 2021, the idea was back on the table. “We have our own merchant business, MGM Timber, within the group and have worked alongside the merchant sector for many years, so we felt we are experienced and trusted when it comes to the kind of political tightrope that we have to walk at times,” said Mr Donaldson. “We thought if we could make it work in the merchant business, then we had a good chance of making it work in the timber frame business as well.” Demonstrating that fortune does indeed favour the brave, SMTS came on the market shortly afterwards.
“Never did we imagine that six months after that board meeting conversation we would be the UK’s largest timber frame manufacturer,” said Mr Donaldson. “That was never the plan – but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that was just too good to miss. We had to make sure it was the right fit for our organisation, particularly from a cultural perspective, but it’s been excellent and has worked really well since the transaction went through at the end of December.” The “cultural perspective” has been a recurring theme in all of Donaldson’s acquisitions. As a family-run business with very strong values, it puts ethics high on its agenda. “We put quite heavy weighting on culture in an acquisition, rather than just the financial numbers. We are custodians of these
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businesses and want to nurture them for many years, so we need to make sure that, yes they are financially stable, but that they can embrace being part of our family business and can flourish under that culture.” SMTS, which itself hailed from a family business, ticked all the right boxes. And, because Donaldson had dealt with it as a customer for decades, it knew that it shared its fundamental business principles – looking after its customers, looking after its people, and “just doing the right thing, sometimes at the expense of the bottom line profit”. “From my perspective there was a family understanding and an independent business understanding that this was going to be a good meeting of cultures. It just felt right.” This perfect marriage of cultures has been helped immeasurably by the fact that the timber frame operations and staff remain unchanged. Alex Goodfellow, former Stewart Milne Group managing director – strategic development, has transferred with the business into the role of CEO of Donaldson Off-site (more on which later), while former SMTS managing director Rod Allan and its board of directors continue to drive the business.
The transference of key personnel was a deal breaker for Donaldson Group. “It was absolutely fundamental to the transaction that the directors wanted to stay within the business,” said Mr Donaldson. “We wouldn’t have done the deal if they weren’t supportive of it and weren’t going to come over and continue to work with us going forward.
“They are real market leaders in terms of experience and knowledge and our job is to be good custodians, to empower them and
Above: Construction under way at the Saxon Reach development in Milton Keynes
give them the resources to allow them to continue to develop and grow their business and be successful.”
In March this year the rebranding of SMTS was announced and it is now known as Donaldson Timber Systems. There has also been some reorganisation within the wider group and three new divisions have been created – the aforementioned Donaldson Off- site, Interiors, and Retail & Distribution. “It was something we had been contemplating doing with the acquisitions that have come into the group in the last couple of years,” said Mr Donaldson. “We now have 11 trading subsidiaries and six separate brands within the group and we wanted to simplify things to ensure that it was clear what all the different parts of the group did.”
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