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Donaldson Off-site comprises Donaldson Timber Systems; roof and floor system market leader, Donaldson Timber Engineering (DTE); the newly-launched online roof truss ordering service, Donaldson Direct; and doorset and staircase maker, Rowan Manufacturing. The intention is to bring that knowledge and expertise together to offer a new modern method of construction “and really take that business experience and breadth of product to our existing customer base”.
The Interiors division comprises the group’s kitchen, bedroom and bathroom businesses – Kitchens International, MGM Kitchens, Smith & Frater, Stonecare, Optima Kitchens, and Buzz Home Office.
And the Retail & Distribution division is made up of MGM Timber, Nu-Style Products, James Donaldson Insulation, Perform Panel, TimberCut4U, and Plane & Simple (see boxed text).
While the three divisions work together to share best practice, knowledge and experience, they are autonomous and each subsidiary has its own leadership team and, in most cases, its own managing director.
Sitting outside the three divisions as “a standalone entity” is the original business, James Donaldson Timber Ltd (JDT), which is the group’s wholesale further processor of timber products. This slight separation answers the question of how to maintain the integrity of the business when it has customers within the group but also a substantial number of customers outside of it. Put simply, this enables JDT to supply material to the divisions within the group but also to supply external customers, including competitor manufacturers, without fear or favour.
“Interestingly, since the acquisition, nothing has changed because Donaldson Timber Systems, as it is now, has always been a customer of JDT so it’s not as though we’ve
brought them into the business and are now supplying them – we were always supplying them,” said Mr Donaldson. So, it will be business as usual for Donaldson Timber Systems. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ambitious plans, not just in the pipeline but about to come to fruition.
“There are growth plans and a lot of work has been done, particularly in the English and Welsh markets to convert housebuilders over to timber frame construction. There has been a significant uplift in interest in Sigma II (the award- winning Buildoffsite Property Assurance Scheme [BOPAS] and BBA-approved closed panel build system) and, encouragingly, a lot of that has come from the social and affordable housing sectors, where the product is seen as a perfect solution.
“There is such a compelling argument for timber frame to provide a solution to the housing needs we have and to do it in a sustainable way. Everywhere you go you hear that there isn’t enough skilled labour but we can use a renewable building material and, through various innovative systems, take the building process off-site, where we can control the quality – and speed it up.” In anticipation of this increase in demand, the factory in Witney, Oxfordshire is having a complete overhaul over the course of the next nine months, with automation taken to a new level.
“This year we will probably do in the region of 8,500 units – that’s both open and closed panels – and our plan is to take that to 15,000 units over the next couple of years. The driver for that level of growth is going to come from a new market, and that is England and Wales,” said Mr Donaldson.
No doubt boosting that growth will be the news that Donaldson Timber Systems has become one of the first manufacturers to achieve BOPAS Plus accreditation. Building
on the original scheme, BOPAS Plus has been developed to introduce a greater focus on the preparedness of the offsite sector to drive digitisation and collaboration in the construction industry.
It would be wishful thinking to assume that product from all of Donaldson Group’s subsidiary companies will automatically find their way into a Donaldson Timber Systems development, but certainly the capability of building and fitting out a whole house is there.
“Our strategy is pretty simple in that the Off-site division should be capable of erecting the structural element of a timber frame dwelling – so the walls, the roof, the floors, doors and stairs – and our Interiors division should be capable of fitting it out with bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen and a home office.
“The idea is to be able to offer that one- stop-shop for local, national and regional housebuilders at some stage, although we’ve got a lot of work to do to be able to do that.”
There are undoubtedly going to be some “bumps in the road” ahead, for the whole sector, not just Donaldson Group, with the cost of living, energy prices, supply chain disruptions and the war in Ukraine topping the list. “We had Brexit, then the pandemic and now the horrific situation in Ukraine,” said Mr Donaldson. “I think any one of those in isolation would have been a one-time occurrence in a leader’s career but it’s just been one after another.
“It’s certainly brought some resilience and agility into the business and that mental state of preparedness has definitely been embedded in us. I think people are more accepting of the fact that businesses have to change. We just need to stick to our values, which we do every day and we believe we will come through very positive and strong at the other end.” ■
Above left: Automation will be taken to a new level after a nine-month overhaul of the Witney factory Above right: A delivery from Donaldson Timber Systems arrives on site
www.ttjonline.com | July/August 2022 | TTJ
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