22 | Interview: Premier Forest Products
PREMIER FOREST MAKES BOLD
INDUSTRY MOVE
Premier Forest Products has acquired three former NTG sites and the National Timber Systems business in a bold move that transforms both its size and geographic reach. Stephen Powney talks to Premier Forest’s Co-Founder & CEO Terry Edgell about what the acquisitions mean for the Group.
Premier Forest Products has just made one of the biggest moves of its 33-year history with a bold move to acquire three of the former Arnold Laver depots and the National Timber Systems business from administrators of the National Timber Group (NTG). Premier Forest’s Co-Founder & CEO Terry Edgell views the deals as “transformational” for the business and is excited about the future despite the recent tough economic backdrop for the timber sector. When I caught up with him following the completion of the deals, he spoke about taking opportunities in the trade, private equity ownership vs independent ownership, the importance of diversification, the need to put people first, and a belief that better times in housebuilding must be coming. Newport-based Premier Forest, the TTJ 2025 Timber Trader of the Year, had not intended to prioritise acquisitions in 2025, after completing three acquisitions at the back end of 2024, and then the acquisition of Newport-based joinery manufacturer Limebright Ltd in January 2025. “But we did think something was going to happen in the marketplace. 2025 was a pretty tough year for the timber trade,” explained Terry. “NTG got into difficulty because I think the market wasn’t recovering like everyone expected it to, and so we negotiated a deal with the administrators in December. “I think it takes a lot of confidence to do what we’ve done, and our deal was the biggest that the administrators of NTG had dealt with.
Above: Premier Forest CEO & Co-founder Terry Edgell TTJ | Spring 2026 |
www.ttjonline.com
“It is quite transforming in terms of the size of the business we now have, but it has not put us under too much leverage, and we have a very supportive relationship with our bank.” Premier Forest acquired the Reading, Manchester and Hull operations of Arnold Laver, and the Bristol, Catterick and Newcastle operations of National Timber Systems (NTS), as well as the assets of the NTS Sheffield facility.
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