26 | Sector Focus: Timber in Construction
SUMMARY
■ Structural timber’s UK market share is around 25%
■ The net zero carbon agenda is driving growth
■ STA Assure will now include designers
■ Andrew Orriss has been appointed chief operating officer
TIMBER TAPS INTO CARBON AGENDA
Structural timber is set to benefit from the increasing focus on net zero carbon. Sally Spencer talks to STA chief executive Andrew Carpenter
Top: Structural timber accounts for around one in four new build homes in the UK Above: There is a new government drive on self-build PHOTO: FLIGHT TIMBER
TTJ | July/August 2021 |
www.ttjonline.com
The structural timber sector’s fortunes over the last year have, unsurprisingly, mirrored those of the wider construction industry, with a short period of closure at the end of March 2020, followed by a re-opening that for many turned out to be business as, or better than, usual. “When lockdown came [in March 2020] we had an SOS management meeting to discuss what was likely to happen to us as a sector and as a trade association and we laid plans in place for quite a significant downturn in income last year,” said Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of the Structural Timber Association (STA). “But, actually, that never materialised and some of our members have been as busy as they have ever been. Certainly, if you look at the housing sector and the performance of the major house developers, they are all showing record profits – and that flows through to how busy STA members are.” Structural timber’s market share of the UK housebuilding sector is still hovering around the 25% mark, although in Scotland it is considerably more, with estimates at 75-80%. Growth opportunities for the sector are “massive”, said Mr Carpenter, thanks in part to the government’s New Deal for Britain and its ‘build, build, build’ mantra, which includes ‘build back greener’ – a drive to net zero carbon, ‘build back better’ – the quality agenda, and ‘build back faster’ – the smart construction agenda, including modern methods of construction (MMC). “We are right at the sharp end of the road map to recovery,” said Mr Carpenter, adding that he has just been appointed onto the
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