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Obituary - Derek Fletcher
company and Mr Fletcher decided to move on. In 1963 he became a junior salesman for Denny Mott and Dixon. In his first year he opened up an incredible 378 new accounts with no leads and became a top softwood and plywood sales rep.
He earned the nickname Aladdin as he sold millions of cubic feet of teak to the lighting industry to make table lamps. Denny’s, later trading as Mallison-
Denny, was then taken over by Brooke Bond and Unilever, at which point he was promoted to sales director.
Above: Derek Fletcher
The timber trade has been paying tribute to one of its longest-serving members who died recently – Derek Fletcher of DHH Timber.
Mr Fletcher was known as “Mr Birch” for his long association with the birch plywood trade and the fact that DHH is the UK’s largest stockist of birch ply. Joint owner of DHH Timber and Decor Solutions, Mr Fletcher was in his 63rd year of service in the timber trade in 2021. His first role in the trade was at teak and hardwood importer Richard H Keeping, though earlier at aged just 10 he sold firewood from a barrow (steamed beech off-cuts from a company that made women’s shoe heels).
After six months Bamberger’s bought the
He then moved to William T Eden and then Saracen Timber where he grew sales from £3 to £10m in just over two years. He later formed MDM (Malcolm, Derek and Mickey), before moving on again and establishing DHH Timber with joint owner David Francis.
For the past 25 years they have grown the business to offer what is regarded as the largest and most comprehensive stock range of birch plywood in the UK. He had remained an active member of the Plywood Club of London and the UK’s Timber Trade Federation.
A memorial will be held on November 25 (also to be livestreamed). Anybody who knew Derek and would like to attend should contact Nicola Hollington at
nicola@dhhtimber.co.uk. Donations to New Life Wood, the Timber Trades’ Benevolent Society and Cadger’s (Southend Hospitals Prostate cancer support group).
Accsys team walks for well-being Above: The walk covered 16,000km
Accsys recently completed a charitable employee initiative called ‘Step out, to help out!’. This saw colleagues across the organisation collectively walk over 16,000km over two months in the summer to promote well-being throughout the company and in wider society. The Accsys team walked a distance to cover the journey between Accsys’
global office locations: a round trip from Arnhem in the Netherlands, where Accoya is produced, to Hull in the UK, where the world’s first Tricoya plant is under construction, via its head office in London and on to its North American sales office in Dallas, US…and then back across the Atlantic to Arnhem again. The initiative formed part of Accsys’ focus on people and well-being and society and communities. The challenge was set up to boost employee well-being particularly during the pandemic which has affected daily life over the past year. Accsys donated to three charities, which were chosen due to their focus on improving well-being in Accsys’ communities. A total of €10,000 was donated to Dimence Groep in the Netherlands, and Mind and the Timber Trades’ Benevolent Society (TTBS) in the UK.
TTBS Christmas message
On behalf of the Timber Trades Benevolent Society’s (TTBS) trustees, our national president for 2021 and 2022, John Taylor, the TTBS board of management and our many UK beneficiaries, I would like to thank you for all the support you have given the society throughout 2021, which has continued to be a most difficult year for us all.
By the end of this year, we will have distributed circa £170,000 of regular allowances and other benefits to our beneficiaries and our trustees have recently agreed to increase our allowances and benefits by an average of 25% from this December onwards to compensate for the rising costs of food, heating and lighting and all other household increases. Our beneficiaries are all hugely grateful for the society’s help and continually write, email and telephone to thank us and everyone supporting us. We are hugely grateful to the Timber Trades Journal, the London Hardwood Club, the Structural Timber Association, the Timber Trade Federation and TTF/TDUK dinner, the Shippers Lunch, the Plywood Luncheon Club, Accsys plc, the Worshipful Company of Builders Merchants, James Donaldson and all other regional committees, individuals and companies who have supported us financially during the year despite the difficulties – thank you to everyone who has donated to help us continue our vital work to assist the retired and less fortunate from our industry. We continue to seek out new beneficiaries and this will be an ongoing priority and, through company’s HR departments, the TTBS strives to ensure employees know where they can get help in the future. We also need some new blood in our regional committees, so if you feel you can help please get in touch at
info@ttbs.org. uk and we will put you in touch with your local committee who will welcome your involvement. Critically, the society continues networking with the timber industry to ensure that we are in the forefront for charity support. Finally, we hope that 2022 will see an improving situation for us all and may we take this opportunity to wish you, your families and all your business colleagues the very best festive season possible and a healthy and successful year to come.
Ivan Savage TTBS chief executive officer
www.ttjonline.com | November/December 2021 | TTJ
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