SELLING TO: CARPENTERS & JOINERS Splitting the
Supply side perspective “Many of those we used to know as site carpenters are now ‘timber framers’ working in the expanding timber frame housing market,” says Jason Ostler, Managing Director at Arbor Forest Products. “The lack of skilled carpenters is beginning to push the mass construction market more towards offsite- produced housing, which is starting to divert at least a proportion of business away from merchants.
“To service professional carpenters effectively, merchant staff need to know the features and benefits of each applicable product and thus be able to sell the right product for the right job,” Arbor’s Jason Ostler continues. “The skill set of small joineries is diminishing all the time, so part of the challenge for merchants is to make their timber knowledge available, thus encouraging local joinery firms to have confidence that the merchant understands and can service their needs.”
Wide Whitewood
One of the products often held by merchants for servicing local joineries is wide whitewood, often used for staircase production. Is it still a good choice as a stock item? Mark Bowers, Commercial Director at James Donaldson Timber, thinks its use is declining as skill sets change: “The use of wide whitewood in general joinery has decreased significantly,” he affirms. “It has been replaced to some extent with MDF in products such as windowboard, and elsewhere by laminated softwood and, increasingly, by laminated hardwood products. Regional housebuilders, often served by builders merchants, also prefer MDF for stairs and windowboard.
“Merchants with the right approach to laminated products can do well,” adds Donaldsons’ Mark Bowers. “Smaller bespoke
8 / May 2019
DIFFERENCE
Did the person facing you across the timber counter start their working life as a carpenter or a joiner? There are distinct differences in their requirements. Making good business relationships with both means understanding their needs.
Students at London’s Building Crafts College
joiners could be a good source of business, providing you engage with them and research their needs. Although not a volume product for merchants, laminated wood is high value proposition, so you need to sell less to make it worthwhile.”
David Whitehill, Director at Compass Forest Products, concurs: “Fewer shippers are cutting wide whitewood these days. The joinery market has also upgraded its expectations in terms of product performance and laminated timbers are mostly the preferred choice. For the merchant it’s about finding the right product niche for your local customer base.”
Jason Dodd, Sales Manager at Setra Wood Products UK, comments: “Over time it’s become
more challenging for everyone to source the large dimension log sizes which are capable of producing the big, stable sections needed for stair manufacture. The joinery industry has now accepted that finger-jointed and laminated timber actually provide a better, stronger product, offering them less waste in the process.” Adding his voice in agreement, Chris Bowen- Davies, Key Accounts Manager at Brooks Bros Timber, confirms that laminated products are the way forward in the joinery market: “Laminated sections are gaining in popularity year on year, and joiners are moving from softwoods into laminated hardwoods. Smaller joiners are also now warming to the potential of laminated timbers, with stability being seen as the main advantage.”
Launch of the IOC City Hub, London
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