IN PERSON IN PERSON: CHARLIE CANNON Head of engineered timber, Beesley & Fildes
A DYNAMIC APPROACH TO ENGINEERED TIMBER
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harlie Cannon looks unfeasibly young to be heading up the engineered timber department at a successful independent builder’s merchant, but that’s because he is young. Aged just 26, however, he has a wealth of experience in designing roof timbers and, since joining Beesley and Fildes less than a year ago, he’s already made improvements to how the operation is managed, enhanced the service to customers and been instrumental in developing the skills of trainee, Ryan Littler. “People are sometimes taken aback at how young I am,” says Cannon, “but I’ve always had a passion for design and began my career as a truss designer for a major truss manufacturer, which dovetails well with what I do now at Beesley & Fildes. “My remit is all about finding the right solution for the customer, and I am responsible for every aspect of the running of the department, including production, procurement and workflows, alongside sales, design and project management. We use digital technologies and a service-driven approach to ensure we offer a tailored response for every customer project. My role combines the experience of our team, our software capabilities and the service commitment at the heart of Beesley & Fildes’ company culture to ensure we add value and support customers from first enquiry to final handover, with a seamless end-to-end service.”
Service driven department
The engineered timber department is based at Beesley & Fildes’ Widnes branch but serves customers across the company’s network of 11 branches with timbers for floors and roofs. Cannon and his colleagues offer a free design service, that includes all timbers, including posi-joists that are manufactured to order on site, i-beams that are precision cut to order in-house, and trusses manufactured to Beesley & Fildes’ calculations.
“Our design service provides a joined up approach for integrated and accountable procurement of all the timbers, fixings and accessories our customers need for their roof/floor,” Cannon explains. “We supply a detailed plan and a 3D render of the installation so customers can see exactly what needs to go where and be confident that they have received every component they need to fit the dimensions and loading requirements of the project. “It means we offer a consultancy approach to selling engineered timber products, optimising the design to provide buildability, cost and speed of installation benefits. And, because we’re on hand to support customers throughout their project, they can contact us at any time to ask our advice or check details.”
Respecting the skills and knowledge of customers while steering them towards the most appropriate combination of i-beams and posi- joists is also a key element of Cannon’s role. He continues: “We work with customers from initial design, showing them what’s possible and talking through the most appropriate option for their project.
“We cut i-beams to order, whereas posi-joists are a product we design and manufacture specifically for the project, so they are more expensive. It’s not a simple like-for-like comparison, however. As a
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rule of thumb, posi-joists are the better option for larger spans, but our advice depends on what the contractor wants to achieve and the structural requirements of the project. Posi-joists also enable larger spans to be achieved with a reduced depth of timber and make building services installation much quicker and easier so our knowledge of what’s needed on site helps us outline the pros and cons. “Fundamentally, it’s part of our job to help the customer decide whether the reduced number of posi-joists needed
to achieve the required span will provide sufficient installation time and cost savings to offset the higher costs of a more expensive specification. That’s one of the key benefits our engineered timber customers gain by working with Beesley & Fildes: we can look at the options and discuss the implications of those choices to help them make the right decision.”
Responding to challenges
Cannon and the rest of the engineered timber team at Beesley & Fildes provide bespoke design and supply for a wide range of projects and the variety of the role is one of the elements that Cannon enjoys most.
“No two days are ever the same, and it’s really rewarding to work with a customer and see a design we’ve developed as a fully- finished project on site. Our customers are really varied, including housebuilders replicating the same design across multiple properties, through to self-builders with a unique property layout in need of a bespoke design. Our response to everyone is that if it can be done, we can design and supply it! We are working on an increasing number of complex projects, with multi-level roofs and large spans for use as liveable attic spaces.
“Our role is to use our design expertise to make the roof work structurally, which often means making a complex architectural design simpler to install. The more unusual and complex roofs the we design, the more we can feed that knowledge into innovative approaches to new projects.”
That focus on building knowledge and continuous improvement is central to Cannon’s ambition for the engineered timber department at Beesley & Fildes. He adds: “I have only been here a few months but it’s already clear that there is huge potential for us to scale up and invest in more design talent, more machinery and dedicated transport. We’re proud to have trained Ryan for a successful career with us at Beesley and Fildes, and I’m keen to roll out that opportunity to new trainees.” BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net May 2022
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