| Forestry
BSW and Tilhill Forestry announce the vertical integration of timber supply chain
George McRobbie , Managing Director of Tilhill Forestry , has today announced the final stage of the completion of Tilhill Forestry ’ s integration into the BSW Group .
T his last stage involves the combining of the BSW Sawmills UK log buying team with Tilhill Forestry ’ s timber harvesting team .
The integration process will start immediately and will be a phased process completing by 31st March 2018 . Once the integration is complete Tilhill Forestry will have sole responsibility for the sawlog supply into BSW ’ s UK sawmills .
Tilhill Forestry will continue to supply sawlogs , small round wood and biomass to its other customers with no change to the current security of supply or contract terms .
George McRobbie said : “ This is an exciting opportunity for both companies and is a logical consolidation following the acquisition of Tilhill by BSW two years ago . This change will bring efficiency gains and provide a strong and robust foundation for us to develop improvements to the timber supply chain not just for BSW but for Tilhill ’ s other customers too .”
Harry Stevens ’ role on the Tilhill Board of Directors will change . He will become the Timber Buying Director and be responsible for the expanded timber buying and harvesting function . He added : “ Combining the two teams will make the best use of the skill sets and talent we have across the organisation . The new set up will be good for the company , our staff and our customers .”
Gavin Adkins ’ role as Commercial Director at Tilhill will become full time and Peter Whitfield , currently Timber Operations Director , will be moving to a new role as Business Development Director . These appointments will take place with immediate effect .
Tilhill Forestry , a wholly owned subsidiary of the BSW Timber Group , was established nearly 70 years ago . It is a national company operating from a network of offices throughout the UK . The company provides a full range of consultancy and contracting services to the forest owner and forestry investor . There is also a complementary soft landscaping operation . Further information is available at www . tilhill . com
BSW is the most technologically advanced sawmill company in the UK employing over 1,300 people . The Company ’ s roots date back to 1848 and , with seven sawmills in the UK and one in Latvia , has a production capacity of more than 1.2 million m3 of sawn timber which is distributed throughout construction , fencing and landscape markets www . bsw . co . uk
Together , BSW and Tilhill Forestry form a strong partnership in the forest industry that will deliver quality from beginning to end - from creating new forests through to producing timber end products .
46 | Farming Monthly | September 2017 www . farmingmonthly . co . uk