Lathams’ chairman and Performance Timber Products Group boss receive OBEs

Timber industry executives Peter Latham and Roy Wakeman have been appointed OBEs in the Queen’s New Year Honours list.

Mr Latham, chairman of James Latham plc, received his award for services to the wood industry, and Mr Wakeman, chairman and chief executive of the Performance Timber Products Group, for services to joinery and manufacturing.

Mr Latham, who was “shocked and delighted” at the news, said that the precise reasons for the award are not given. But they are thought to be not only his leadership of Lathams, where he has been chairman since 2006, but also his contribution to the areas of timber sustainability and environmental certification.

He is currently UK chairman of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) scheme and is soon to join its international board. He is also a former chairman of The Timber Trade Federation’s Forests Forever committee.

Mr Latham said that “a lot of people in the industry work extremely hard to encourage sustainable forestry management and responsible purchasing and I feel privileged to have been part of it”. He also said that there was “still a lot to do” in these areas.

But the PEFC said that his contribution to PEFC UK had been “huge”, with the number of certified companies rising from 100 to 1,300 since he joined the UK board. Lathams had also “developed an industry-leading responsible procurement policy under his direction”.

Roy Wakeman is widely recognised as a pivotal figure in joinery manufacturing during the past 25 years, recently embarking on an unprecedented third term as president of the British Woodworking Federation (BWF). He is credited as a key figure in rescuing the BWF from financial crisis in 1996 and laying the foundations for its recovery.

Between 1994 and 1999 he brought together Leaderflush Doors Ltd, Longdens Ltd and Shapland and Petter to create Europe’s largest specialist performance door and doorset manufacturer, LeaderflushShapland.

In 1999 he led a successful management buy-out and transformed the profitability of the business. When it was sold to SIG plc in 2005 group profitability had increased threefold.

Since 2006, he has led the acquisition of a number of prominent joinery businesses as chairman and chief executive of the £20m-turnover Performance Timber Products Group.

“This honour is a testament to his success and commitment to the industry and well deserved,” said BWF chief executive Iain McIlwee.

“His insightful and practical leadership, combined with his unfailing enthusiasm and dedication to helping joinery businesses in the UK, will echo in the BWF well beyond his term as president.”