Taking the helm at a time of change

There are certain points in your career when you have to sit back and work out quite how you arrived at where you are - I'm writing this the day after being voted in by the governing board of the Timber Trade Federation (TTF), as its new president.

I am surprised and honoured to find myself in this position and know that I am taking this role on at a time of significant change.

We are a new team. David Hopkins is taking on the leadership of the TTF as director from David Lennan; he is also working with new people in key roles, as well as some long-standing people, to provide members with the support that they need.

The TTF has to change, to reflect what its members need, in a changing world. To that end the governing board agreed to a totally new format for our committee structure:

Quality, Standards, Risk & Reputation; Development & Training; Communication & Engagement; Membership & Revenue - these take the place of the old product based committees, so that the TTF is far more flexible and focused on the needs of its members, reacting quickly to changes in the market place.

The regional associations will be playing a far greater role in the way we go about fulfilling the objectives that have been agreed in the TTF's three-year plan, using 'champions' who will each be assisted by a member of the head office team, so that we deliver, successfully.

One of my personal ambitions is to see a far more unified regional structure. The only way that the TTF can give all its members the highest levels of service is by being engaged, across the UK, so you can expect to see me and the TTF team around and about, regularly.

I am looking forward to meeting you all, in your workplaces, gaining understanding of your specific requirements and helping to deliver what you need. Quite simply, the timber industry is one industry; everything we do individually has an impact, collectively. That can be negative, as we've seen with the VW scandal, but it can also be extremely positive and we want to encourage those businesses who set high standards, by giving them a Federation that supports them, in all of the major parts of their own delivery programme. It's going to be exciting. It will not be boring. More importantly, I hope that it will include you, the person reading this piece, as a positive contributor to the greater good of the timber industry.

You may have noticed that I have used the word 'deliver' a few times; this is quite deliberate.

We are an industry that delivers products and services, every second of the working day, across the UK and the only way the TTF will be relevant is by helping you to deliver, on time, to specification.