Arnold Laver receives quality enquiries

Arnold Laver Timber World brought the combined knowledge and expertise of 10 leading timber products companies together on one stand.

The companies, which represented the whole supply chain, from forestry through to end user demonstrated Lavers’ partnership approach to Ecobuild.

Its 195m² stand took several days to erect but the effort paid off, with the company receiving enquiries from architects and housebuilders.

The rectangular stand comprised a series of ‘rooms’ featuring many of the company’s suppliers, and among the products used in the construction was studwork made from Howie Forest Products’ Easi-edge timber; SCA flooring; Coillte’s SmartPly OSB; IWS beams; Finnjoist I-beams; Vicaima doors; and metal-web joists made from British-grown C16 timber.

W Howard’s ‘room’ featured the company’s established Primer Mould range, along with its newer Polyco foil and paper wrapped mouldings and composite wood decking.

Claire Mountford, W Howard’s marketing manager, was impressed by both the venue and the mix of visitors, reporting a steady flow of architects, self-builders and jobbing builders to the stand.

Arnold Laver group managing director Andrew Laver was also pleased with the number and quality of enquiries and described Ecobuild as “the thinking person’s Interbuild”.

“There are a lot of the right type of people – people who are interested in and have a desire to use timber,” he said.

Mr Laver confirmed that Arnold Laver would be back at Ecobuild next year but he questioned whether the show was becoming too big to be manageable for some visitors.

“The show is now getting to a size where are people able to see who they want to in a day? Buyers are now multifaceted, rather than concentrating on one product, so they have to see a lot of people,” he said.

He said that some buyers still held a “definite fear” that in buying timber they could be procuring something that’s not legal and sustainable. However, Mr Laver said Arnold Laver’s environmental credentials were one reason why the company had been selected to supply more than 50% of the timber and panels used in the London Olympics site, including 365 trusses and 46 miles of Siberian pine for the iconic velodrome.