Breaking barriers

Summary
• Mark Plews grew up in Bexhill on Sea and his original plan was to teach maths.
• He started his working life in corporate banking.
• He joined UCM’s former parent company in 1989.
• In 1993, he and other investors bought UCM.
• Today UCM operates in eight countries and turns over £70m.

When Mark Plews entered the timber trade he was, he says, regarded as something of a novelty. As managing director and chief architect of UCM Timber plc as it is today, he’s been a prominent figure in the industry for 15 years. But he’s not a dyed in the wool timber man. In fact, he started in a career some might consider the polar opposite, corporate banking.

“At the outset I think some people weren’t sure what to make of this newcomer from the City,” he said. “Perhaps some still aren’t!”

Born in 1962, Mark grew up in Bexhill on Sea and decided at Bexhill grammar that he was going to be a maths teacher. Clearly never one to follow the set route however, as some might say he’s demonstrated at UCM, he decided against going straight for a teaching qualification.

“I wanted more options and didn’t think I’d be equipped to stand in front of a classroom coming straight from full-time education,” he said. “Instead I studied maths and economics at Surrey University, then decided to get some experience of the real world.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

“I planned to take up teacher training after doing something different for a year,” said Mark. “But while I disliked my first job as a trainee actuary at Cannon Assurance, I then joined Swiss Bank Corporation’s corporate lending division and was hooked. From there I went to Bank of America and BZW.”

Banking appeal

What he relished about banking was putting together deals, unpicking financial problems and the sheer energy of the business. Although, he stresses, it wasn’t all “red braces and eye-watering bonuses”. “That didn’t really set in until later,” he said, “and it was in investment banking, not corporate lending.”

But, while it may not have been Gordon Gekko territory, switching to the world of wood still seems quite a leap. The stepping stone came in 1989.

“I was headhunted as commercial director by Finlan Group plc, essentially a property group but with construction-related interests,” said Mark. “It was a new challenge, plus we were on the brink of recession where the City was expected to take a hit, so I accepted.”

As it turned out, Finlan’s other interests included an ailing 70-year-old timber agency, UCM.

“I was asked to look at it, with one option being to shut it,” said Mark. “But we persuaded Finlan to let us try restructuring. They nicknamed me ‘angel of death’ as we had to halve the workforce, but by 1993 it was more balanced; we had 19 people, turnover of £27m and a small profit. That’s when I and several investors, of which today I and Vapo Timber are the only ones left, put in a bid to buy it.”

With the fundamentals right and a solid global supplier portfolio, Mark was confident UCM now had a good base for growth. He also felt his financial career gave him some grounding for this new career. “As an agent, UCM played two roles: it acted as its suppliers’ sales force, but also as a financier, guaranteeing suppliers payment and offering terms to customers.”

Acquisitions

Mark’s banking pedigree may also be apparent to some in UCM’s subsequent energetic acquisition programme, although, he insists, all the buyouts were amicable. The first was Churchill & Sim in 1996, followed, over the next decade, by Carl Ronnow UK, MCI Timply and Lignum Hardwoods and, this year, by the Balfour Timber agency and importer Hollanden.

UCM expanded abroad too. It first moved into the US, buying Meridian Forest Products in 1999 and Interpan in 2007. Next, in 2002, it launched Mercantile International a hardwood, door and garden products supplier, in Singapore, then in 2004 opened an office in China, now UCM Timber Specialities (Shanghai).

Today, the group operates in eight countries and has 55 staff worldwide. It trades in softwood – including parana pine – hardwood, sheet materials and finished products and turns over around £70m.

UCM’s growth has, of course, coincided with erosion of old demarcations between UK timber agents, brokers and importers and some would say that, in crossing these lines itself, it contributed to the process.

Mark acknowledges he “doesn’t apply a particular label to UCM”. “I just see us as a timber trading company.” But he doesn’t believe the era of the traditional agent or broker is over. “If they’re well run, with a particular area of expertise, why shouldn’t they continue?”

Industry support

And while he may have broken with some traditions, Mark is also a firm believer in backing the causes of the wider timber sector and a stalwart of The Timber Trade Federation. “It’s vital we work together as an industry on the key issues, especially the environment,” he said. “That’s why we’ve signed up to the TTF’s Responsible Purchasing Policy as well as environmental certification. It’s a box we all have to tick.”

The fact that when you call him, Mark is as likely to pick up in the US, Brazil or the Far East as his London office, underlines his hectic schedule and why he doesn’t go much for hobbies, or leisurely holidays abroad.

“I admit I’m a workaholic,” he said. “But in my spare time I am a serious cook and have a real interest in wine. As for holidays, after all my work travel, I prefer to stay home and I love living in London.”

And there’s no sign that the pace of life is about to decelerate, or that the downturn has dented the drive.

“Business is tough, we lost money this year and had some redundancies, which was unpleasant,” said Mark. “But I’m only 47, I’ve still got ambitions and last year we raised £160,000 of new capital for future development. UCM is an unfinished canvas and I’m still excited by what drew me to business in the first place – doing deals and solving problems.”