Breaking new ground

Summary
• TRADA is sponsoring the new TTJ Market Development Award.
• It follows on from the TTJ Best Technical Information Support Award.
• The Award recognises developments that have created new or expanded existing markets for timber.
• It will be presented at the TTJ Awards ceremony at London’s Park Lane Hotel on Thursday, September 16.

For this year’s TTJ Awards, TRADA is launching a new category to follow on from the TTJ Best Technical Information Support Award which we have sponsored for the past five years. It’s not that strong technical support is any less important than it has been, but if we are to push forward the boundaries, we must be even more proactive. It is time for a change. The new Market Development Award, therefore, will recognise innovation, tenacity and the ability to overcome obstacles that stand in the way of creating or expanding markets for timber.

Market development is at the very heart of TRADA’s own forward strategy. Working with members and partners, we will help develop timber to its full potential – a simple statement but one with limitless possibilities.

In some ways, 2009 was a watershed for TRADA. We celebrated our 75th anniversary by taking time to look back at the past but, during a period of deep recession in the construction sector, it was also a time for defining the kind of future we have to build, to move forward both as an organisation and as an industry.

Climate change

One of the main challenges we all have to face is the long-term consequence of climate change. We at TRADA believe timber will have an increasingly important role to play in making our environment, economy and society truly sustainable and we will lead and support initiatives that address this.

And we have not lost sight of TRADA’s original brief as the Timber Development Association, which in 1934 was to defend timber’s position against competitive materials – a proactive role in challenging times. Through marketing and research initiatives we will go on the offensive once more and the new Market Development Award is a clear indicator of our current thinking.

Yet it is not a huge leap from the old to the new. Last year’s winner of the Best Technical Information Support Award would precisely fit the parameters of the new award (see below). With its online deck design and planning tool, DECKPLANNER, Richard Burbidge took an existing product and created a decking system. This online service is an excellent tool for explaining what options exist, the materials required and the potential cost. It made it very simple to specify timber decking.

The advances made in timber engineering and modified wood products in recent years are to be applauded. Product development goes hand in hand with market development, but there are other ways to grow. Making it easy to specify timber is surely one of the keys to our future success.

l More details and an entry form are available from www.ttjonline.com/ttjawards 2010 or www.trada.co.uk, or contact Nicola Cannings, email: ncannings@trada.co.uk. The closing date for entries is July 1 and the winner will be announced at the TTJ Awards ceremony at London’s Park Lane Hotel on Thursday, September 16.