CTI makes its voice heard at Timber Expo
25 October 2016Timber Expo was the setting for a “relaunch” of the Confederation of Timber Industries (CTI), with four major trade associations coming together to celebrate the progress made by the organisation ahead of its Westminster conference.
The event, backed by the Timber Trade Federation (TTF), British Woodworking Federation (BWF), Structural Timber Association and Builders Merchant Federation (BMF), also saw the launch of three CTI policy reports on skills, sustainability and value & growth.
David Hopkins, managing director of the TTF, said the CTI had been through several changes in the past 12-14 months but now projects were coming to fruition and it was starting to take a lead role in public affairs.
BWF chief executive Iain McIlwee said the industry need to step up its efforts with apprenticeships and training otherwise it would find itself in a downward spiral due to skills shortages.
STA chief executive Andrew Carpenter said the timber building sector was experiencing high levels of growth, with a new STA report to reveal that timber frame grew by 10% in 2015 – an increase of 7,000 units on the previous year.
Mr Carpenter said the newly published Farmer Review was “very exciting” for the structural timber sector.
“The CTI is taking on a greater significance since the publication of the Farmer Review,” he said.
Mr Carpenter said moves like Legal & General’s investment in off-site timber systems factories could disrupt the traditional masonry building model.
