Grown in Britain puts down roots

If you look on our stock list, as you are free to do on our website, you might notice the label "Grown In Britain" against some of our stock.

It's actually in the Certification field, where your other options are... well, I won't write the names here because that's likely to go wrong... but suffice to say‚ it's the two certification options you would expect to see. So, Grown in Britain.

To us, it is already part of our infrastructure; right at the heart, in our stock data. We use the name Grown in Britain to label our UK-grown timbers in the absence of any other certification.

You see, we built a bespoke stock list (that was fun!) to hold our detailed stock data. The main purpose was to make information available to our customers 24/7, but we had to speak their language, not our insider-timberindustry- jargon, to allow them to make informed judgments on their timber purchase. Luckily this stock data work paid off and we edge ever closer to our ambitious goal of fully e-commerce integrated online stock (it's quite a mouthful, but we don't have to say it out loud very often).

Our customers are really having fun with the stock lists; they select from the comfort of their own home and then they can't wait to tell us what we have in stock, where it's stored, where it came from and how much money they're going to give us to take it away.

Wonderful! We love our customers! While we're in a listening mood, they're also telling us about this new product they want to use - you may have already come across it - English timber.

OK, now they're talking our language! And so is Grown in Britain. If you haven't come across Grown in Britain yet that's probably because it's an initiative in its infancy (established in March this year) but it is growing up fast.

With a core team of Confor, BRE, and Forestry Commission executives endorsed by the secretary of state for Defra, Grown in Britain is taking no prisoners - in the nicest possible way.

At English Woodlands Timber we've been involved since the first big meeting at Whitehall in April. We meet Grown in Britain, we talk with our peers, we put our twopenneth in, we take decisions and make commitment. Grown in Britain galvanises these collective efforts into action with the aim of addressing the problems in the UK timber supply chain and to supply an increasing demand for home-grown product. It's this 'collective' effort that is going to be the key, but collaborating with your competition‚ seriously?

Granted, it's an alien concept but it helps that Grown in Britain has introduced role models like the construction industry's Steve Cook and the UK Constructors Group (UKCG) into the mix. It's a fantastic example of how an industry can come together across competitive boundaries to work collectively for the good of one and all. I think there's recognition from us all that it works and there's motivation to try it for ourselves.

It's also huge motivation that the UKCG, a group with £33bn per year in spending power, has its eyes wide open to UK-grown timber and is backing Grown in Britain all the way.

So, looking into the near future, when companies, big (ahem‚ DIY) stores or small, that are already sold on the opportunities offered by the Grown in Britain initiative start asking suppliers for UK-sourced timber products‚ we think you're going to see Grown in Britain products (stamped with a logo we hope!) in our yard, in our customers' yards and maybe even in your yard too!

October 13-20 is national Grown in Britain week. To get involved visit the website www.growninbritain.org.