Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Paul Bristow has seen first-hand how engineered timber products are contributing to the UK housebuilding.
The Mayor visited a 65-year-old joinery and timber engineering business at the eight-acre David Smith site in St Ives.
Paul Bristow was welcomed by Tim Wilson (Managing Director), Tony Maxwell (Operations Manager) and Brett Amphlett (Builders Merchants Federation). He was shown examples of the fire door sets, staircases, roof trusses and floor joists that David Smith manufactures for housebuilders, contractors and property developers.
“It was great to see the £3 million investment they have made in new machinery and upgrading their premises,” said Mr Bristow.
“Generating over half the energy they use onsite from rooftop solar is an impressive achievement and reflects their strong commitment to being a forward-looking, low-carbon manufacturer.”
“It’s encouraging to see the Mayor take a genuine interest in local manufacturers like ours and offer support to help timber engineering businesses succeed,” said Tim Wilson.
“We had a productive discussion about the role of timber engineered products in meeting local housing needs, particularly for homes that people choose with sustainability an ever more important aspect, and to deliver quality homes with more elements manufactured offsite to assist speeding up the construction process”.
Mr Wilson said installing solar panels has helped to lessen the company’s reliance on the National Grid but added that high UK electricity prices were still concerning.
The visit was another arranged by the Builders Merchants Federation as part of its industry and parliament programme. The aim is to show politicians the role, value and importance of the building materials supply chain in delivering for their customers and communities.
