The first instalment of Timber Expo – the UK’s only dedicated timber sector show – as part of the first UK Construction Week (UKCW) was held at Birmingham NEC in October.

Organisers Media10, which acquired Timber Expo at the start of 2015, had billed it as an opportunity for the event to be part of a much larger construction enterprise attracting architects, specifiers and other construction professionals.

As far as the number crunching goes Media10 reported 24,000 people at the trade exhibition part of UKCW – the Build Show incorporating Civils Expo, Timber Expo, HVAC 2015, Smart Buildings 2015, Energy 2015, Kitchens and Bathrooms Live, Plant & Machinery Live and the Surface and Materials Show.

Due to the seamless interface between these shows it’s been impossible to record just how many people ventured into Timber Expo, though visitor pre-registrations in advance were 10,000.

TTJ spent three days at the show and it’s true to say there were both busy and quiet periods, with the overall feeling that attendance was probably up on the 6,000 people recorded in 2014.

UKCW trade attendees included more than 60% of the UK’s biggest names in construction, such as Wilmott Dixon, Travis Perkins, Redrow Homes, Balfour Beatty, Galliford Try and Saint Gobain, as well as over 7,000 individual companies.

Richard Morey, group events director at Media 10, said he was thrillled how the show integrated into the overall event and reported good feedback.

"This year has opened up all sorts of possibilities in to how the whole event and specifically Timber Expo can develop. We are dedicated to putting timber at the very heart of the construction industry, where it belongs.

"The development of Timber Expo as a dedicated event, and as part of UK Construction Week will enable us to do just that. We are now consulting with stakeholders in the timber industry in how we take it forward and evolve for 2016.

"You will see new features, more exhibitors and products, top level speakers and exciting new designed structures at Timber Expo 2016." Speaking to exhibitors there was mixed feedback – quite a few TTJ spoke to reported good conversations with visitors and several machinery companies managed to bring deals to fruition. There were others that said they were too quiet and were unsure about the UKCW concept.

In truth, it will probably take another year to get a fuller picture and see how the organisers fine-tune things and develop the show to see how the UKCW-Timber Expo relationship is working.

French Focus

The French contingent was about twice the size of last year’s show after good feedback a year ago.

Industry organisation French Timber oversaw participation by a range of sawmills, including Siat Braun which operates three mills with a total sawn capacity of about 400,000m3.

The company is looking to make inroads to the UK market. "There is a need for houses in France, but no confidence there," it said. Family sawmiller Moulinvest, a publicly traded company with a €70m turnover, was at Timber Expo looking for a UK agent. It has a sawn capacity of 250,000m3 and is also involved in CLT and timber utility pole preservation operations.

Moulinvest has access to a large volume of Douglas fir forests.

Other French companies included Piveteaubois, with its wide range of cladding on display, including its Douglas fir/larch products in the Tremolo range featuring a grey pigment which meets the desires of architects looking for a product close to the naturally weathered colour.

Another company – Scierie JF Lorin – is a fourth generation sawmiller which is looking to recruit someone to reach the UK market. Key timber sector organisations the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), Structural Timber Association (STA) and TRADA all had a strong presence at the event.

The BWF and STA announced their new collaboration agreement, while the BWF launched its new E-Learning Zone for joinery manufacturers and woodworking firms, including a suite of new training modules covering fire door manufacture and certification.

The STA ran a successful inaugural Structural Timber Awards attended by about 500 people. Arup Associates and B&K Structures won the Winner of Winners Award for the BSkyB Believe in Better Building. TRADA’s extensive seminar programme ran once again and included detailed input from architects and engineers.

Panels companies exhibiting included Kronospan, whose stand put high emphasis on its expanded Kronobuild range, which now includes Firestop, Airstop and Reflex. All three are OSB building boards – Firestop has a fire-resistant Pyrotite finish, whereas Airstop has a cellulose special foil finish for airtightness and vapour resistance – effectively allowing simultaneous installation of reinforced sheathing, airtight barrier and vapour check. Reflex features a reflective low-emissivity aluminium foil to help reduce heat loss in winter and excessive solar gain in summer.

SmartPly also had its own combined OSB sheathing/vapour control/airtightness layer product – VapAirTight on display on the Coillte Panel Products stand.

And UNILIN also had a focus on technical building solutions, with its HydroFlam structural chipboard panel combining fire-resistance and structural performance for racking and decking purposes.

Latvian birch plywood producer Stiga RM was on the lookout for UK distributors and shows visitors its FSC-certified products, while UK birch plywood specialist DHH Timber sponsored the Tool Box Talks theatre and its staff were on hand to discuss its huge range of panels. DHH also gave away a supercar driving experience in a prize draw. Timbmet had one of the most striking stands – 20 pods featuring products from its portfolio. The stand was inspired by Alice Howland’s winning design for the Timbmet Dan Kemp Memorial Pavilion. Thermallymodified Red Grandis was one of the products catching the eye.

Timber preservative treatment suppliers certainly put a marker down, with Koppers’ stand showing applications for all its products and giving visitors a chance to try their hand at putting to win a prize! And Arch Timber Protection’s "Timber Protection Superheroes from Planet Arch" – cartoon characters created by the company – was a different approach to raising awareness to treatment. New products on the horizon for Arch will include a cost-effective pigmentation system for treated timber featuring a new process.

Meanwhile, treatment services specialist WJ Group presented the Wolmanit Firestop fire retardant treatment for the first time at Timber Expo.