Blogs Archive
Archive of blogs from the global ttj industryBlogs By Date
June 2023
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Stepping up to safety act
The Building Safety Act is billed as the biggest overhaul of UK construction regulation in 40 years. Chief executive Andrew Carpenter shares the Structural Timber Association’s response and its view on implications for wood-based building
End to end joinery experience
Keys to success for joinery businesses large and small are pricing, marketing and taking the consumers’ product perspective, writes industry veteran Roy Wakeman
Ligna's return a bellwether for investment sentiment
As this issue was going to press I was preparing to travel to the Ligna exhibition in Hannover – the world’s largest woodworking technology fair.
April 2023
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Investment focuses on forest sector
Private equity is increasingly looking for green investment opportunities. That includes development of exciting new low environmental impact wood-based materials, writes Sampsa Auvinen, CEI-Bois chairman and advisory board chair of the new United Bankers Forest Industry Green Growth fund
February 2023
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Solving school overcrowding sustainably
Prefabricated timber building can meet the UK’s desperate need for more and better school classroom space says Dr Mila Duncheva, business development manager UK & Ireland, Stora Enso Building Solutions
Making the training connections
Having a skilled and knowledgeable workforce across the timber sector has never been more critical and latest developments at the Institute of Carpenters can help deliver it, says its president Geoff Rhodes
December 2022
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Confor urges government stability and planting
Economic headwinds are building for the UK sawmill sector, but Defra now has the resources to make a difference for the industry by stimulating productive tree planting, writes Confederation of Forest Industries chief executive Stuart Goodall
World Cup distraction from difficult markets
The World Cup has kicked off and while we’ll all be hoping for English or Welsh success, the tournament is not necessarily universally being welcomed by all in the business community.
Stoical softwood sector in sobering times
There was no ignoring the grim global economic picture at the 2022 International Softwood Conference, but it also highlighted the sector’s longer term positives. Conference moderator, Fort Builders Merchants director Keith Fryer reports
October 2022
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Are we at a tipping point for fire door safety?
The recent passing of the Building Safety Act 2022, along with the Fire Safety Act 2021, marks a critical point in the way building safety risks will be considered. To ensure compliance with the new regime, greater understanding and awareness of the benefits that third-party fire door certification provides is crucial, writes Helen Hewitt, CEO of the British Woodworking Federation (BWF)
Congo Basin Regional Scheme a PEFC first
The PAFC Congo Basin scheme aims to increase sustainable forest management certification in the region, writes PEFC development officer Thomas Seyvet
TTJ Awards' royal connections in 2022
News of the Queen’s death broke as TTJ was going to press.
August 2022
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Thank you for the glulam
The demountable Abba Arena in London is a masterpiece of hybrid engineered timber and steel construction and a building for our increasingly over-heated times, writes TTJ consultant editor Mike Jeffree
Figuring out the new normal
Today’s combination of supply, price and cost issues facing the European timber sector is unprecedented. The solution, after 20 years of price stagnation, must be market appreciation of the true value of wood, writes Jean-François Guilbert, managing director of France’s international marketing organisation French Timber
Resilience in the face of swings in trading dynamics
These days we seem to be beset by extremes all round – temperature, conflicts, inflation and big swings in trading dynamics.
June 2022
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Fog of war obscures outlook
Prospects for the softwood market have never been more difficult to read, writes Sampsa Auvinen, chairman of the board of the Confederation of the European Woodworking Industries (CEI Bois) and board professional
Species diversity key for climate resilience
We must widen our timber diet to ensure future supply, writes Dan Ridley-Ellis, head of the Centre for Wood Science and Technology at Edinburgh Napier University
April 2022
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SVLK Sustainability Credentials Stressed
Indonesia’s development and rebrand of its timber legality assurance system is seen as potentially adding value to FLEGT, writes consultant editor Mike Jeffree
The Bumpy Road to Net Zero
The UK panel industry is in the forefront of decarbonisation, but still faces challenges ahead, writes Wood Panel Industries Federation director-general Alastair Kerr
March 2022
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Trade supply relationships more important than ever after Ukraine conflict threatens stability
No sooner had Covid-19 restrictions dropped then war breaks out in eastern Europe.