The advert, featuring a large photo of the blaze in Colindale, north London, courted controversy within the timber industry when it was published three times in Building and has prompted the UK Timber Frame Association to consider raising the matter with the Advertising Standards Agency.
Phil Harris, chairman of the PFF’s marketing committee, said the advert had now stopped running but denied that this was due to complaints. “It was only intended to run the Colindale ad until now,” he added.
However, he said the advert was part of an advertising campaign focusing on fire performance which would run for the rest of the year,
UKTFA chief executive Bryan Woodley said the association would be paying close attention to future adverts.
“The advice from our lawyers is that [the Colindale] advertisement is grossly unfair and misleading on several fronts,” said Mr Woodley. “There is no place in a modern, professional construction industry for this sort of grubby marketing. We will continue to scrutinise future advertising very closely from now on.”
