Presidents and chairmen from Wood for Good, the British Woodworking Federation, the Wood Panel Industries Federation, the Centre for Timber Engineering at Napier University, TRADA, the Confederation of Forest Industries, UK Forest Products Association and TTF met on July 28-29 to discuss ways of generating greater cohesion within the industry.

According to Mr Donaldson, the idea behind the meeting was to bring the UK’s leading timber bodies closer together and to discuss ways of sharing resources, saving money and therefore offering a better service to members.

“I am delighted with the outcome of the meeting and am confident further progress will be made,” said Mr Donaldson. “It’s not about words, it’s about action and we need to get cracking.”

More detailed information on specific projects and further meetings is to be released in the coming weeks but Mr Donaldson added that the initial success had been down to “a gathering of like minds” from the timber trade.