Rosyth-based pallets specialist Scott Timber Group (STG) has secured a new two-year deal with petrochemicals giant BP worth approximately £1m per year.
Won through e-bid competitive tendering, the agreement covers the supply of pallets to BP’s Grangemouth plant as well as the heat treatment of pallets that will be shipped to China.
According to STG, the deal effectively continues its business relationship with the customer “that first sparked Scott Timber on its amazing growth”. In 1991, when Scott Timber was recording annual sales of around £100,000, BP placed pallet supply business worth some £125,000. Fourteen years later, STG’s annual turnover has grown to more than £47m.
STG managing director John Scott suggested much of the company’s current success could be traced back to that initial link-up with BP. “The lessons we learned about supply and customer service informed our whole business,” he said.
Meanwhile, the company has also taken action to combat the shortage of timber shipping vessels entering the UK.
It has set a market precedent by securing a dedicated service with a number of timber shipping specialists which, in the case of its Rosyth site, will guarantee the services of two ships bringing in timber from Latvia.
Similar arrangements have been put in place for sites in Barry and the south-east.
Company director Norman Scott said the company worked with more than 150 sawmills in Latvia, so while there was no problem securing timber, competition was tight for available vessels. “We needed to find a solution that would guarantee pallet supply to our customers,” he said.
