The sumptuous and historic surroundings of King’s College, Cambridge was the setting once again for the East Anglian Timber Trade Association annual dinner attended by more than 300 timber industry representatives on September 24.
Pre-dinner drinks on the College back lawn, singing from The King’s Men Choir, speeches from TDUK chairman Chris Sutton and EATTA chairman Greg Pickett, and fund-raising for nominated charity Project 21 were the order of the day at this year’s annual dinner.
Event sponsors were ABP, Altripan UK, Ellpro, International Plywood, Juha, Lacy & Middlemiss, MDM Timber, Nason Davies, Scotline, Setra, Taylor Maxwell, TTS Shipping, and Anglo Norden.
EATTA chairman Greg Pickett, of Taylor Maxwell, used his speech in the Georgian Gothic Halll to pay tribute to Sheila Hutchings, EATTA Secretary & Treasurer, a well-known figure who has organised the dinner for many years. Having spent more than 30 years working in numerous timber companies and being EATTA Secretary and Treasurer since 2014, Sheila has handed on the baton to Tabitha Binding.
Mr Pickett said Sheila’s dedication and drive had helped put EATTA/the annual dinner in a good place.
TDUK chairman Chris Sutton addressed guests after dinner, bringing people up to date with TDUK activities, including its recent Strategy Day, its lobbying work with Government and the construction sector, and training.
Mr Sutton announced the TDUK launch of Wood Campus, a new online school for timber products – designed to provide flexible, accessible training for timber traders across the UK. He also lauded the Women in Timber initiative which recently saw its first conference and launch of a website.
Jessica Foulger from EATTA’s chosen charity Project 21 UK shared about the work of the charity, which runs innovative activities, clubs and events for people with Down’s Syndrome in the East of England. A collection on the evening raised £3,815 for the charity.
