The president of the North West Timber Trade Association has urged the Timber Trade Federation to complete the restructuring of its executive rapidly.
Tony Miles was addressing the 400-plus audience at the NWTTA’s annual dinner in Liverpool on Friday March 19.
He paid tribute to TTF president Geoff Rhodes, who attended the dinner, and to Jean Rennie, who was also at Liverpool, and her fellow full-time officers at the federation. But he told Mr Rhodes that the organisation urgently needed to resolve the shape the executive will take in the future. His comments followed the TTF’s decision to make the post of director-general redundant last Novermber.
“I have seen the hardwork that Jean [Rennie] and the team put in. There is no doubt there is heart within the body of the TTF,” said Mr Miles. “[But] like all bodies, the heart does not work without a brain. These next few months are crucial. You have to take decisions in restructuring the TTF. Smart objectives are needed and by this I mean specific, measurable, agreeable, realistic and time-banded.”
He stressed that the NWTTA would continue to support the TTF and the “important initiatives” Mr Rhodes mentioned in his speech.
“But my message to the [TTF ] governing body is put a timetable together. Let customers know when the changes take place and do that quickly.”
Mr Rhodes told the dinner that the TTF had sent out the members’ questionnaire it announced in January, in order to canvass their views on the federation’s direction and activities.
He said that the TTF governing board was now working on an “ongoing strategy to take the TTF forward” and that responses to the questionnaire would be taken into account in this process. “This will be a major topic at the governing board’s meeting at the end of April,” he said.
