Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
SR Timber has issued an assurance to merchants over the supply of timber roofing batten as the housebuilding sector and wider construction industry continues to ramp up activity.
The Nottinghamshire-based business is keen to emphasize that the availability and supply of its materials remains unaffected, meaning that it can respond quickly to the requirements of merchants as demand continues to grow. Its ability to deliver consignments of batten within 48 – 72 hours after an order is placed remains unaffected.
Trading director Shaun Revill said that the company recognised the small but significant role it plays in ensuring that merchants have the stock they require so that housebuilders and contractors have the materials they need, when they need them so the UK construction industry can get back up to full speed.
“The UK, and the world for that matter, has experienced some really tough times and it’s important that we all pull together to try and get back up and running as quickly as we can,” he said. “And we’re a cog in a big machine that serves the construction industry – but we recognise the importance of being able to supply merchants and their customers with the materials they need.
“We’ve always prided ourselves on having a robust supply chain – from the forests of Latvia, to the sawmills, to the ships that bring the timber into the UK and the delivery to merchants up and down the UK – and the last few months have really been a test of our mettle and we’ve come through it with flying colours.”
Revill also thinks that the recent lockdown may go some way to rid the industry of blighted batten.
“Before lockdown, we heard of instances where some suppliers were offering unbelievable prices on batten – which we strongly suspect to be of poor quality and probably don’t comply to British Standards – but they couldn’t deliver for weeks,” he added. “That raised alarms bells for reputable suppliers and we hope that we may now see the back of some of this batten, especially if merchants and contractors turn their back on it because of the poor availability.”
