There are dozens of organisations who guarantee sustainability and habitat conservation by subscribing to their schemes. Yet pollution is increasing, waste is truly offensive, illegal logging is at an all-time high and the threats from bio-security have never been more severe.
Timberpride has its roots in forestry, we understand how to manage woodland and we only buy logs from woodlands that are properly managed. This is achieved by talking to the foresters who devised the plan and inspect the forest. This is the only way I can reassure myself that our standards are being met.
Pollution is a consequence of modern life, much of our electricity and most of our transport is reliant on fossil fuels. It is not possible to supply timber without moving it, but it is possible to limit the distance it travels. All our Oak comes from British forests, it does not travel halfway around the world to enter your life, even if that means we cannot take advantage of cheap labour on the other side of the world.
Waste multiplies these problems. Inefficient use of our resources means more demand for timber, more pollution, more imports without bio security. But worst of all, unrealistic demands on timber means wasting usable oak. Our Oak woodlands are the culmination of generations of skilled work and decades of determined growth by the trees. We will process each tree to yield the best and the most it can. We will grade beams to D30 or D40, but we will not waste timber to satisfy vanity. Oak is too precious to aim for anything other than honesty.
Bio security is largely ignored in the UK but we are facing dozens of threats, each one capable of doing more damage than Dutch Elm disease. Xylella, the Asian long horn beetle, the Oak processionary moth, the Asian hornet and the grey squirrel to name just a few. There is little legislation in place in the UK or EU to protect us the way that New Zealand, Australia and the USA have. If we want to avoid the destruction of whole ecosystems, we must take action now!
Timberpride’s bio security policy will not fix the problem, but at least we can say we are not part of the problem. We will treat all timber coming into our yard to kill all pathogens and do not bring material in from infected countries without this protection. We urge you to insist on the same commitment in all your purchases.
Back in 1995 Alexander and Victoria started Timberpride with a £2500 loan from The Princes Youth Business Trust, with a great team and years of hard work this loan has turned into the business you will find today in Tetbury. In 2018 HRH The Prince of Wales came to Tetbury to meet the team and inspect what we built with his money.
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The Crown estates and The Duchy of Cornwall have many acres of beautifully manages forests and sometimes we are able to proudly tell our customers that their frame is made from Royal Oak. But all Oak has something regal about it.
We are a family; everything we do is ultimately about people. From the landowners and foresters who planted and tended the oak trees generations ago, those who felled and extracted them and hauled them to our yard for our team to saw and craft into frames.
Carl is a proud Welshman, which also means he takes pride in every task he takes on. A perfectionist, he forever refines his own work and patiently trains the same exacting standards into all who work with him. A job is only done when it is the best it can be.
Antonio has been unstoppable in his pursuit to become an Oak frame carpenter. Joining us after the pandemic he has devoted himself to all things oak and perfecting his craft.
As a college leaver Torran took the plunge and joined the Timberpride team. Torran runs the bandsaw, keeps the framing team fed with beams, cuts a mean curved brace and is keen to develop in the framing.
William has been around the sawmill all his life. A student at the RAU he works part time in the yard at Timberpride doing all the jobs no else has time for, for beer money.
Alec trained as a chartered surveyor, but his heart has always been in forestry. Starting to work with British hardwoods in 1992, he is proud to say that he has planted many more trees than he has harvested.
Victoria was the first person to see the value and importance of Timberpride’s work back in 1995, and has been instrumental in every aspect of the business ever since.
He likes to be front of house and follow your ankles closely, but can be a bit grumpy!