Celebrating 40 Years of Driving Progress in Structural Timber

Les Fuller, MD at Calldene Structural Timber Solutions

Les Fuller, Managing Director at Calldene Structural Timber Solutions, is celebrating 40 years with the timber engineering specialist.

The milestone reflects four decades of progress and change within the UK’s timber and housebuilding sectors.

Les initially joined Triad Timber Components, a Calldene company, in 1985. Earlier this year, Triad Timber Components and sister company, Dover Trussed Roof Company came together under the Calldene Structural Timber Solutions brand – representing more than 70 years of timber engineering experience.

Starting out as technical manager at Triad Timber Components’ former Rustington factory, Les witnessed the transformation from hand-drawn trussed rafter designs to digital modelling and precision manufacturing. Over the years, he has seen the business grow from a small regional supplier to a structural timber specialist with its two sites serving housebuilders and commercial projects across the South East and Home Counties.

As managing director, Les’s focus has been on delivering engineering cost benefits and efficiency improvements for housebuilders, ensuring the company’s structural timber solutions remain competitive and relevant as the sector evolves toward more sustainable construction.

40 Years of Driving Progress

Alongside his role at Calldene, Les has served as chairman of the Trussed Rafter Association (TRA) for 20 years, championing best practice, consistency and safety across the industry. His involvement has spanned key milestones – from the adoption of European standards in the 2000s to the digitalisation of timber design in the 2020s.

“The industry looks very different to when I first started, but its core values haven’t changed,” said Les.

“Our job has always been to combine engineering precision with craftsmanship – and technology has simply given us new ways to do that. We continue to invest in advanced manufacturing so we can deliver even greater efficiency and sustainability for our clients.

“But what makes this milestone special are the people I’ve worked with along the way. Despite the business growing and changing, we’ve retained that family-run character and strong internal culture that defines us. Some of our team have been with us for over 30 years – including one I hired straight out of school – and that loyalty runs deep. It’s what makes Calldene such a special place to work.”

Marking 40 years with Calldene Structural Timber Solutions, 20 years as TRA Chairman and 10 years as managing director, Les’s milestone celebrates not just personal longevity, but the people and principles that continue to drive excellence across the UK’s structural timber industry.

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